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A.R.Rahman Had played a very inportant role in THESE singers,check it out!

Topic started by dinesh scaran (@ 210.186.42.59) on Sun Oct 6 01:59:41 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

T K Karthik

With some of the hottest numbers in town, including two biggies from Baba, MCA kid-cum-playback singer, T K Karthik, is the latest hit with Tamil filmdom's music directors. Karthik comes from a family of bathroom singers.

When in college, he arranged to meet singer Srinivas, who happens to be his best friend's cousin. "To me, he was big. I am a fan of A R Rahman and Srinivas was his singer. He asked me to sing and liked what he heard". Srinivas eventually turned out to be Karthik's link to Rahman, he says.

He remembers the dates well. "It was December 17, 1999. Until then, I had never stepped out of home after 8 pm. But that night, my friends and I had planned a midnight birthday party for a friend. It turned out that Rahman wanted me to sing a number that night, and Srinivas kept calling home. It was about 11-45 pm. My parents couldn't reach me. Srinivas finally told them that if I was lucky, I would call him in 10 minutes. Otherwise... Somehow, I got in touch with home and called him immediately. It was past midnight on December 18''. He was just in time in Rahman's studio for the recording.

Rahman was like my demi-God, and there he was... in front of me. I was nervous but Rahman helped me, cracking jokes and all. He is a lot of fun when you know him personally. He had been called for a chorus track for Pukar, which somehow was not released. It's a good sentiment, isn't it.

From then till about two years, I was doing only choruses for Rahman. It got me very popular in college. On January 31, 2001, Rahman asked me and others in the group to sing an Aalap. Next day, he called me to record for Nendikitten from Star. It was his first solo. Karthik has since then done tracks for Ilayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Bharadwaj, Vidhyasagar, Deva and others. Most often though, he's not told which movie or actor he is singing for. "But when I was singing for Baba, I knew I was singing for Rajnikanth and was very conscious. I had to get it right".

Source- The Hindu, Aug 2002

If you ask T K Karthik what the best part about being a playback singer is, he will talk about the countries he got to see...not the 40-odd film songs he has sung covering Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada movies or the bunch of numbers under his favourite music director A R Rahman. Tuning into Karthik is not very difficult. He is the boy next door, 22, once a part of a college band, who gradually shifted from college audi to Rahman's studio as a chorus member.

" I just had one recording a month in the whole of 2000," he recalls. But lots of stories to tell his friends after the experience. For this DG Vaishnav College student, things started changing after he met singer Srinivas. "I used to keep in touch with him and he used to give me a lot of pointers." says Karthik. He took the tips seriously and it wasn't long before Srinivas put him onto Rahman.

But when Karthik sang Nendikitten in Star, he didn't know what was happening. I was singing the track and had no clue if Rahman would use my voice," he says. Rahman finally clued him in and Karthik's solo singing career took off. Karthik insists life has always been like that for him - unplanned. He learned Carnatic music for a year and then discontinued. Then he joined ghazal classes. Now, it is Hindustani classical music for him, his teacher being noted singer Sriram Parasuram. "I was always passionate about Hindustani music," he says. So after 13 years Karthik is learning what he always wanted to. "I was raw when when I started," he recalls. "My Carnatic training taught me the fundamentals, singing ghazals helped with voice culture and Hindustani has widened my pitch and outlook. I think it is never too late to learn." And all through his parents (absolute music lovers) gave him all the support they could. "They have no clue how a recording happens. They just see me go out to record and come back with money," he says.

In between the studios and stage shows, Karthik says, he managed to complete his B Com and is now hoping to finish a Master's at the University of Madras. Like he said, it's never too late to learn.

Some of his recent numbers are Aval Ulaga Azhagiyae from Laysa Laysa, Vaada Machan from Run, Maya Maya and Shakthi Kodu from Baba and a number in Five Star.

Source: YES- The New Indian Express dated, September 27, 2002

Some of his Hit songs are:

Song: Film:
Nendikitten Star
Krishna Krishna Dumm dumm dumm
Moondrezhuthu Kettavaarthai Paarthale Paravasam
Manjakaatu Maina Manathai Thirudivittai
Tamizha Tamizha Tamizhan
Yella Malaiyilum Ezhumalai
Oliyilae Therivadhu Azhagi
Anna Saalaiyil Roja Kootam
Sakthi Kodu Baba
Maya Maya Baba
Theradi veedhiyil Run
Ulaga Azhagiyae Laysa Laysa
Vaanila Kadhal Virus
Shora So Pahchaniye The Legend of Bhagat Singh


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Harish Raghavendra


His break into the Film world was first in the Telugu movie Panjaram . After a gap of 3 years he came back with a bang in the Tamil movie, Nirpadhuve Nadappadhuve from Bharathy, which was a turning point in his career. He entered the film industry when he was 18 years old. His first Tamil song was given to him in the film Arasiyal by Vidhyasagar. He draws his inspiration from the great maestros in the film industry.
A commerce graduate from the Vivekananda College in Chennai, Harish is doing his Mass Communication from the Azhagappa University. He is eager to work with A R Rahman.

Source: YES- The New Indian Express dated, October 5, 2001

Related Links
http://thirai.ambalam.com/biodata/2001/march/biodata23_03.html
Join his Fan Club @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/harishraghavendrafanclub
His mini comment on this site.

Some of his Hit songs are:

Song: Film:
Nirpadhuve Nadappadhuve Bharathy
Dhesingu Raja Dumm dumm dumm
Azhagiya Theeyae Minnale
Mudhal Kanavae Majnu
Mellinamae Shahjahan
Ava Kanna Paartha Charlie Chaplin
En Nenjil Dheena
Kaadhalenum Jorula Tamizh
Yaamini Yaamini Aye Nee Romba Azhaga Irukkey
Vasantha sena Sri
Sakkarai Nilavae Youth
Minsaram en meedhu Run
Pondy Bazaar Arpudam


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Devan Ekambaram


When Devan Ekambaram got a call from Swaminathan, one of A R Rahman's assistants, saying that the celebrated Music Director wanted him to drop in at his studio, Devan took it lightly thinking it was a joke. But after Swaminathan called thrice, he could not ignore any longer. The next thing Devan did was to call Kanchana, Rahman's elder sister. when she confirmed that Swaminathan was indeed Rahman's assistant, Devan lost no time. He rushed to Rahman's studio and within a span of few hours, he was singing the song, O Maria O Maria for the Tamil movie Kadhalar Dinam.

Devan's foray into the Tamil music scene was incidental. Though O Maria O Maria might have been his launch-pad into the film world, Ore Nyabagam from Minnale brought him fame. Later he was approached by the Music Maestro Ilayaraja for the movie Time. Devan was thrilled to work with him. Then came Smayiyai from Kandukondain Kandukondain which was a hit. Then came Macarena from Kushi. His recent hits are, Ichatha Ichatha from Run, May Madha megham from Shahjahan, Yuktha Mookhey from Poovellam Un Vaasam. Till today Devan has sung for 80 films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada with 90 songs under his belt. He also has handled Rahman's concerts abroad.

Source: YES- The New Indian Express dated, April 5, 2002

Some of his popular numbers are:

Song: Film:
O Maria O Maria Kadhalar Dinam
Ore Nyabagam Minnale
Smayiyai Kandukondain Kandukondain
Macarena Kushi
May Madha Shahjahan
Yuktha Mookhey Poovellam Un Vaasam
Ichatha Ichatha Run
Sakhiyae poagadhey King

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Srinivas


It was more than just a calling for him to leave his well-settled career in Bombay as a chemical engineer and pursue his dream to become a singer. Gifted with a versatile voice that can fluctuate between melodious and trendy tunes, he is quite a favourite with most of the music directors. Srinivas, the man with the voice who gave the voltage to the song Minsara Poove in Padayappa and who made you go Ooh la la la in Minsara Kanavu.

His first song was given to him by composer Mahesh for the Tamil film Nammavar starring Kamal Hassan. Luckily for him, the song Sorkkam enbadhu namakku was a hit, and Srinivas career took off. To date, Srinivas has sung for all the leading composers of the South, including Ilayaraja and Deva to name a few and Jatin-Lalit in Hindi. His recent hits were from the film Pammal K Sambantham, Roja Kootam, Aye Nee Romba Azhaga Irukkey (in which he composed and sang the song Ini Naanum naan illai) to name a few. Right from the start, Srinivas says he was keen to sing for Rahman, after he heard his haunting score in Roja. He says, "I went and met Rahman, and expressed my strong desire to sing for him. Rahman was very encouraging, and tried me out. He must have liked my singing, because he has asked me to sing for him regularly. And some of my careers best numbers have been for Rahman". The singer is impressed with Rahman's dedication to music. "He's totally absorbed in his music, and there's nothing else that affects him", says Srinivas in praise of the maverick composer, "For him music is God". A die-hard fan of Ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan, and also addicted to R D Burman, Kishore Kumar hits, Srinivas has earlier sung for a couple of Hindi albums like Pagalpan and Ehsaas.

Recounting his experiences he says, "In 1992, in Coimbatore, was when I went to see Mani Rathnam's Roja because it was a Mani Rathnam movie. Dreams of playback singing had taken a back seat; I was in Coimbatore and travelling and didn't know how to approach it now. I was just taken aback by the freshness of Roja's music. After a long time, I had bought a Tamil film audio cassette. This new person, Rahman, had introduced so many singers; the re-entry of Sujatha, Hariharan , Minmini and Unni Menon. Immediately, I realized that this person has an attitude towards introducing new artists, his music sounds fresh and he was definitely here to stay! On one of my official trips to Chennai, I got hold of Rahman's address and went to see him directly. At that time, he was very accessible (he had just started working on Pudhiya Mugam). He conducted a voice test; I sang a Mehdi Hassan Ghazal and he liked it. I mentioned that I lived in Coimbatore and he said that if I moved to Chennai, he might be able to work with me. By the time I came to Chennai in 1994-95, he had shot through the roof! The gates had become bigger at Rahman's place. It was difficult to even get through to his office. With persistence and a little bit of luck, I was finally able to see him again. As soon as he saw me, he remembered. That's Rahman!.. He's human... and he's got GOD inside him as well! He slowly started giving me singing assignments. Rahman's approach is totally different which now many people have started following. For example, Raja Sir has the whole thing in his mind from the very beginning. You don't have a doubt about what you should sing and you better not!. Two totally different schools of music. With Rahman, when you go in, nothing is ready. He just feeds in some basic chords. When you listen to them on your headphones, you are transported to some other world. Within two minutes, he creates a masterpiece of a loop. Those chords are just magic. You feel like singing so much! He incredibly motivates you when singing, which is also the reason why artists (singers and instrumentalists alike) give him the very best".

Related Links
Official Home
Source: Gopal Srinivasan's Home Page


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Sujatha


She hails from a family that is deeply interested in music. She started singing at the age of seven with the legend Jesudas and after completing almost 2000 stage shows as ‘Baby Sujatha’, she ventured into playback singing for a Malayalam film at the age of 12. Having lost her father at the age of two her mother could not accompany her to Chennai, where most of the recordings took place . So she lost out on a lot of opportunities. After getting married to Dr Krishna Mohan, she took a sabbatical from singing in films. But during the break she learned Hindustani music and, it was the noted director Priyadarshan who brought her back into playback singing with Chitram. It was A R Rahman, who gave her the big break in Tamil with the song Puthu Vellai Mazhai in Roja which got noticed and then there was that haunting Nettru Illatha Matram.. from Pudiya Mugam. The seven wonders song, Athisayam.. from Jeans and the bubbly number Poo Pookkum Osai.. from Minsara Kanavu established her as a singer in Tamil. She admits that Rahman is the main reason for whatever she has achieved so far. She is also thankful to the all the music directors who gave her work like Ilayaraja, Vidhyasagar, S A Rajkumar, Deva, Bharadwaj and others. She has sung a lot of hit numbers under them. Sujatha, has never sounded better than she does off late, as she has sung some of the recent chartbusters in Tamil, like Kadhal Pisase... from Run, Vanden Vanden... from Panchanthandiram, Enne.. Thalattum..Sangeetham..from Unnai Ninaithe and the Sakalakala Vallavane... from Pammal K Sambantham, Aye! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukkey, Five Star and many more.

