Commemorating 100 years of cinema, a screening a documentary on the legendary singer Jikki is being organised in the city today. Directed by T Saichand, the documentary follows the story of the singer who started her career as a child artiste.
Krishnaveni, popularly known as Jikki, began her career in 1943 and played a minor role in a Telugu movie named Panthulamma. She was slowly being noted for her musical prowess and the lilting mellifluous voice although she did not go through any orthodox classical training in music.
Soon her big chance came in the form of the successful Tamil film Gnanasoundari in 1948, music for which was composed by SV Venkatraman. This was the turning point in her life and changed the child actress Krishnaveni into the playback singer Jikki.
Then Gemini’s SS Vasan introduced her to the Hindi film world by getting her to sing for his production Mr Sampat in 1952. She sang Sinhalese songs as well at that stage since the Sinhalese films were produced in Madras during those years. She together with P Leela reigned supreme in the South Indian film world in the early part of the 50s. Though they were in competition, they were fond of each other and behaved like two sisters and sang many songs together.
The screening will start at 7 pm at Lamakaan, Road no 1, Banjara Hills. Entry to is free.