Playback Singer Karthik Biography

BIOGRAPHY

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Name: Karthik
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 07 Nov 1980
Place of Birth: Chennai

ABOUT KARTHIK:

Karthik is an Indian playback singer of the Kannada film industry and Tamil film industry.

Biography
Karthik had a good interest in music early in his life and had learnt Carnatic music during his school days. Later on he started singing for his college band and regularly participated in IIT Madras Fest ‘Sarang’.

After nearly a year since his meeting with Srinivas, Karthik received a call one night from him. Apparently Rahman needed a fresh voices for backing vocalists for a song from Pukar and Srinivas could not get in touch with one of the singers and then he remembered Karthik and tried to get in touch with him. Ironically Karthik was out with his friends and was not reachable for quite some time. As luck would have it, he managed to get the information just in time and rushed to the recording studio.

Having spent over a year being a backing vocalist, Karthik got his break during the re-recording of One 2 Ka 4. For the background score of one of the scenes in the movie, A. R. Rahman wanted a high-pitched alap and Karthik along with other chorus singers gave a shot at it. Rahman impressed with the voice, asked him stay back for the recording. Karthik grabbed the opportunity with both hands and performed, with Rahman giving him pointers and walking through the alap. He struck gold with this session and soon Rahman asked him to perform for a song Nendhukittaen from the film Star.

Being an ardent fan of A. R. Rahman, Karthik always dreamt of meeting the musical great. After searching a lot of avenues, he happened to find out that one of his close friend's cousin was singer Srinivas, who sang many songs for Rahman. During their brief chat, Srinivas asked Karthik to sing a few lines, and was impressed by his voice and asked him to look at singing more seriously. Taking cue, Karthik resumed his singing lessons.

When Minnale hit the screens in 2001, the tune on everyone's lips was the catchy riff of Maddy. Very few knew that the tremendously popular track was sung by a young Karthik, not that he’s very much older these days! Nearly a decade and close to a thousand songs later, Karthik's career rainbow seems to be splashing one colour after another with no sign of even sky being the limit.

There are a few very defining characteristics that set Karthik apart. For instance he is one of the few active crooners in the industry today who can effectively blend the intricacies of classical Indian music with global styles reaching from throaty hard rock to a mellower lounge tuning. Be it a poppish Enakoru girlfriend or an emotion riddled Anjalai, Karthik has a versatility that is rare. He is also possibly one of the first singers to perform professionally without the aid of a double-figure orchestra. Playing with a hand-picked bunch of professional musicians which include Roland Bennet, Karthik has certainly laid the clich that audiences do not enjoy improvisations of film tracks, to rest.

With numerous solos, constantly increasing rhythms, pace, life and yet maintaining the spirit of the original, Karthik and his five piece act have been making waves at shows across South India.

Language doesnt seem to be too much of an obstacle for Karthik. Be it Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam or Hindi, chances are most of the chart-toppers are courtesy of the man with the golden voice.

Quite a regular fixture on most South Indian cinema music productions, Karthik is now looking to broaden his musical horizons with forays into the realms of fusion and exploring his potential as a complete musician. With a couple of Filmfare awards and a State Awards collected along the way, there doesnt seem much space for doubt about where he‚isheaded.

Karthik has sung a number of songs for many popular music directors, including A. R. Rahman, Ilayaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Harris Jeyaraj. Karthik has sung songs in several languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. Ennaku Oru Girlfriend from the Tamil movie Boys was one of his huge hits as was Oru Maalai from the 2005 film Ghajini. and he recently sang one song for TELUGU film for KOTTHABANGAARULOKAM nijanga nenanaa.. this song is very populared. His recent track in 2008, the gaana inspired "Ava Enna" from the 2009 film Vaaranam Aayiram has been well received. And also his Song in 'Ghajini'(2009)"Behka" is Hit track all over the world.

Karthik performed with Bennet Roland performed at Festember 08, the annual cultural fest of NIT Trichy and Ragam 08, the annual cultural fest of the National Institute of Technology Calicut, on 28 March 2008.Karthik has sung at the recent Indian Premier League Twenty 20 cricket events held in Chennai. Karthik with Bennet performed at Nova 9, the ninth foundation week celebration of UST Global in Trivandrum on August 22 2008. He married Ambika on July 12, 2006 in Tirupathi and been blessed with a girl baby.

Dr. Balamurali Krishna

Legend: Dr. Balamurali Krishna

Category: Musician

Sub Category: Classical

Born in: Andhra Pradesh, India

The celebrated Carnatic Musical Genius 'Padmashri' Dr. Balamurali Krishna is a renowned singer, composer as well as an instrumentalist. He plays instruments like Violin, Veena, Mridangam, and Khanjira.

Murali Krishna was born on 6th July 1930 at Sankaraguptam in Andhra Pradesh in an artistically inclined family. His father Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya, was a famous flautist and mother Suryakanthamma a Veena artiste. Balmurali Krishna took training in music under Parupalli Rama Krishnayya Pantulu. When he was eight years old he gave his first public performance at Vijayawada during the 'Sadguru Arandhanotsavas'. He was given the title 'Bala' by Musunuri Satyanarayana, a distinguished Harikatha performer. Young Murali Krishna exposed his extreme talent by writing a detailed work on the 72 Janakaraga or Melakarta (basic scales of music) scheme at the the tender age of 14.

