PM Narendra Modi mourns Vani Jairam's demise: Her passing away is a major loss for the creative world

Legendary playback singer Vani Jairam is no more. She breathed her last today at her residence in Chennai. She was 78. Initial information is that she passed away due to head injury. Vani Jairam’s voice gave life to the legendary music directors like Burman, OP Nayyar, Mohan Mohan, MS Viswanathan, KV Mahadevan, Ilayaraja, and others. As the nation is mourning from her loss, below are some lesser-known facts about the legendary playback singer.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

Vani Jairam’s real name is Kalaivani. She was born on November 30, 1945 in an Iyengar family in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. She was trained in Carnatic music since childhood. She performed on the stage for the first time at the age of eight and received praise. After completing her education, she worked in State Bank of India. As her father-in-law was also a Carnatic singer, she took steps as a singer with his encouragement.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

At the age of ten, Vani got the opportunity to sing on All India Radio for the first time. After her marriage, she learned Carnatic and Hindustani music with her husband Jairam’s encouragement and gave her first concert in Mumbai in 1969. It was during a concert that music director Vasant Desai met Vani. Then, she was introduced to the film industry with the 1971 Hindi movie 'Guddi'. She won five awards for a song in the movie.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

She has rendered more than 10,000 songs in 14 languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Oriya and Tulum, others in a career spanning over five decades. There are more than a thousand Telugu songs in the list. She received two National Awards for lending her voice for two Telugu films, Sankarabharanam and Swathi Kiranam, directed by K Viswanath.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

For the first time, music director S.P. Kodandapani introduced Vani’s voice to the Telugu cinema. Vani sang "Eppativalekaadura Naa Swami" in the 1973 film Abhimanavanthulu. Her notable songs including "Pranati Pranati", "Theli Manchu Karigindi", "Oka Brundavanam", "Rojalo Lethavannele", "Andela Ravamidhi", "Sri Suryanarayana", "Minneti Sooridu Vachenamma", "Broche Varevaru Ra", and "Paluke Bangaaramaayena".

Pic courtesy: Twitter

The Government of India announced the Padma Bhushan Award on Republic Day in recognition of Vani Jairam’s services to the cinema. She was honoured with the third highest civilian award in the country. She won the National Award for Best Female Singer thrice. He received the National Award once for the songs in Anthuleni Katha directed by K Balachander. Vani won the National Award again in 1980 for the songs in 'Sankarabharanam' and then again in 1991 for the song 'Anathaniyara Hara...' in the movie 'Swathi Kiranam'.

May her soul rest in peace!

Pic courtesy: Twitter

Legendary playback singer Vani Jairam is no more. She breathed her last today at her residence in Chennai. She was 78. Initial information is that she passed away due to head injury. Vani Jairam’s voice gave life to the legendary music directors like Burman, OP Nayyar, Mohan Mohan, MS Viswanathan, KV Mahadevan, Ilayaraja, and others. As the nation is mourning from her loss, below are some lesser-known facts about the legendary playback singer.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

Vani Jairam’s real name is Kalaivani. She was born on November 30, 1945 in an Iyengar family in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. She was trained in Carnatic music since childhood. She performed on the stage for the first time at the age of eight and received praise. After completing her education, she worked in State Bank of India. As her father-in-law was also a Carnatic singer, she took steps as a singer with his encouragement.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

At the age of ten, Vani got the opportunity to sing on All India Radio for the first time. After her marriage, she learned Carnatic and Hindustani music with her husband Jairam’s encouragement and gave her first concert in Mumbai in 1969. It was during a concert that music director Vasant Desai met Vani. Then, she was introduced to the film industry with the 1971 Hindi movie 'Guddi'. She won five awards for a song in the movie.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

She has rendered more than 10,000 songs in 14 languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Oriya and Tulum, others in a career spanning over five decades. There are more than a thousand Telugu songs in the list. She received two National Awards for lending her voice for two Telugu films, Sankarabharanam and Swathi Kiranam, directed by K Viswanath.

Pic courtesy: Twitter

For the first time, music director S.P. Kodandapani introduced Vani’s voice to the Telugu cinema. Vani sang "Eppativalekaadura Naa Swami" in the 1973 film Abhimanavanthulu. Her notable songs including "Pranati Pranati", "Theli Manchu Karigindi", "Oka Brundavanam", "Rojalo Lethavannele", "Andela Ravamidhi", "Sri Suryanarayana", "Minneti Sooridu Vachenamma", "Broche Varevaru Ra", and "Paluke Bangaaramaayena".

Pic courtesy: Twitter

The Government of India announced the Padma Bhushan Award on Republic Day in recognition of Vani Jairam’s services to the cinema. She was honoured with the third highest civilian award in the country. She won the National Award for Best Female Singer thrice. He received the National Award once for the songs in Anthuleni Katha directed by K Balachander. Vani won the National Award again in 1980 for the songs in 'Sankarabharanam' and then again in 1991 for the song 'Anathaniyara Hara...' in the movie 'Swathi Kiranam'.

May her soul rest in peace!

Pic courtesy: Twitter