Chiranjeevi’s was(is) an era in history of Telugu cinema. He changed the look and feel of cinema forever with his fights, dances and powerful single liner (punch) dialogues. He entered Cinema with small but effective roles, played roles of negative shade and then shared screen with other heroes in multi starrers. Finally, when he emerged as Megastar, there was no looking back. What ever role he played became iconic. Such is strength and power of his movies that even today many new movies borrow titles from his hits to gain immediate attention of public. He gave Telugu cinema a grand look with collections which were never seen before.
Music played very important role in his movies at least from mid 80’s. Though few songs from his initial movies might be limited to be rare, his later movies became known for songs as much as they are for his action sequences. So many movies would reach public even before movie was released because of those songs and he was second to none in presenting them with such a grace on screen. The trend he set with dances on screen is followed till date in Telugu cinema and to an extent that a hero’s succes has become very much proportional to his capability to dance on screen. Accept it or not, Telugu cinema and dances are inseparable because of him. Musical scores by Chakravarty, Ilayaraja and Raj-Koti are equally responsible to that success.
Janaki amma started singing in his movies from his very first movie “Pranam Khareedu” for his heroine Reshma Roy in song “Nomallo Mamilla thota kada” a superb solo with fresh feel of a village girl composed by Chakravarty. She continued to sing for songs uninterruptedly from then almost every year from 1978 to 1991. Not that she sang in all his movies, but whenever she sang, it was sure to be a hit..!!
Though songs like “Oka Matundi” (“I Love you”), “Go Go Go mister Go” (“Kotha Rayudu”), “Valapulu Pongi” (“Jathara”), “Na Hrudayama” (“Priya”) , “Nada Nilayude Sivudu” (“Parvathi Pramaeswarulu”), “Vinnapalu Vinavale”(Subhaleka) and that evergreen classic “Megama Dehama” (“Manchu Pallaki”) carried magical renditions of S Janaki, they are not the ones with Chiranjeevi’s signature dances. Of course, he gave a brilliant performance there also.
Ilayaraja:
Chiranjeevi’s energetic performance like a way never seen before in Telugu cinema came in “Eureka, Navvindi Malle chendu” song from Abhilasha. Janaki’s laughter, Balu’s singing, Chiru’s energy, Radhika’s performance and Raja’s tune became a trendsetter..! Not only this song, all 5 songs including “Sande Poddula kada”/”Banthi Chamanthi” from Abilasha were extremely popular and expectations raised for Chiru’s songs/dances for ever from then. Kodanda Rami Reddy who directed best of action movies for Chiranjeevi would rope in Ilayaraja for most of his movies. Raja sir would give songs with entirely different look to Telugu cinema. Each and every song that he composed for Chiranjeevi was an all time hit. SPB Janaki sang most of them during 80’s and what a celebration it is to listen/watch those songs.
All 4 songs from “Aradahana” were hits. However, “Are Eamaindi” earned an iconic status.
“Challenge” is another memorable movie with all 5 songs by S Janaki, 4 among them duets with SPB. “Induvadana Kundaradana” is a super hit dance number. “Bhama ee thippalu thapapvu” is fun fileld while “Sayamkalam” is perfectly romantic..!
“Rakshasudu” may be the best of this combination. 5 evergreen SPB_SJ duets on Chiru with his heroines Suhasini/Radha and one solo by Janaki – all were hits. “Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju” is best of the lot while “Giliga Gili Giliga” is a catchy dance number and “Acha Acha” is romantic.
3 songs she sang for Raghavendra Rao’s “Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari” are pure Balu Janaki Raja Veturi enchantments. If Sridevi looks like a real angel in the movie, SJ gave that divine look for her love in the songs “Priyathama” and “Andalalo aho mahodayam”. That feminine grace Sridevi presents on screen and S Janaki in her vocals for charanam of “Yamaho ne yama andam” at “Nallani katuka petti, gajulu petti, gajja katti” is top class!!
