Chennai: Award-winning legendary playback singer Vani Jairam, who had won the state award from Odisha having lent her voice to several songs in Odia, passed away on Saturday. She was 78.
Her name was announced for Padma Bhushan – the third-highest civilian award in the country – recently.
Sources said the renowned singer died at her house on Haddows Road, Nungambakkam in Chennai.
The versatile singer had worked with some of the biggest composers and delivered evergreen chartbusters. She has a large number of songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Tulu and Odia to her credit.
Megha Barasila from Sesa Srabana (1976), Mukuda Murari from the album with the same name and Tumi Sadhira Ranga from Sindura Bindu (1976) are among the several superhits she gave Ollywood. “She also sang in Odia movies – Gauri (1979), Balidan (1978), Alibha Daga (1980), Pooja (1981), Pati Patni (1978), Heera Moti Manika (1981), Tapasya (1980), Jai Maa Mangala (1980),” film historian Surya Deo told Odisha Bytes.
Having performed extensively in the country and abroad, she has won National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer thrice. Besides Odisha, she has also received state awards from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat.
Vani Jairam recently completed 50 years as a professional singer with more than 10,000 songs.
