| Santha P. Nair | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1929 |
| Origin | Thrissur, Kerala |
| Died | 2008 July 26 |
| Genres | playback singing |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1951-1967 |
Shantha P. Nair (born September 1929) was a playback singer in Malayalam cinema. She is based in Thrissur, Kerala.
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Born into the famous Ambady family in Thrissur, as one of the five children of Vasudeva Poduval and Lakshmi, Santha Poduval showed her potential at a very young age.She got her education From Queen Mary's College, Chennai.[1]
She was working in All India Radio in calicut before entering playback singing.She entered Malayalam films industry through Thiramala in (1953),her first song 'Ammathan thankakudame' (by music director Vimal Kumar) was a lullaby.She sang in hundreds Malayalam films from 1951 to 1967 and immortalised many songs including 'Unarunaroo Unikkanna', 'Kadavathu Thoniyaduthappol', 'Poove nalla poove,' `Kuruvikalai uyaraam' and 'Kadavathu thoni aduthapol' with her mellifluous voice. She was equally proficient in Carnatic music and held many concerts, which she used to end with light music.[2] And once in the absence of Salil Chowdhury, she composed a tune for Ramu Kariat. Salilda after hearing it insisted that it be retained without changes in the final release. The song was Makkathu poi varum maanathe. She also did the chorus for Salilda later in the Chemmeen songs.Her last song was in 1961 for V Chidambaranath’s film Murapennu Kadavathu thoni aduthapol along with S. Janaki.Shanta Nair won the Sangeet Natak Academy award in1987.
She was married to writer late Padmanabhan Nair. She died on 2008 at the age of 79, She is survived by her daughter.She got an opportunity to sing Vande Mataram before Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for an event.