Renowned singer Kalyani Menon dies at 80 in Chennai

South singer Kalyani Menon died on Monday (August 2) at a Chennai hospital owing to an age-related illness. Menon`s last rites are scheduled to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

Chennai: Popular playback singer Kalyani Menon passed away on Monday at a private hospital here due to age-related illness, sources close to her family said. She was 80.
Kalyani, the mother of noted cinema director and founder of Mindscreen Film Institute, Rajiv Menon, developed symptoms of stroke and was immediately rushed to the hospital here where she breathed her last, the sources added.

The last rites and cremation would take place in the city's Besant Nagar on Tuesday afternoon.

Kalyani Menon began her career in singing in the 1970s as a classical singer.

Menon's famous songs with noted singer K J Yesudas in Malayalam include "Rithubheda Kalpana Charutha Nalkiya" of 1983 movie "Mangalam Nerunnu" and "Pavanarachezhuthunnu Kolangalennum" of Mohanlal-starrer "Vietnam Colony" released in the year 1992.

Born in Ernakulam, Menon started singing at the age of five in the "Navaratri sangeeth utsav" organised in the famous TDM hall there.

She began her career as a playback singer by singing in Thoppil Bhasi-directed Malayalam movie "Abala".

Besides Malayalam, she has sung in a number of Tamil movies, for top musicians Ilayaraja and AR Rahman.

While she crooned for Ilayaraja in 'Nallathoru Kudumbam' among others, she gave hits under Rahman including in 'Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya' in 2010.