M. S. Rajeswari ( ta, எம். எஸ். ராஜேஸ்வரி; 24 February 1932 – 25 April 2018) was an Indian playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

language films.

Early life

She was born on 24 February 1932 to Madurai Satagopan and T. V. Rajasundari who herself was a singer and stage artist. Rajeswari was introduced to film singing by family friend

B. R. Panthulu Budaguru Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu (26 July 1910 – 8 October 1974) was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is best known for directing films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His most popular films are '' Karnan'', ''Veerapandiya ...

Career life

She started her career in AVM Studios where she was one of the resident playback singers along with T. S. Bagavathi. Her very first song was ''Maiyal Migavum Meerudhe'' in the film

Vijayalakshmi Vijaya lakshmi is a Hindu Indian feminine given name or surname, which means "goddess of victory". The name may refer to: People First name * Vijayalakshmi Atluri, Indian computer scientist *Vijayalakshmi (Kannada actress), Indian actress *Vijaya ...

produced by Pragathi Pictures, the forerunner to AVM Studios. During the 1940s, she sang for almost all the films produced by AVM before continuing her work independently. In later years, she was a popular voice for child artists. She rendered songs which consist of solos and duets in all of the AVM Studios early productions such as Nam Iruvar, Rama Rajyam,

Vedhala Ulagam ''Vedhala Ulagam'' () is a 1948 Indian Tamil-language fantasy film directed and produced by A. V. Meiyappan, and written by P. Neelakantan. Adapted from the play of the same name by Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar, the film stars T. R. Mahaling ...

, Vazhkai,

Jeevitham ''Jeevitham'' ( en, Life) is a 1950 Indian Telugu-language social guidance film produced by A. V. Meiyappan with his company AVM Productions and directed by M. V. Raman. The film stars Vyjayanthimala in her Telugu cinema debut with S. Vara ...

Or Iravu ''Ore Iravu'' () is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Neelakantan and co-written by him and C. N. Annadurai. Produced by AVM Productions, it is based on Annadurai's play of the same name. The film stars K. R. Ramasamy, repris ...

, Parasakthi,

Gunasagari ''Gunasagari'' is a 1953 Indian Kannada-language film directed by H. L. N. Simha and produced by AVM Productions. It stars Gubbi Veeranna, Honnappa Bhagavathar and Pandari Bai. The music was composed by R. Sudarshanam. The film was released in ...

, Penn and Chella Pillai. She sang more often in the 1940s and 1950s compared to her work during the 1960s to 1990s. During the later half, she was only sought in songs that voice needed for small children. Films such as Kaveriyin Kanavan, Kaithi Kannayiram and

Engal Selvi ''Engal Selvi'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language drama film, produced by T. E. Vasudevan and directed by D. Yoganand. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi , with music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. The film was a remake of Hindi ...

are the earlier ones where she recorded her voice for child artists. Since 1964 till the 1990s she was only sought for playback for child artists. She was the first playback singer for Kamal Haasan for the song ''Ammaavum Neeye Appaavum Neeye'' in

Kalathur Kannamma ''Kalathur Kannamma'' is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by Javar Seetharaman. The film stars Gemini Ganesh, Savitri Ganesh and Kamal Haasan. It revolves around a couple — a wealthy ...

when she was offered by AVM Studios after a break. Rajeswari had recorded many songs for Baby

Shamili Shamlee, also known as Baby Shamili/Shamlee, (born 10 July 1987), is an Indian actress who has worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Her roles include the mentally challenged child Anjali in the 1990 film '' Anjali'', for which ...

. Her voice suits the best when Shamili was a child artist in Dhurga, Lakshmi Dhurga, Bhairavi,

Sendhoora Devi ''Sendhoora Devi'' (also spelled ''Senthura Devi'') is a 1991 Tamil language family film directed by Rama Narayanan. The film stars Vivek, Kanaka and Shamili, with Senthil, Vennira Aadai Moorthy, Kumarimuthu and Kitty playing supporting roles. ...

, Sindhoora Devi, Thai Poosam, Sivasangkari, Dheiva Kuzhandhai and Sivarathiri.

