Srinivas (singer)

Early life

Srinivas was born in Ambasamudram, Tamil Nadu, though his family moved and has since then lived his entire childhood in Thiruvananthapuram. He learnt Carnatic music from his aunt/guru Padma Narayanan, The great Carnatic stalwarts of the 60s influenced his early days.. After which Hindi film music chiefly that of Kishore Kumar-R.D.Burman deeply influenced him in his childhood days.{Later on it was the ghazals of Mehdi Hassan which redefined his singing

He completed his BTech from Bombay University, Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT, now known as ICT); during which he represented his university in youth festivals. After pursuing his career as a chemical engineer and a marketing professional for ten years, he decided to follow his passion for music.

Career

In 1988, Srinivas approached music director Ilaiyaraaja, who was at the helm of Tamil film music. He was offered the opportunity to work with Ilaiyaraaja, but things did not work out, as he was suffering from severe throat infection that day.

In 1992, the soundtrack of Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Roja reignited his dreams of playback singing. Mani Ratnam introduced composer A. R. Rahman with this movie, who then went on to change the music scene in the whole Indian film industry. Encouraged by the use of fresh voices in Roja, Srinivas approached Rahman. Rahman took a liking to his rendition of Mehdi Hassan's ghazals and offered him work at Chennai.

In 1994, Srinivas shifted base to madras and started lending his voice to advertisement jingles and devotional albums.

His first foray into playback singing began with the song "Sorgam Enbathu Namakku" with Swarnalatha from the movie Nammavar, acted by Kamal Haasan. Music was composed by late Mahesh. It went on to become a runaway hit.

Only in 1996 he did gain recognition with the song "Maana Madurai" from A. R. Rahman's Minsaara Kanavu. Then came "En Uyire" in Mani Ratnam's Uyire.. (the Tamil version of Dil Se..). This Rahman composition catapulted Srinivas into fame.

Srinivas has sung for leading music directors like A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, Deva, Vidyasagar, Bharadwaj, and in languages like Tamil, Malayalam, etc. He has made a foray into music direction through the Tamil movie Yai Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey, in which he was one among the five music directors. His composition "Ini Naanum naanillai" in that film is a major hit. His famous albums include Ussele Ussele and Paarvai. Also he has worked as a co-composer to Praveen Mani for Little John. He has composed music for Two Malayalam films titled Seetha Kalyanam & Train.

The playback singer from the south cut his first private album in Hindi titled Yeh Duniya Sab Ki. His other hits in Hindi include "Kaisi Hai Yeh" from Dil Chahta Hai and "Zindagi" from the film Yuvvraaj.

Srinivas is a close associate to A. R. Rahman from the very first day they got introduced. On working with Rahman, he says,

"There can be only one Rahman. Two years ago, he called me out of the blue to supervise his recordings. I consider it an honour. Earlier, he would be there to monitor every single take. I sometimes wonder if I can match his perfection standards," and adds, "He's at lightning speed when it comes to creativity and innovations. There are times when he compliments me and nothing feels as good as that. For me, it's like an award."

He was a judge on Airtel Super Singer, aired in Vijay TV along with Sujatha and Unnikrishnan. In 2010, he released an album: Timeless Classics by Srinivas. This was a tribute to Mehdi Hassan and included major ghazals of him sung by Srinivas. It was released on Saregama and was launched by A. R. Rahman.

In May 2011, he composed music for Jayaraj's Mammootty-starrer thriller The Train. In 2013, he composed music for the Tamil film 'Kangaroo'. He was also judging a famous music reality show named Josco Indian Voice, telecasted in Mazhavil Manorama alongside Sujatha and Sharreth.

He worked on a private album named 'Siragadippen', which featured top musicians such as M.S Viswanathan, SPB, Shankar Mahadevan and himself.

As of 2013 and 2014, his discography boasts of back to back hits from Superstar Rajinikanth's movies, Kochadaiiyaan and Lingaa. Kochadaiiyaan had him croon 'Idhayam', a pathos song and 'En Mannava', a romantic duet from Lingaa. His song 'Parakkiren Naan' for the Vijay Sethupathi starrer Mellisai was released in 2015, which had music by Sam CS.

in 2016, Srinivas released his single, 'Adadadadadaa Kadhaippoma', a song saluting the spirit of Tamils across the world. With lyrics by esteemed composer Ramesh Vinayakam, it was extremely well received and garnered a lot of praise. He also composed a single for Doopadoo titled 'Kozhai', with his daughter Sharanya Srinivas on the vocals. It had thought provoking lyrics by Madhan Karky.

Awards

Kerala state film awards

His song ‘Minsara Poove’ in ‘Padayappa’ won him the Tamil Nadu Government’s Award for the best Playback Singer . He won the Tamil Nadu state award again in 2008 for the song 'Margazhiyil' composed by Bharadwaj. He won the Cinema Express Award twice, the Dinakaran Award once, and the Film Fans Award twice for the best singer. He was also awarded the best playback singer at the International Tamil Film Awards held at Malaysia for the song ‘Apple Penne’ from Roja Kootam. He was conferred with the Kalaimamani Title by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2006, and Kerala State Award for the song ‘Baansuri’ from the movie ‘Rathri mazha’ . In Hindi films, he won the A.V Max Award for the best playback singer for his splendid rendering of the song ‘Kaisi He Yeh Rut’ from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’.

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Personal life

He has two daughters,Sharanya and Sunanda. His elder daughter Sharanya Srinivas is also a popular singer in the music industry.

Television