S Janaki picks a Malayalam lullaby for her swansong

S Janaki

has lent her mellifluous and expressive voice to several evergreen hits in the South film industry for close to 60 years. The Nightingale of the South, as she is popularly known, has now decided that it is time to bring the curtain down on her stellar singing career and has chosen a Malayalam song for her finale.

Janaki, who made her debut in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu in 1957, has selected a lullaby track Ammapoovinu from

10 Kalpanakal

starring Anoop Menon and Meera Jasmine as her swansong of sorts. ���It will be my final song,��� she says. ���I will not be recording anymore nor will I be singing at any functions.���

On her reason for bidding goodbye to her legendary singing career, the 78-year-old songstress says, ���I am old now and I have sung in many languages. I believe I have sung enough. I would like to rest, relax and leave my career behind.���
The singer, who has recorded close to 48,000 songs in her career, has won 32 State film awards in languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Oriya. So why choose a Malayalam track for her finale? ���I got the offer at a time when I was contemplating on calling it a day. It wasn���t a pre-determined effort to choose a Malayalam song as my final one. It���s a lullaby so it���s close to my heart and I haven���t accepted any other recording after that,��� she says.
The song was composed by music director Mithun Eeshwar, who incidentally met the singer during an event in Kozhikode that was held to commemorate her 50th year in the film industry.

He says, ���I had played her favourite song Sringara Velane Deva on the violin that day and she liked it. I told her I would love to compose a song for her and she agreed. So, when this song came up, director Don Max and I approached her.���

Mithun recorded the song in Hyderabad last month. ���She was extremely happy about singing a lullaby and once we finished the recording, she told us she wanted to end her career with this track. It caught us by surprise. It���s not that she can���t sing anymore but she doesn���t want to strain herself. Janakiamma already has a brilliant career with a multi-generational fan base.��� Last year, she had also recorded two tracks for Mohanlal���s upcoming film Pulimurugan.