Renowned South Indian playback singer Kalyani Menon passes away at 80

Renowned South Indian playback singer Kalyani Menon passed away on August 2, 2021, at the age of 80. According to Pinkvilla, the veteran classical and playback singer was undergoing treatment for paralysis at a private hospital that was located in Chennai. Reportedly, the final rituals and cremation will take place tomorrow on August 3, 2021, in Besant Nagar at 2 p.m. Celebrities have taken to their social media handles to pay tribute to the late classical singer. 

Veteran playback singer Kalyani Menon passes away

The news was confirmed by the PR of South Indian films, Nikil Murukan on his official Twitter handle. Murukan tweeted, "Dop & Director @DirRajivMenon, Mother Smt KalyaniMenon -80years passed away in A Private Hospital few minutes away Final Rituals and Cremation Tomorrow in Besant Nagar 2:00PM Heartfelt Condolences." Kalyani Menon was the mother of filmmaker Rajiv Menon and Karun Menon IRAS, who is a senior Civil Services Officer that works with the Indian Railways. 

Kalyani Menon has lent her vocals for over 100 songs. She has worked under the guidance of popular music composer and singer, AR Rahman during the 1990s and early 2000s. The list of popular Kalyani Menon's songs includes Vaadi Saathukodi, Indiraiyo Ival Sundariyo, Adhisaya Thirumanam, Alaipayuthey, Omana Penne, Kundanapu Bomma, Phoolon Jaisi Ladki among others. She has also appeared in Rajiv Menon's film, Kandukondain Kandukondain that was released in 2000, as Aishwarya Rai’s music tutor. 

As soon as the news was confirmed, many celebrities from the South Indian entertainment industry paid their tributes on their social media handle. Cinematographer Santosh Sivan dropped a monochrome throwback picture of Menon and expressed his condolences to the late singer's family. He wrote, "Legend Classical singer Smt Kalyani Menon .RIP She is mother of Rajiv Menon, my deep condolences to the family."

Sridevi Sreedhar also took to her Twitter handle and wrote, "#KalyaniMenon (80) classical and playback singer passes away in Chennai. She has sung over 100 songs in Tamil and Malayalam... @DirRajivMenon is her son." Sreedhar Pillai tweeted, "#RIP #KalyaniMenon, classical singer. My heartfelt condolences to her son @DirRajivMenon and rest of the family."

IMAGE: AR RAHMAN FANCLUB'S TWITTER