Legendary playback singer S. Janaki is no more. Indian music has lost one of its greatest voices. With her expressive singing and unequalled versatility, she mesmerised listeners for more than six decades. Janaki’s voice brought to life thousands of Indian songs in different languages, from soulful melodies to peppy folk numbers. Her versatility to suit her singing to each character made her one of the most revered playback singers in the industry. She has many accomplishments under her belt, but one rare feat still astounds music lovers to this day.
S. Janaki’s rare record of singing three voices in one song
One of Janaki’s best examples of her extraordinary talent is in the 1994 Tamil film ‘Magalir Mattum’, where she sang for three lead actresses, Revathi, Urvashi and Rohini, in three very different vocal styles for one song. Janaki did not sing in her natural voice throughout but changed her tone and pronunciation to suit the personality of each character perfectly. She gave Revathi a contemporary, sleek voice, used the Brahmin dialect for Urvashi, and switched to the zippy Chennai slang for Rohini. The song, penned by lyricist Vaali and composed by Ilaiyaraaja, is still a classic example of her ability to change her voice without losing musical perfection.
A singer who could become any character
S. Janaki was not limited to singing only in a female voice. She sang easily for young girls, little boys, old ladies, and for male characters when a song needed it all through her career. That rare flexibility set her apart from every other playback singer of her generation. She sang over 48,000 songs in about 17 languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Sinhala. Her voice crossed the language barrier, and her expressive face appealed to people across the country.
S Janaki ‘s extraordinary legacy will live forever
From M.S. Viswanathan & Ilaiyaraaja to A.R. Rahman, every major Indian composer found in S. Janaki a singer of exceptional talent and gave her memorable songs. She also composed music and wrote lyrics for devotional albums, which proved that her creativity was not limited to playback singing. But her feat of creating three distinct voices in one song in Magalir Mattum is one of the rarest feats in Indian cinema. It always serves as a constant reminder that S. Janaki was not only a singer but a real voice artist, and her legacy will serve as an inspiration for generations of musicians and music lovers.