“Kondaveeti Donga” is another hit movie where SPB SJ lip synced for hit dance scores of Chiranjeevi and his heroines Radha and Vijayasanthi on screen – “Sri Anjaneyam”,”Kolo Kolamma” and “Tip Topu Looku”.
“Jwala”,”Kirathakudu” and Bapu’s “manthri Gari Viyyankudu” are all musical albums.
K Chakravarty:
In terms of numbers, it was Chakravarthy who gave musical scores for maximum number of movies for Chiranjeevi. Their combination defined rhythm based dance songs.
“Idedo Golaga undi”/”Kashmiru Loyalao” and especially “Chakkani Chukkala” from blockbuster movie “Pasivadi Pranam” were all Chiru-Vijayasanthi dances on screen.
“Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu” was another hit with SPB_SJ all the way singing for dances of Chiranjeevi and Vijayasanthi dances on screen for Chakravarty’s tunes.
“Manchamesi Duppatesi (Kondaveeti Raja)” on Chiranjeevi-Vijayasanthi, “Kommekki Koosindi (Goonda)”/”Andhama Ala(Donga)”/”Idi Oka nandana vanamu(Adavi Donga)” on Chiranjeevi-Radha, “Nelalu nindina inta (Maga Maharaju)” on Chirnajeevi-Suhasini, “Niddurapove(Sangarshana)” on Chiranjeevi-Nalini, “Vannela Rani(Chakravarty)” on Chiranjeevi-Bhanupriya are some of Chakravarty-Balu-Janaki hits.
Raj-Koti:
Raj-Koti gave tunes with varied back ground scores that gave more scope for Chiranjeevi to explore his dancing skills. Their combination gave more hits in 90’s.However their early songs of 80’s in Khadi no 786, Trinetrudu, Lankeswarudu, Yamudiki Mogudu etc… had Janaki’s energetic perfomances in her ever young vocals.
Rare Combinations:
K V Mahadevan/Ramesh Naidu gave extremely melodious scores for k Viswanth’s movies of Chiranjeevi in 80’s.
Satyam occasionally composed and gave good songs for Janaki. Especially “Etu Mooga Ghosha” from “Nakili Manishi” is an underrated gem from them. Chiranjeevi’s performance with different shades and S Janaki’s vocal prowess were explored to best here.
Bappi lahri’s hit “One Two three” from Sate Rowdy, Chandra sekhar’s tunes for “Yama Kinkarudu”, Shankar Ganesh’s songs for “Love in Singapore”, SPB’s tunes for “magadheerudu”, JV Raghavulu’s “Aakesi” from “Devanthakudu” are few more rare songs.
Melodious Solos:
“Sinni Sinni Korikaladaga(“Swayam Krushi),”Nee Mooga Veenai(Kirathakudu)”,”Amma Kade Bujji kade naa pai kopama(Manthri gari viyyankudu)”,”Evevo Kalalu Kannanu(Jwala)”,”Jaya Jaya priya Bharata Jayaithri(Rakshasudu)”, “Hai janku jama(Aaradhana)” are some of Janaki’s hit solos with variety of emotions from his movies.
Romantic Duets:
“Emani ne cheli paaduduno(Manthri Gari Viyyankudu)”,”Siggu Poobanthi(Swayam Krushi)”,”Malli Malli idi Rani Roju(Rakshasudu)”,”Urakalai Godavari(Abhilasha)”,”Nee pere pranayama(Kirathakudu)”, “Kommeki koosindi Koyilamma(Goonda)”,”Andama Ala Ala(Donga)”,”Jaali Jaali sande gaali(Yudha Bhoomi)”, “Guvva Gorikantha(Khaidi no 786)”,”Kalalo pettani muddulu pettu(Athaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu)” are some of those evergreen duets which are played repeatedly in radios and cd/cassette compilations.
