Veteran playback singer Vani Jairam passes away

Veteran playback singer Vani Jairam found dead at her residence in Chennai on Saturday , According to Thousand Lights Police officials. The cause of her death is not known yet. She was 77 and was living all alone in a downtown apartment. Her husband predeceased her and she has no children. Bhushan awardee Vani Jairam  was known for recording over 10,000 songs in her career,including the very popular Hindi number 'bole re papihara'. She was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India on January 25 this year. It is the third-highest civilian award. Vani's husband, Jairam, died in 2018.

According to information, the singer's maid turned up as usual for work on Saturday. However, she did not get any response despite repeatedly pressing the calling bell. Immediately, she alerted the singer's relatives who informed police.In the presence of Vani Jayaram's relatives, police broke open the door and found her dead.  Her career started in 1971 and spanned over five decades. Vani has sung in several languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Assameese, and Bengali. She also won the National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer three times. The song Mere To Giridhar Gopal in Meera (1979) won her first Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer.