Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 25 (IANS): Playback singer G. Venugopal, who has sung in over 280 films and delivered hits like "Unarum ee gaanam", will be honoured for completing 30 years in the industry.

A musical evening titled Unarum Ee Ganam, inspired by his song, is being organised by the Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma Foundation to honour the 52-year-old singer, who has stood the test of time.

"The event will be held here on Jan 15. Legends like Yesudas, Hariharan, Jayachandran, Chithra, Sujatha and numerous other singers from across generations will take part in it," N.V. Ajith, programme director of the musical evening, told IANS.

"He started his career in the film industry by singing a Hindi song in 1984 Malayalam movie 'Odaruthammava Aalariyam' and since then he never looked back," Ajith added.

Venugopal hails from a family of gifted classical musicians and started learning music at an early age.

Despite having faced tough competition from his peers like Yesudas, Venugopal managed to sing in more than 280 films and has over 250 cassettes to his credit.

Some of his popular songs are "Unarum ee gaanam" from 1988 film "Moonnam Pakkam", "Thane poovitta moham" in "Sasneham", and "Onnam Raagam Paadi" in "Thoovanathumbikal".

A postgraduate in literature and journalism from Kerala University, he has won numerous awards, including the best playback singer (Kerala State) thrice and also the film critics award.