 She is one of the best-known playback singers in India and has recorded nearly 48,000 songs in films, albums, TV and Radio including solos, duets and chorus songs in more than 17 languages including those native to India (mainly in Kannada, 
Malayalam,Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Odiya, Bengali, Tulu, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi, Assamese, Konkani and also in languages such as English, Japanese, Latin, Arabic, German, Sinhala, French, Bangla, Russian and Chinese.Starting in 1957 with the Tamil film "Vidhiyin Vilayattu", her career has spanned over six decades.Janaki, who is fondly called "The Nightingale of South India", has won four National Film Awards and 33 different State Film Awards.