S Janaki Funeral Time: Veteran playback singer S. Janaki, one of India’s most celebrated voices across multiple film industries, will be laid to rest with full state honours in Mysuru on Sunday, July 12, a day after she passed away at the age of 88. According to reports, her last rites are scheduled to take place at 5 pm. The singer’s death has prompted an outpouring of condolences from the film fraternity, musicians, political leaders and admirers across the country.
Her mortal remains have been kept at Maharaja’s College Grounds in Mysuru, where members of the public, colleagues and well-wishers are paying their final respects ahead of the last rites later in the day.
S. Janaki died on Saturday, July 11, while undergoing treatment at Apollo BGS Hospital in Mysuru. She was admitted in critical condition earlier that day. Despite medical efforts to save her, she suffered multiple cardiac arrests and was declared dead at 7:30 pm on Saturday, according to the hospital. Janaki had been residing in Mysuru’s Bogadi area for the past few years.
S Janaki’s Career, Awards And Legacy
Over a career that stretched for more than six decades, S. Janaki established herself as one of the most prolific playback singers in Indian cinema. She recorded tens of thousands of songs across numerous Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, while also lending her voice to songs in several other regional and international languages over the course of her career.
Beginning her playback journey in the late 1950s, Janaki worked with generations of composers and remained a familiar voice in South Indian cinema for decades. Her collaborations spanned generations of music directors, from early stalwarts of South Indian film music to contemporary composers, reflecting the longevity of her career.
Her contributions earned widespread recognition throughout her career. She received four National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer and numerous honours from various state governments. In 2013, she declined the Padma Bhushan, stating that the recognition had come too late in her career and expressing disappointment over the representation of South Indian artistes in national honours.
Born on April 23, 1938, in Guntur in present-day Andhra Pradesh, Janaki developed an interest in music at a young age. Although she did not undergo formal classical music training, she built an extraordinary career through dedication and experience. She married V. Ramprasad in 1959, who remained a strong supporter of her musical journey until his death in 1997.
Janaki had announced her retirement from playback singing and stage performances in 2016 but briefly returned to record a song for a Tamil film in 2018.
Condolences poured in from across the country following Janaki’s death, with political leaders and members of the film industry remembering her contribution to Indian music. Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, YSR Congress Party president Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and actors Chiranjeevi and N. Balakrishna expressed their grief and extended condolences to her family. Many said her songs and musical legacy would continue to be cherished for generations.
With her passing, Indian cinema has lost one of its most enduring playback voices. Her songs, recorded across multiple languages over several decades, continue to be an important part of India’s musical legacy.
