Karthik (born 7 November 1980) is an Indian playback singer and composer. Karthik started his professional singing career as a backing vocalist and has since been working as a playback singer. He has sung more than 8000 songs in 10 Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Bengali, Marathi and Hindi.[1][unreliable source?][failed verification]
Karthik | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 7 November 1980 |
| Origin | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation(s) | Playback singer, Composer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Keyboard |
| Years active | 2000–Present |
Early and personal life
editKarthikeyan hails from Tiruvarur district. He is a trained Carnatic music vocalist. He was part of a college band and regularly participated in IIT Madras Fest Saarang. An ardent fan of A. R. Rahman, Karthik's dream was to meet Rahman and sing for him. Playback singer Srinivas, who collaborated often with Rahman was Karthik's close friend's cousin. Srinivas encouraged Karthik to look at singing as a career, which prompted Karthik to resume his singing lessons. One year later, Srinivas recommended Karthik's name to Rahman, who needed fresh voices for backing vocalists for a song from Pukar. Karthik eventually got the opportunity and recorded for the song. Having spent over a year being a backing vocalist, Karthik got his break during the Rahman's scoring of One 2 Ka 4. For the background score, A. R. Rahman wanted a high-pitched alap and he eventually chose Karthik to sing the alap. Soon after, Rahman asked him to sing the song "Nendhukittaen" from the film Star.
Karthik was a CA aspirant before he became a professional singer. He is married to Ambika, they have a daughter and a son.
Career
editKarthik has sung a number of songs for many popular music directors, including A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, Hamsalekha, Vidyasagar, Devi Sri Prasad, Harris Jayaraj and Manisharma, in several languages – Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. "Ennaku Oru Girlfriend" from the Tamil film Boys was one of the biggest hits of the year as was "Oru Maalai" (Ghajini; 2005). His songs for Telugu films for Kotha Bangaru Lokam (Nijanga Nenenaa), Happy Days (Arare Arare, Oh My Friend), "Badhulu Tochanai" (Mr.Perfect), "Manase Guvvai" (Naa Peru Shiva), "Oh Oh My Friend" (Oh My Friend), "Yedhuta nlichindhi choodu" (Vaana), "Meghama" (Journey), "Yevvaro" (Bodyguard) are popular. His other popular songs include "Mundhinam Paarthene" and "Ava Enna", both from Vaaranam Aayiram (2009), the title track from Unnale Unnale, "Behka" from Ghajini.
Karthik has sung Kannada songs and has many super hit chart buster songs to his credit like Ale Ale, Anuraaga Aralo Samaya, Thangaliyalli Theli Hode, Nee Chummu Chummu Munjaaneli, Manasaithu Ninna Myaale, Sum Sumne Yaako, Hosadondu hesaridu Nanange, Kanne Koodiruvaaga, Madhumasa, Nenapidu Nenapidu, Thanthaane Thannamthaane, Baruve Odi Odi Nalidu, Raktha Sambandhagala, Saluge Saluge, Mannige Mara Bhaarave and many more.
In 2010, he sang a track "Behene De", from Hindi film Raavan, which is widely considered as the biggest song in his career.[2] The track, which topped music charts for many continuous weeks, also received rave critical reviews.[2]
The song Yayum Ngayum from the album Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil is considered as one of Karthik's career best for the way how he has brought sensuality to the 2000 year old poetry. He received wide appreciations for the theme song of 10th World Tamil Conference from the same album Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil. The album was featured in Amazon's Top#10 International Music albums in July 2020.[3][4]
Television
editComposing
editHe has composed music for a multi lingual Coca-Cola Advertisement (for Rajeev Menon featuring actor Vijay)[5] and Prince Jewellery advertisements. He is the music director of Vasanthabalan's period film Aravaan and Srinivas Raga's Okkadine starring Nara Rohit and Nithya Menen in Telugu.
He has also released an album called "Music I Like". It is based on carnatic ragaas and it is a contemporary take on some well known keerthanas. The orchestration was done by the music director Sai Madhukar.[6]
He is the composer of the segment 'Guitar Kambi mele Nindru' directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon in the Netflix anthology movie Navarasa (2021). He has also composed music for an upcoming film "Joshua Imai Pol Kaakha".
Discography
editAs composer
edit| Year | Title | Language |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Aravaan | Tamil |
| 2013 | Okkadine | Telugu |
| 2015 | Courier Boy Kalyan | |
| 2016 | Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum (2016)[7] | Tamil |
| 2020 | Paava Kadhaigal | |
| 2021 | Kutty Story (Edhirpaara Muththam) | |
| Navarasa | ||
| 2024 | Joshua Imai Pol Kaakha | |
| Appudo Ippudo Eppudo | Telugu |
- The films are listed in order that the music released, regardless of the dates the film released.
- The year next to the title of the affected films indicates the release year of the either dubbed or remade version in the named language later than the original version.
- • indicates original language release. Indicates simultaneous makes, if featuring in more languages
- ♦ indicates a remade version, the remaining ones being dubbed versions
As independent musician
editKarthik is a part of a band called Arka which is a contemporary fusion band.