Music composers she sang for

She started her career in AVM Studios under R. Sudarsanam’s music. Later, many of her songs are under K. V. Mahadevan's music direction. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 an ...

engaged her often.

Playback singers she sang with

She sang immemorable duets mostly with T. M. Soundararajan. Others include

Seerkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day M ...

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

Thiruchi Loganathan Thiruchi Loganathan (24 July 1924 – 17 November 1989) was a playback singer of the Tamil film industry. He is known for his work in movies such as ''Manthiri Kumari'' (1950) and '' Parasakthi'' (1952). He was married to Rajalakshmi, daughter ...

, V. J. Varma, K. Devanarayanan,

V. N. Sundaram V. N. Sundaram (1918-2009) was an Indian Stage and Film actor, Carnatic singer and Playback singer who sang mostly in Tamil-language films. Early life Born in 1918 in Visalur - a village in Kumbakonam Taluk of Thanjavur district, he was named ...

A. L. Raghavan A. L. Raghavan (1933 – 19 June 2020) was an Indian playback singer, who sang many songs in Tamil-language films. Biography Raghavan was born to a Saurashtra Brahmin family in Ayyampettai near Thanjavur to Lakshmana Bhagavathar, Raghavan ...

S. C. Krishnan S. C. Krishnan (1929-1983) was an Indian actor and playback singer who worked mainly in Tamil dramas and films. Early life He was born into a Saurashtra family as the fourth son of a jeweller ''Chelvam Achary'' in Sivaganga that was part of ...

, M. Satyanarayana,

Madhavapeddi Satyam Madhavapeddi Satyam (11 March 1922 – 18 December 2000) was an Indian playback singer and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He entered films as a singer-actor in Y. V. Rao's Tamil-Hindi bilingual movie ''Ramadas'' in the year 194 ...

, Ghantasala, K. Appa Rao, K. J. Yesudas,

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

Mano Mano may refer to: People * Mano people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Mano (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Mano (Mozambican footballer) (born 1984), real name Celso Halilo de Abdul * Mano (Portuguese footballer) ...

. She also sang duets with female singers, most notably with T. S. Bagavathi. Others are L. R. Eswari,

K. Jamuna Rani K. Jamuna Rani (born 17 May 1938 in Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam lnguages. Life and career Rani was born to K. Varadarajulu and violinist ...

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

Radha Jayalakshmi Radha (born 1932) and Jayalakshmi (1932 - 2014), popularly known as Radha Jayalakshmi ( ta, ராதா ஜெயலட்சுமி), were an Indian Carnatic music vocalist duo as well as playback singers in films in the 1940s and 1950s. Th ...

R. Balasaraswathi Devi Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi (born 28 August 1928) is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telu ...

, A. P. Komala,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, K. S. Chithra, Swarnalatha, U. R. Chandra, L. R. Anjali,

N. L. Ganasaraswathi N. L. Ganasaraswathi was an Indian playback singer who sang mainly in Tamil language, Tamil films and some Telugu language, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was active in the field during the 1950s and early 60s. She sang many songs based on Carna ...

, K. Rani,

Santha P. Nair Shantha P. Nair (6 February 1929 – 26 July 2008) was a playback singer in Malayalam cinema. She was based in Thrissur, Kerala. Early life Born into the famous Ambady family in Thrissur, as one of the five children of Vasudeva Poduval and Lak ...

& Kalyani. The singing actors she sang with were K. R. Ramasamy & T. R. Ramachandran.

Death

She died on 25 April 2018 at the age of 87 due to ailments related to old age.

Filmography

References

External links

Listen to M.S. Rajeswari songs on SaavnRaaga – MS. Rajeswari Tamil songs. MS. RajeswariM. S. Rajeswari Tamil songs inp0p Gaana.ComOld Is Gold/M S Rajeswari HitsListen to MS. Rajeshwari songs/music onlineIndian Movie DatabaseM.S. Rajeswari Discography at DiscogsList of Malayalam Songs by Singers M. S. Rajeswari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajeswari, M. S. 1932 births 2018 deaths Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers Malayalam playback singers Kannada playback singers Indian women playback singers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Singers from Chennai Women musicians from Tamil Nadu