Veteran playback singer S Janaki, who lent her voice to scintillating numbers like Sundari Kannaal (Thalapathi), Malare Mounama (Karna), and the latest Amma Amma (Velaiyilla Pattathari) has announced that she would neither record songs nor sing in the future.
She tells Express, "It has been nearly 60 years since I came to this industry. I have worked hard and I feel it's time to retire. Looking back, I feel content and so blessed as an individual to sing more than 40,000 songs in various languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada etc for renowned music composers."
Four months ago, she recorded a lullaby track titled Ammapoovinu from the the Anoop Menon, Meera Jasmine-starrer 10 Kalpanakal, a crime thriller, which she has declared to be her official last song.
Janaki smiles, "The song was composed by music director Mithun Eeshwar and the crew wanted to me to sing another song for the same movie, which I didn't oblige. Somehow, I thought I should retire. It has been three years since I moved to Hyderabad. I'd like to rest, relax more. It's not that I can't sing' but I don't want to. In a way, it's good because I am giving space for other singers."
But why a Malayalam song as her final one? "It wasn't a conscious decision though I have been contemplating that I need to quit for sometime now. Just that it happened at the right time, I feel," she adds.
Janaki's last Tamil song was for Thirunaal, which had Jiiva and Nayanthara in the lead roles.