One of the songs that lingers on everybody’s lips is the Maya..Maya.., duet sung by Sujatha and Karthik in Baba. Rahman had sent the tunes of Maya Maya over the Internet sitting in London and all instructions were given from there. Herself and Karthik were sitting in Rahman’s studio in Chennai going through Vaali's lyrics. Rahman sent the tune over the Internet and the recording was done. Immediately he made the corrections and returned. She was amazed by the power of the net and the way Rahman composed it. A R Rahman was very impressed, and asked her to sing the Telugu version of the song also. Sujatha invests a certain amount of vigour to this conventional number that sparkles with depth. The ever-smiling Sujatha with her simple and charming ways and down-to-earth behaviour is definitely one of the leading female playback singers down South. Her simple and charming looks will enamour one and all. Today Sujatha Mohan is one of the top female playback singers in South India. Sujatha has won the Kerala State award twice for Azagia Ravanan and Pranaya Varnagal , the Tamil Nadu state award 2 times and the Asianet award, besides bagging the film critics’ award 8 times. She has sung in all four south Indian languages and her Hindi numbers in films like Pukaar, Taal, Sapnay were also top of the chart. Now after completing almost 2000 songs in all languages.

Source: Sify Interviews


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Sriram Parthasarathy


Sriram Parthasarathy - vocalist, veena-ist, Harmonium-ist, just about everything musical. Sriram, not a total new-comer. For he is already well known for his rendering of Vendum Vendum (Dhill) and Umma (Vedham) and of course, Dhind Dhind Tara (Poovellam un Vaasam). He hails from a musically gifted family. Now 20, Vidhyasagar gave him a break in Vedham, then Dhill & Poovellam un Vaasam. His recent song under Rahman is is Naliravil Kaithi from Paarthale Paravasam under A R Rahman.
He has also lent his voice for various ad' jingles.
In 1997, he was awarded the Best Vocalist of Chennai District. Among the numerous awards that he has received, he cherishes the awards received from Music Academy in 2000 - Best Vocalist and Best concert award - the most.
He is currently doing his BA (Music) final year from the University of Madras and plans to pursue his MA. His advice to youngsters is Practice makes a man perfect. Don't leave practice even if there is a scarcity of chances.

Source YES- The New Indian Express dated, November 23, 2001


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S P B Charan


He spent most of his childhood in Chennai and after he passed out of St. John's School, He enrolled at Briarcliff at Westchester in New York. His only connections with India were through films and film music. He watched a lot of Tamil films. Musically America is amazing in its variety - Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and of course, Pop. He considers his father, S P Balasubramiam as his guru. Some of his Hits are Deepangal Pesum from Devadhai and Kaadhal Sadugudu Alai Payuthey.

Source: The Tamil Film Music Page Portal


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Jayachandran


He is a singer in the mould of Jesudas, with good Tamil pronunciation and diction. He has good base voice and sings with lot of involvement. He gets very few chances to sing these days, but still his success ratio is really high. Ilayaraja used to give lots of good songs to him in the beginning. Recently, Rahman used him to give hits like En mel vizhuntha mazhaithuliye from May Madham and Thennayile. His recent Hit is Oru deivam thandha poovae from the movie Kannathil Muthamittal and Rajiyama from Baba.

Source: The Tamil Film Music Page Portal


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Vasundara Das


How did singing for A R Rahman happen? She came to Chennai with the intention of doing some quality singing. Her search led her to Pravin Mani, a Canada based music producer, as he calls himself. His main interest was that she sing in Fla, Emco Latino and Gypsy styles of Spanish music. She has been learning Spanish for a year now, and is still not fluent at speaking it but, she is sure she can sing it. Pravin and she cut a demo, and saw that the music was flowing. Its he who introduced Vasundara to A R Rahman. After she finished shooting in Hey! Ram, Rahman called her in to sing Shakalaka Baby for the movie Mudhalvan and its Telugu Okke Okkudu. The song marks a guest appearance by Sushmita Sen. She has also sung for Rhythm, Kushi, Little John and others. She has been working with other music composers like Harris Jayaraj and Deva to name a few. Her recent hit is Ye Ye Enachu, from Kadhal Virus for A R Rahman.

http://www.geocities.com/tamillyricsonline/tamilsingers.htm

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: curses (@ 219.65.109.195) on: Sun Dec 22 03:12:19 EST 2002
  
  Hey dont forget "En mel vizhuntha" from May maatham too!
  
  
• From: Reetha R. Menon (@ ) on: Mon Feb 24 05:00:17 EST 2003
  
  I am a budding female singer and is well-known in Palakkad,Kerala for my singing talent. I am looking forward for a break in getting singing assignments in malayalam movies and TV serials.
  Reetha R. Menon
  
  

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