KOZHIKODE: Popular singer Machad Vasanthi passed away on Sunday. She was 81. The veteran singer was undergoing treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital due to age-related ailments.

Vasanthi dealt with a series of road accidents which put her into bed for so long. The singer earned a place in Malayalees hearts through popular theatre songs. She has even acted in many Malayalam movies.

She will be widely remembered for humming ‘Pachaopanamthathe’, the hit song that came out from the combination of Baburaj and Ponkunnam Damodaran. Interestingly, she rendered it at the age of 13. Vasanthi also paired up with K J Yesudas in the film ‘Olavum Theeravum’. She even made a small but effective contribution to Mohanlal’s hit movie ‘Vadakkumnadhan’.

Vasanthi is the daughter of Machad Krishnan and Kalyani, former singers and radio artists. From nine years of age, Vasanthi started appearing on stage singing communist revolutionary songs. In one such event, the audience also had musician M S Baburaj in attendance and he was impressed by Vasanthi’s unreal cadence.

However, her debut ended futile as the movie never saw the light of the day. It didn’t take that long for Vasanthi to make a mark with Ramu Kariat’s ‘Minnaminugu’ in 1957.