Latha Raju

Latha Raju (born 25 June 1951) is an Indian film singer and actress in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. Some of her popular Malayalam songs are "Pinchu Hridayam Devalayam" and "Manjakkilee Swarnakkilee Mayilppeelikkaattile Varnakkilee" from the film Sethubandhanam, "Ividuthe Chechikkinnale" (Azhakulla Saleena) and "Aaluvaappuzhakkakkareyoru Ponnambalam" (Aadyathe Kadha). She has also rendered songs in Tamil, Kannada and Tulu. She has dubbed for famous actresses like Suhasini, Shobhana, late Shobha and many other leading actresses in some of the landmark films in Malayalam. She has won Kerala Film Critics Award in 2003 for lifetime achievement. The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi awarded her the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 2009 for contributions to Malayalam light music. In 2019 Kerala Government honoured her for her outstanding contributions to Malayalam cinema and music. She worked in All India Radio / Dooradarshan in various capacities for 34 years. Was the Station Director of Chennai and Trivandrum Stations for many years and retired as Director of Marketing. Her very first released song which she sang when she was a child 'Onnamtharam Balloon Tharaam' (written by P. Bhaskaran and composed by M. B. Sreenivasan) became a sensational hit on the Social Media Reels in 2025, after 63 years of its release.