Kalyani Menon dies at 80: Here are 5 hit songs she sang for AR Rahman from films like Muthu, Alaipayuthey

Popular playback singer Kalyani Menon, mother of cinematographer-filmmaker Rajeev Menon, breathed her last on Monday in a private hospital in Chennai. As per reports, she was undergoing treatment for paralysis.

A trained classical vocalist, Kalyani had sung over 100 film songs across Tamil and Malayalam languages. She made her singing debut with 1979 Tamil film Nallathoru Kudumbam, which had music by Ilayaraja.

Kalyani worked extensively with AR Rahman in several films such as Kadhalan, Muthu, Alaipayuthey, Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and Ek Deewana Tha among others.

To remember the legend, here are five of her most popular collaborations with AR Rahman.

Indirayo Ival Sundariyo from Kadhalan

This song, featuring Prabhudeva and Nagma, is from the movie Kadhalan, which was directed by Shankar. The film also featured late SP Balasubrahmanyam in a key role, which was one among his very few onscreen appearances. In the movie, SPB played Prabhudeva’s father.

Kuluvalilae from Muthu

This hit number titled Kuluvalilae is from Rajinikanth and Meena starrer, Muthu. Kalyani was one of the singers of the track, which originally features voices of Udit Narayan and KS Chithra.

Alaipayuthey Kanna from Alaipayuthey

This track is from Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthey, starring R Madhavan and Shalini in the lead roles. Kalyani was one of the singers of this track which also featured voices of Harini and Neyveli Ramalakshmi.

Omana Penne from Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya

Omana Penne is the hit track from Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya, which starred Simbu and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles. The song featured vocals by Benny Dayal and Kalyani, whose lines were in Malayalam.

Phoolon Jaisi Ladki from Ek Deewana Tha

Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya was remade in Hindi as Ek Tha Deewana, starring Pratik Babbar and Amy Jackson.

In the Hindi version of the track Omane Penne from Ek Deewana Tha, Kalyani’s lines from the original were retained.