Minmini (born P. J. Rosily) is a

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

film

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

. She is best remembered for the song "Chinna Chinna Aasai" from ''

Roja Roja may refer to: * ''Roja'' (film), a 1992 Tamil-language film by director Mani Ratnam * ''Roja'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film * Roja Selvamani Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972), also known as R. K. ...

'', the debut work of film composer

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, which was dubbed in Hindi as "Choti Si Asha". Most of her songs are 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 ...

, most of them composed by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

and A. R. Rahman. Her Malayalam songs include "Souparnikamritha" from ''Kizhakkunarum Pakshi'', "Oonjal Urangi", and "Neelaraavi" from ''Kudumbasametham''. She has lent her voice to songs from films including ''Enga Thambi'' (1993), ''

Karuththamma ''Karuthamma'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced and directed by Bharathiraja from a story by M. Rathnakumar. The film stars Raja, Rajashree and Maheswari, with Saranya, Periyar Dasan, Ponvannan, Vadivukkarasi, Vaani, Vadivel ...

'' (1994), and ''

Thevar Magan ''Thevar Magan'' () is a 1992 Indian, Tamil-language drama film written by Kamal Haasan, who also produced the film, and directed by Bharathan. It stars Haasan, Sivaji Ganesan, Revathi, Gautami and Nassar; with Kallapart Natarajan, Kaka Rad ...

'' (1992). She made a comeback in 2015 with the song "Kanmaniye" from '' Mili''.

Career

Minmini had her film debut with ''Swagatham'' (1988), directed by

Venu Nagavalli Venu Nagavally (16 April 1949 – 10 September 2010) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kurup, ...

. She sang three songs in it, composed by Rajamani. She was introduced to Tamil film industry by

Ilayaraja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

through ''Tamil Movie - Meera'' (1991). Ilayaraja christened her Minmini, making her name more appealing to the Tamilians. Minmini's first Telugu movie is "''Aathmabandham''" with music by Maragathamani. Her big break came in 1992 when she sang "Chinna Chinna Aasai" for the film ''

''. Minmini has sung a few

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 ...

film songs in 1995 for the movies

Putnanja ''Putnanja'' is a 1995 Kannada language film directed by Ravichandran and produced by A. Narsimhan. This film stars Ravichandran, Meena, Umashri, Lokesh in lead roles. Music was composed by Hamsalekha. The film's plot was inspired by the 1972 ...

and ''Betegara''. ''Rangero holi'' a duet song with

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) ...

from the movie Putnanja for

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

. In the same film she rendered humming in the song ''Putamalli puttamalli'' with Mano and Shyamala G. Bhave. She went on to work with

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach (born 24 March 1966) known by his screen name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian musician, actor, comedian, film director and producer, and an occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his care ...

for the movie Betegara where she sang the song ''Mididiralu saviganasugalu'' with Mano.

Gopi Sundar Gopi Sundar C. S. (born 30 May 1977) is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works prominently in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries. He started his career composing music for tele ...

bought her back to the industry with the song "Kanmaniye" for the film '' Mili'' in 2015.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Living people Indian women playback singers Tamil playback singers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Singers from Kochi Malayalam playback singers Singers from Kerala Film musicians from Kerala Women musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers People from Aluva 20th-century Indian women singers Year of birth missing (living people)