Trisha's emotional tribute brings S Janaki's deleted 96 cameo back into the spotlight: 'One of the greatest honours of my life'

Dubai: When news broke of S Janaki's death on Saturday, Trisha Krishnan, whose character in the 2018 hit 96 was named Janaki after the singer, shared photographs from the time they met on set, alongside a message calling it one of the greatest honours of her career.

Fans, meanwhile, went looking for something else entirely: a deleted scene from the film in which the real S Janaki appears on screen, in what is thought to be one of her only film appearances outside of playback singing.

Trisha posted the pictures on Instagram, writing, "Carrying your name in one of my most special films will forever be one of the greatest honours of my life. But knowing you and being loved by you is something I'll cherish forever." She went on to thank the singer for "your hugs, your kindness, your laughter," adding that Janaki had a way of reminding her "that the greatest artists are the humblest souls." The photos show Trisha, still in her character's trademark yellow kurta and blue scarf, hugging Janaki on set.

In 96, Trisha plays Janaki, known as Janu, a woman so devoted to the singer's music that she has a personal rule: she will only ever sing Janaki's songs. A scene shot for the film, and later cut from the final release, shows Janu and Vijay Sethupathi's character Ram stopping outside the real S Janaki's home in Chennai during a night out, hoping only for a photograph. Instead, the singer herself steps out and invites them in.

Once inside, Ram tells her that Janu sings her songs beautifully but refuses to sing anything else, even his own favourite. Janaki is delighted to learn the young woman in front of her shares her name, and gently pushes back on the superstition, telling her a truly beautiful song deserves to be sung, whoever wrote it. The scene, small as it is, quietly explains a moment that does make the final cut: later in the film, Janu finally breaks her rule and sings a different song for Ram, a shift the deleted footage makes sense of in hindsight.

Director C Prem Kumar has said the character was written with Janaki's voice and spirit in mind from the start, and that the film was, in its own way, intended as a tribute to her.

The scene was uploaded publicly not long after the film's original 2018 release, but has taken on new weight since Janaki's death, resurfacing widely alongside Trisha's tribute this week. 96 went on to become a commercial and critical hit, winning multiple Filmfare and SIIMA awards and later being remade in Kannada and Telugu, but it is this small, once-deleted moment, a legendary singer meeting the character named after her, that fans are returning to now.