Rain songs for some reason occupy a special place in telugu cinema. “Vana Vana vandanam(Adavi Donga)”, “Bhama Ee Thippalu thappavu(Challenge)”,”Vanajallu gilluthunte(Yamudiki Mogudu”) gives us the same chill of rain every time we listen to them.
Duets with Mano though lesser in number became extremely popular. “Jivvumani Kondagali” from “Lankeswarudu” is one such number.
Sensuous Songs:
Not only melodious, emotional and dance numbers but Sensuous songs by Janaki were also hits in his movies. “Manase Maikam” from Challenge must be one for her best songs in this genre. “Donga Raara dochukora(Prema Pichollu) on Radhika”, “Bed light thagginchana(Manchi Donga)” on Vijayasanthi, “Amma Amma emito”(Raktha Sindhooram) on Radha, “Nee Meeda naa gali (Vijetha)” on Bhanupriya, “Atu Amalapuram(Khaidi no 786)”/”Monna Rathiri(Hero)”/”Gundelu Theesina Bantu(Goonda)”/”Oye Maa Oye Maa(Kirathakudu)”/”Aaksam bhoomi kalise aata(Kirathakudu)”on Silksmitha, “Yedava Vatti yedava(Maha Nagaram lo mayagadu)” on Jyothi Lakshmi, “Ettetta aadisthavo” on Jayamalini, “Thoogo Jilla” on Anuradha are few other such songs.Listen to Janaki’s vocal acrobatics in “Thappuko Thappuko” from Yamakinkaarudu.. It is such a thrill..! Last song that Janaki sang in his movies, the super hit “Rajasekhara(Mugguru MOnagallu” on Roja was also sensuous song.
Dubbed Movies:
When his movies were dubbed into Hindi and Tamil, Janaki sang there as well. As of today, “Kolai karan (Donga)”, “Kattu Raja(Advai Donga)”, “Kathal Devathai(Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka sundari)” are some Tamil dubbed movies with S Janaki songs being available.Similarly, she sang all songs of “State Rowdy” when it was dubbed into Hindi.
When ever they meet on stage they share same mutual admiration. She would make sure to sing “Nee Meeda naku idayyo” expressing her love and affection to him and he would respond back how blessed he is to be with her on stage and to perform for all those lovely songs!!
These 150 songs with such a variety are daily routines for admirers of both Chiranjeevi and S Janaki..!
| Movie | Song | Year |
| Pranam Khareedu | Nomallo Mamilla thota kada | 1978 |
| I Love You | Oka Matundi | 1979 |
| I Love You | Najuku Nalo undi | 1979 |
| I Love You | Ninne kori unnadi ra | 1979 |
| Kothala Rayudu | Go Go Go mister | 1979 |
| Kothala Rayudu | Puvulloyi | 1979 |
| Aarani Mantalu | Nee soku na soku | 1980 |
| Aarani Mantalu | Kammani Na Pata | 1980 |
| Jathara | Konasaeema Kodegitha | 1980 |
| Jathara | Valapulul pongi | 1980 |
| Nakili manishi | Etu Mooga Ghosha | 1980 |
| Nakili manishi | Bomma Borusa | 1980 |
| Love in Singapore | Ololi Ololi | 1980 |
| Love in Singapore | Cham Cha | 1980 |
| Love in Singapore | Chilakamma | 1980 |
| Prema Natakam | Koonalamma Kulikindante | 1981 |
| Parvathi Parameswarulu | Nada Nilayude Sivudu | 1981 |
| Parvathi Parameswarulu | Sada Sudha Maya | 1981 |
| Parvathi Parameswarulu | Toli Mojulo Chali Rojulo | 1981 |
| Parvathi Parameswarulu | Naa Jeeva Veena pai | 1981 |
| Priya | Naa hrudayama | 1981 |
| Subhalekha | Vinnapaalu Vinavale Vintavintalu | 1982 |
| Subhalekha | Nee Jada Kucchulu | 1982 |
| Subhalekha | Oho Taddhimi Takajhanu | 1982 |
| Subhalekha | Marugelaraa O Raaghavaa | 1982 |
| Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu | Neekunnadhe Kaastha | 1982 |
| Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu | Sankaraa Gangaadharaa | 1982 |
| Yamakinkarudu | Oye Maa | 1982 |
| Yamakinkarudu | Thappuko Thappuko | 1982 |
| Manchu Pallaki | Meghama Dehama | 1982 |
| Prema Pichollu | Donga Raraa | 1983 |
| Prema Pichollu | E Muddabanthi | 1983 |
| Abhilasha | Navvindi Malle Chendu | 1983 |
| Abhilasha | Urakalai Godavari | 1983 |
| Abhilasha | Sande Poddula Kada | 1983 |
| Abhilasha | Vela Pala Ledu | 1983 |
| Abhilasha | Banthi Chamanthi | 1983 |
| Aalaya Sikharam | Ammaku challa | 1983 |
| Maga Maharaju | Nelalu Nindina | 1983 |
| Roshagadu | Chinnadani Konachoppu | 1983 |
| Roshagadu | Yavvanam Neeku Swagatham | 1983 |
| Mantri Gari Viyyankudu | Emani Ne Cheli Paduduno | 1983 |
| Mantri Gari Viyyankudu | Sala Sala Nanu Kavvinchanela | 1983 |
| Mantri Gari Viyyankudu | Manasa Sirasa | 1983 |
| Mantri Gari Viyyankudu | Ammagade Bujjigade | 1983 |
| Sangharshana | Niddurapove | 1983 |
| Sangharshana | Mama Miyya | 1983 |
| Goonda | Gundalu Teesina | 1984 |
| Goonda | Kommekki Kusindi | 1984 |
| Hero | Monna rathiri | 1984 |
| Hero | Ettetta adisthavo | 1984 |
| Hero | kasi lo ne puttanu | 1984 |
| Hero | Devathalara | 1984 |
| Devanthakudu | Akesi | 1984 |
| Mahanagaram lo mayagadu | Thoogo Jilla | 1984 |
| Mahanagaram lo mayagadu | Yedava Vatti yedava | 1984 |
| Challenge | Induvadana | 1984 |
| Challenge | Om Santhi | 1984 |
| Challenge | Manase Mykam | 1984 |
| Challenge | Bhama Ee Thippalu | 1984 |
| Challenge | Sayamkalam Sagarateeram | 1984 |
| Donga | Andhama Ala | 1985 |
| Donga | Thappanaka | 1985 |
| Donga | Idhi Pandhem | 1985 |
| Jwala | Evevo Kalalu kannanu | 1985 |
| Jwala | Kaliki chiluka | 1985 |
| Jwala | Yennela yennela | 1985 |
| Puli | Kanda Choosi | 1985 |
| Puli | O Maavayya | 1985 |
| Rakta Sindhuram | Amma ammamma Emito | 1985 |
| Adavi Donga | Idhi Oka Nanadanavanamu | 1985 |
| Adavi Donga | Om Namashivaya | 1985 |
| Adavi Donga | Vana Vana Vandanam | 1985 |
| Vijetha | Nee Meeda | 1985 |
| Vijetha | 6 o’ Clock | 1985 |
| Kirathakudu | Nee Pere Pranayama | 1986 |
| Kirathakudu | Sampinga Muddu | 1986 |
| Kirathakudu | Oka Muddu Chalu | 1986 |
| Kirathakudu | Nee Mugaveenai Mogena | 1986 |
| Kirathakudu | Akasam Bhumi Kalise | 1986 |
| Kondaveeti Raja | Manchamesi | 1986 |
| Kondaveeti Raja | Yala Yala | 1986 |
| Kondaveeti Raja | Anganga Veerangame | 1986 |
| Magadheerudu | Jatha Kalise Iddharam | 1986 |
| Magadheerudu | Mana Jeevithaalu | 1986 |
| Magadheerudu | Mana Jeevithaalu(solo) | 1986 |