Arka denotes the Sun in Sanskrit and to rightly interpret the meaning, it is the warmth and radiance of music that spreads across everyone listening. With the exclusive intention of extending a new musical outreach, few renowned artists in unison have created this band and intend to broaden the horizons of Indian fusion music.
Arka is the epicenter of an erupting musical form with core and artists like Karthik, SelvaGanesh, Gino Banks, Ravichandra Kulur, Santhosh Chandran, Mishko M'Ba, and guest artists like the legends Vikku Vinayakaram and Swaminathan.
As dubbing artist
editDubbed and sang for the character Aladdin for its 2019 version. He also lent his voice to Allu Arjun for the Tamil dubbed version of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, and also rendered the songs for the same.
Controversies
editAs part of the #MeToo movement, Karthik was accused of sexual harassment in 2018 by several anonymous women. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada tweeted these allegations messaged to her by women who wished to remain anonymous.[8] Karthik responded to the allegations by tweeting "I want to put it out there that I have never intentionally acted in a way that would make anybody feel uncomfortable or unsafe. If anybody felt hurt because of any of my actions in the past, please reach out to me directly. I do believe in facing the consequences of one's actions. I fully support #MeToo and if there's truth in anybody's grievance, I shall be more than willing to apologise or face legal action because I don't want to ever leave a sour taste in anyone's life".[9]
Awards
edit| Year | Category | Language | Song | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Best Male Playback Award | Tamil | Oru Maalai | Ghajini |
| 2007 | Best Male Playback Award (Telugu) | Telugu | Arey Rey | Happy Days |
| 2008 | Best Male Playback Award | Telugu | Nijanga Nenena | Kotha Bangaru Lokam |
| 2009 | Best Male Playback Award | Tamil | Hasili Fisili | Aadhavan |
| 2010 | Best Male Playback Award | Tamil | Usure Poguthey | Raavanan |
| 2016 | Best Male Playback Award (Telugu) | Telugu | Yellipokey Shyamala | A Aa |
- Other Awards
| Year | Category | Song | Film | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | ITFA Best Male Playback Award | Oru Ooril | Kaakha Kaakha | Tamil |
| 2007 | Nandi Award for Best Male Playback Singer | Oh..My Friend | Happy Days | Telugu |
| 2008 | CineMAA Awards – Best Male Playback Singer | Telugu | ||
| 2009 | Tamil Isaiaruvi Music Awards 2010 | Hasili Fisili | Aadhavan | Tamil |
| 2009 | Vijay Awards 2010 | Tamil | ||
| 2010 | Asiavision Awards Best Male Playback Singer | Neelathamara | Neelathaamara | Malayalam |
| 2010 | Vijay Music Awards – Popular Singer Male | Usure Poguthey | Raavanan | Tamil |
| 2010 | Tamil Nadu State Film Awards – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback singer | Tamil | ||
| 2010 | Mirchi Music Awards South – Best Male Playback Singer | Tamil | ||
| 2011 | TSR TV9 National film awards – Best Playback Singer (Male) | Choosthunna | Mogudu | Telugu |
| 2012 | Amrita Film Awards 2012[10] – Versatile Singer[11] | various songs | Ordinary, Spanish Masala | Malayalam |
| 2012 | Ghantasala Puraskar Award[citation needed] – Young Achiever Award 2012 | |||
| 2012 | Mirchi Music Awards South – Best Male Playback Singer | Kaatrai Konjam | Neethane En Ponvasantham | Tamil |
| 2012 | Mirchi Music Awards South – Best Upcoming Music Director | Nila Nila | Aravaan | Tamil |
| 2013 | Globus Style Awards 2013[12] – Stylish Singer Award | Malayalam | ||
| 2013 | Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer | Janmandarangalil | Orissa | Malayalam |
| 2017 | Asiavision Awards Best Male Playback Singer | ee Kaatu | Adam Joan | Malayalam |
| 2018 | Mazhavil Music Awards -/Best Male Singer | Kadavathoru thoni | Poomaram | Malayalam |
| 2021 | SIIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer- Tamil | Anbe Anbin | Peranbu | Tamil |
References
edit- ^ "Amrita Film Awards will honour Singer Karthik today with the Best Versatile SInger Award". Amrita. Chennai, India. 5 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Karthik is on a high". The Times of India. 23 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ "உலக கலைஞர்களின், கணீர் குரலில் உலகத் தமிழ் ஆராய்ச்சி மாநாட்டு பாடல்". 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Sandham: Music Review". 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Karthik to score for Vijay – Behindwoods.com – Tamil Movies News – Karthik Vijay Rajiv Menon". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Music I Like – Buy online at. Landmarkonthenet.com (28 September 2011). Retrieved on 25 September 2012.
- ^ "Success as a singer never made me complete". The Times of India. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ Sripada, Chinmayi. "Chinmayi Sripada on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Singer Karthi finally responds to #MeToo allegations: Have never harassed anybody". India Today. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
- ^ "Amrita TV Film Awards". Amrita TV. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ "amrita tv film awards 2012 photos00-354.JPG – Kerala9.com". kerala9.com.
- ^ "Globus Style Awards 2013, Event Gallery, Globus Style Awards 2013, KS Ravikumar". behindwoods.com.
