1. Chinmayi Sripaada
2. Andrea Jeremiah
It is sometimes fascinating to read about how film stars, especially in the South, get into the industry from totally diverse fields, and with no conscious intentions to be in movies. Andrea Jeremiah’s career seems to fit into this category. Her childhood ambition was to go for higher studies and get to become a psychiatrist. But music was always in the background, as she started learning classical Western piano when she was just eight, and she quickly showed her prowess when she formed her own troupe called Young Stars which also was a precursor for her later singing and music composing career.
...3. Hariharan
Hariharan is a renowned Indian singer, who sings mainly for Hindi and Tamil films. Born in 1955, he is a well-known Ghazal singer. He was also instrumental in bringing fusion music to India.
Colonial Cousins is the name given to Hariharan’s band, wherein he collaborated with Lesle Lewis. This band was featured in many private albums. Not only this, they have also composed music for a few movies in Hindi and Tamil.
Hariharan is born and brought up in Mumbai and he is well-versed in Tamil, Malayalam, English and Hindi. Hariharan is the offspring of famous Carnatic vocalists H.A.S. Mani and Shrimati Alamelu. Hariharan inherited the music skills from his mother. Hindustani music was made known to him in his youth. Hariharan indeed, took great efforts to reach the position that he is in today; he used to practice singing for 13 hours.
During the initial stages of his career Hariharan used to sing for television serials. After winning a prize in a competition at all India level Hariharan was offered to sing in the film “Gaman” by late music composer Jaidev. The song “Ajeeb Sa Neha Mujh Par Guzar Gaya Yaaron" from the film earned him recognition that he rightly deserved.
The song “Thamizha Thamizha” from the movie Roja was an instant hit and Hariharan, who sung it was awarded the “Best Male Playback Singer” in the Tamil Nadu State Government Film Awards.
Hariharan was introduced into the Tamil film industry by A R Rahman, who was also a newbie at that time. Since then, the duo created magic with soul stirring songs in films, including Minsara Kanavu, Jeans, Indian, Muthu, Taal, Mudhalvan, Iruvar, Indira, Rangeela, Alaipayuthey, Kannathil MuthamIttal, Sivaji etc. Hariharan is credited with the Padma Shri Award and has received National awards for a couple of times. Hariharan is the proud singer of around 700 songs. He had also sung in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi.
...4. Singer Srinivas
Srinivas is an Indian playback singer. He was born on November 7, 1959, and is 57 years old. He is also known as Srinivasan Doraiswamy. He is famous for lending his voice to more than 2000 songs in a variety of languages like Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. He was born in the town of Ambasamudram, after which his family moved to Thiruvananthapuram. His guru is his aunt, Padma Narayan, and she trained him in Carnatic music right from a young age.
...5. Vijay Prakash
Vijay Prakash is an Indian playback singer and film composer. He was born in Mysore and moved to Mumbai in 1996. He worked in so many Hindi films including Blue, Yuvraaj, Swades, Kaal, Lakshya, Matrubhoomi, Tere Naam, Cheeni Kum, Raavan, and Force.
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