| Veta | Singari Eedu | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Hey Naughty | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Malli Malli | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Acha Acha | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Giliga Gili | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Nee Meeda | 1986 |
| Rakshasudu | Jaya Jaya | 1986 |
| Chanakya Shapatham | Mellaga Alluko | 1986 |
| Chanakya Shapatham | Soku Thotalo | 1986 |
| Chanakya Shapatham | Vedi Vedi Valapulu | 1986 |
| Donga Mogudu | Kokamma Cheppama | 1987 |
| Donga Mogudu | Nee Kokakkentha | 1987 |
| Aradhana | Are Emaindhi | 1987 |
| Aradhana | Theeganai Mallenai | 1987 |
| Aradhana | Emauthundhi | 1987 |
| Aradhana | Hai Jamaku Jamu | 1987 |
| Chakravarthy | Vannelarani | 1987 |
| Chakravarthy | Mokkajonna | 1987 |
| Pasivadi Pranam | Idedo Golaga | 1987 |
| Pasivadi Pranam | Kashmiri Loyalo | 1987 |
| Pasivadi Pranam | Chakkani Chukkala | 1987 |
| Swayamkrushi | Chinni Chinni Korikaladaga | 1987 |
| Swayamkrushi | Hello Hello Darling | 1987 |
| Swayamkrushi | Paaraahushaar | 1987 |
| Swayamkrushi | Siggu Poobanti | 1987 |
| Swayamkrushi | Kamudu Kamudu | 1987 |
| Jebu Donga | Hawa Hawai Choopokati | 1987 |
| Jebu Donga | Pora Kuyya | 1987 |
| Manchi Donga | Mudde Pettamantava | 1988 |
| Manchi Donga | Bedlight thagginchana | 1988 |
| Manchi Donga | Kannukotte Vade | 1988 |
| Yamudiki Mogudu | Vanajallu Gillutunte | 1988 |
| Yamudiki Mogudu | Kanne Pillatoti | 1988 |
| Khaidi No. 786 | Guvva Gorinka Tho | 1988 |
| Khaidi No. 786 | Righto Atto Ito | 1988 |
| Khaidi No. 786 | Atu Amalapuram | 1988 |
| Khaidi No. 786 | Chali Gali Kottindamma | 1988 |
| Trinetrudu | Love Me | 1988 |
| Trinetrudu | Naatu Kottudu | 1988 |
| Trinetrudu | Ompula | 1988 |
| Yuddha Bhoomi | Jaali Jaali sandeh gali | 1988 |
| Yuddha Bhoomi | Gaalochi Thakindi | 1988 |
| Yuddha Bhoomi | Vayasonamaha | 1988 |
| Yuddha Bhoomi | Emiti Eppudu Ekkada | 1988 |
| Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu | Digu Digu | 1989 |
| Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu | Kalalo Pettani muddulu | 1989 |
| Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu | Shantho Om Shanthi | 1989 |
| Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu | Tinguranga | 1989 |
| State Rowdy | One Two Three | 1989 |
| Lankeswarudu | Jivvumani Kondagali | 1989 |
| Lankeswarudu | Kanne Pilla vediki | 1989 |
| Lankeswarudu | Padaharella Vayasu | 1989 |
| Kondaveeti Donga | Kola Kolamma | 1990 |
| Kondaveeti Donga | Tip Top Look | 1990 |
| Kondaveeti Donga | Sri Anjaneyam | 1990 |
| Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari | Priyatama | 1990 |
| Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari | Yamaho | 1990 |
| Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari | Andalalo | 1990 |
| Raja Vikramarka | Ellelo | 1990 |
| Stuartpuram Police Station | Iddaarathivala | 1991 |
| Stuartpuram Police Station | Cheekatante | 1991 |
| Mugguru Monagallu | Rajasekharaa | 1994 |