Vani Jairam Talks About Her Padma Bhushan Award

Ahead of Republic Day 2023, the Government of India announced Padma Awards. Composer MM Keeravaani, singer Vani Jairam and actress Raveena Tandon received the awards this year. Veteran playback singer Vani Jairam was honoured with Padma Bhushan this year. Speaking to The Times of India, Vani said, "Given that it’s coming from the Government of India, I see this as a huge honour for me. Many who have been wishing for me tell me that it’s a delayed one and that I should have gotten it 10-15 years ago, but I don’t have any regrets and I’m very happy about it. I’m grateful and thankful to the government for having bestowed this award on me. I want to thank all the fans who have been listening to my songs for the past 52 years and encouraging me. My husband has been a pillar of strength and support for me."

She further added, "As artists, we should never rest on our laurels and feel content with the awards and honours that come our way. We have to keep on doing our work to the best of our ability and God will reward us for that. It’s been quite a long journey, and I want to thank all the producers, directors, music directors and songwriters for having given me so many lovely songs in so many languages — from Tamil and Hindi to Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi and other languages." Vani Jairam, born in Tamil Nadu in 1945, started her career in Hindi. She rose to fame with Guddi in 1971. Over the years, she sang in Telugu, Tamil and over a dozen languages.