Murali Krishna stopped his education in class 6th due to his continuous concerts and dedicated himself completely to music. Balamuralikrishna has innovated the Tala systems by introducing new principles and is credited with over 300-400 compositions and many new ragas. The ragas he has composed are Mahati, Sumukham, Trisakthi, Omkari, Rohini, Pratimadhyamavathi, Janasammodini, Manorama, Vallabhi, Lavangi etc. He has also recorded and released many albums.

Several honours and award has been bestowed on him which include Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri, Best Play Back Singer (1976)& Best Music Director (1987) in the National Film Festivals and the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal, State Musician of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the Asthana Vidwan of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Sringeri Peetam and Adivyadhi Hara Baktha Anjaneya Swami Temple, Nanganallur. Dr. Balamuralikrishna has also been granted a doctorate of Letters by the Sri Venkateshwara University (1981).

Murali Krishna is the founder of MBK trust for developing art and culture and imparting training. He also founded 'Academy of Performing Arts and Research' in Switzerland and is also working on music therapy. He has given innumerable concerts throughout the world and has recreated the traditional style in his own neo classical style well received by his audience.

Biography

Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna (transliterated variously as M. Balamuralikrishna, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, M. Balamurali Krishna) (b. Sankaraguptam, Andhra Pradesh, India, July 6, 1930) is a legendary Carnatic Music (south Indian classical) composer, poet, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, innovator and musical iconoclast. His magnificently rich and instantly recognizable voice extends, with perfect control, over three octaves.

The "Bala" in his name means "child", and was added when he first gained fame as a child prodigy performing vocal concerts at the age of five. His father Pattabiramayya was a well known musician and could play the flute, violin and veena and his mother Suryakantamma was an excellent veena player. Balamuralikrishna thus began his musical career at a very young age. He soon mastered a variety of instruments, melodic and rhythmic, and is the only musician ever to be honoured with All India Radio's "Top Grade" for seven different performance areas. He is an enterprising instrumentalist who plays violin, viola, khanjira, veena, mridangam and other instruments. He is also the only musician ever to win National Awards in India for classical music, music direction and film playback singing.

While his native tongue is Telugu, he sings with crystal-clear lyrical enunciation not just in Telugu but also in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil and less often, in a few other languages as well. His mesmerizing vocal music combines a charmingly deep voice, effortless control over the notes, extraordinary musical knowledge, spontaneous on-stage musical originality and a consistently accurate rendition of lyrics. Consequently, it has caught the pulse of and endeared itself to vastly diverse audiences across generations, cultures and continents. He belongs to that rarest breed of Carnatic musicians who remain popular with laypersons without watering down the classicism inherent in the ancient artform. His rendition of some of Saint Thyagaraja's kritis is spiritually uplifting. Given the astounding versatility, longevity and resilience of his artistic life, spanning over seven creative and prolific decades, it can be stated without exaggeration that Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna has, for quite some time, been India's most enduring musician.

Nearly 400 Carnatic musical compositions are credited to him. New raga (Ganapathi, mahati, sumukham, trisakthi, sarvashri, omkari, janasamodini, manorama, rohini, vallabhi, lavangi, pratimadhyamavathi, sushama etc...) some with only three or four notes, and a new tala (rhythm) system are among his iconoclastic innovations. Such innovations have provoked many criticisms, but his musical inventiveness remains unblunted. Top Hindustani (north Indian classical) musicians have collaborated with him in "jugalbandhis" (duets akin to jamming): including Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Smt. Kishori Amonkar, among others.

He appeared as featured soloist with an award-winning British choir, performing the "Gitanjali Suite" with words from Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize-winning poetry and music by Dr. Joel, the noted UK-based Goan composer. His clear diction in several languages prompted an invitation to record Tagore's entire Rabindra Sangeet compositions in Bengali, preserving them for posterity. He has sung in French, and even ventured into jazz fusion, collaborating with the top Carnatic percussion teacher, Sri T. H. Subash Chandran, in a concert for Malaysian royalty.

Honours have pursued him. He was awarded the prestigious "Padma Vibhushan" title by the Indian government, the "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" by the French government, seven doctorates as of 2006, the pro-chancellorship of Telugu University and numerous top musical honours including Sangeetha Kalanidhi of the Madras Music Academy. He was also conferred with the prestigious Raja-Lakshmi Award in the year 1980 by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai. The prestigious award "Sangeetha Saraswathi" instituted by Manava Seva Kendra was conferred on him by its founder-guardian Poojya Sri Guruji Viswanath, on 25th June 2005. The city of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, India, has named a road after him. The record-buying public have supported him enthusiastically, prompting record labels to issue hundreds of his recordings. He has become increasingly interested in music therapy, and now performs only occasionally.