Mahathi. S, known by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Mahathi is a

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

ian and

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

for film songs in several Indian languages such as

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, Telugu,

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and Punjabi.

Family

Mahathi hails from a family of musicians: her father Thiruvaiyaru P. Sekar is a vocalist and a disciple of Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. Her mother Smt. Vasanthi Sekar, a flautist, is the grand disciple of Sri. T. R. Mahalingam, Sri. N. Ramani and Smt. Kesi. Mahathi is also the great granddaughter of the violinist Sangeetha Kalanidhi Pazhamaneri Swaminatha Iyer. Mahathi moved to

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

as a toddler, and did her schooling at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Surakshitha Primary School, Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School, Trichur and Sacred Heart Convent,

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Ke ...

. She took a bachelor's degree in English literature at Meenakshi College, Kodambakkam, Chennai.

Career

Mahathi started identifying Classical Ragas at the tender age of 1 ½ years. This talent was identified by the parents during her father's concert at a temple in Palakad. Her parents nurtured her talent by teaching her more and more Ragas. She was able to identify about 75 Carnatic Ragas at the age of 3. To test her talents, her father used to mix up Carnatic Swaras but Mahathi did not hesitate to identify the exact swaras of the Ragas. When she was 3 yrs years old she came to Chennai with her mother for the December Music Season (1988). At the Concert of Mandolin U. Shrinivas at the Mylapore Fine Arts, on December 25, Mahathi, sitting on her mother's lap kept identifying the Ragas played by the musicians on stage. The Secretary of the Sabha, who was sitting next to her mother arranged for a live demonstration of the child's talents, soon after the main item of the concert got over. Mahathi, without the slightest hesitation identified all the Ragas and enthralled the audience. This incident appeared in all the leading news papers at that time. Mahathi underwent her initial musical training from her parents and from Deepa Gayatri of Trivandrum. When Mahathi's family moved to Trichur, she was put under the guidance of Sri. Mangad. K. Natesan. Mahathi underwent advanced Musical Training under the tutelage of Padma Bhushan “ Sangeetha Kalanidhi “ Madurai Shri. T. N. Seshagopalan Mahathi has been awarded the Central Govt Scholarship for Carnatic Music in 1994.She has sung for various Malayalam Devotional albums and Movies too. Completing her 10th Standard, her family moved to Cochin, where she did her 11th in Sacred Heart Convent, Cochin.

Personal life

Mahathi married Dr. K. Sreekumar, a surgeon, in 2008; the couple has a child.

Playback singing

Mahathi's introduction to playback singing came in 2003 when she sang a duet, "Iyyaiyyo Pudichirukku", with Hariharan, under the music direction of

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with ...

in the Tamil movie,

Saamy ''Saamy'' ( God) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action masala film written and directed by Hari. The film was presented by K. Balachander and produced by Pushpa Kandasamy under banner Kavithalayaa Productions. The film stars Vikram and T ...

. Although she had a previous experience singing a song ("Enna Maranthalum") under the music direction of

Ilaiyaraja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

, the movie for which it was recorded, ''Kaadhal Jaathi'', was not released. In 2008, Mahathi won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Naeraa Varattuma" from the movie "Nenje Nenje".

Discography

Television works

Mahathi presented the music based quiz program, "Aaha Paadalam" on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest br ...

Podhigai TV with Raaghav. In October 2005 she presented

's Live-in Concert organised by Jaya TV, "Andrum Indrum Endrum" with actor

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj i ...

. Apart from hosting shows, Mahathi has also appeared as a judge for various music competition reality shows such as Kairali TV's "Gandharva Sangeetham" in 2013, and in seasons 2, 3, and 4 of

Vijay TV Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay chang ...

's musical reality-talent shows

Airtel Super Singer Super Singer is an 2006 Indian Tamil-language reality television singing competition, that is sponsored by Asian Paints for the nine Season. The show is televised in India on Vijay TV, and worldwide through partner broadcasting networks. The ...

and Airtel Super Singer Junior. She was a guest judge in seasons 1, 2, and 3 of the Carnatic music reality-talent show Tanishq Swarna Sangeetham. Mahathi has also recorded title songs for various TV serials in

and

Jaya TV Jaya TV HD is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV HD is also broadcast to the expatriate Tamil community via various media partnerships. Hemant Sahai of HSA had Jaya TV HD as his first client. Jaya TV ...

, and several advertisement jingles for brands like Pothys, Chennai Silks
Sathya Agencies
RMKV, Ram Silks etc.

Titles, awards, and other recognition

* She had the Opportunity of performing for Dr.M.Bala Murali Krishna ‘s 75th Birthday Celebrations with 75 Students of Mahathi Academy at The Music Academy in the presence of the honourable Ex Chief Minister of Tamil nadu Selvi. J.Jaya Lalitha. She has performed with Leading musicians, Music Directors at Prestigious venues. * 1998, All Kerala ICSE Award for Light Music * Best Singer Award from Ajantha Arts Academy for Aiyyayo Pudichirukku * Best Debut Singer Award from M. G. R. - Sivaji Arts Academy * Best Play Back Singer of 2008 from MGR SIVAJI ACADEMY, Kalaignar TV *2008, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback (for "Naeraa Varattuma" from Nenjathai Killadhe) *2008, ITFA Best Female Playback Award (for "Mudhal Mazhai" from Bheema) *2009, Isai Aruvi Best Playback Singer Award, Mudhal Mazhai, Bheema *2011, "The Chord Wizard" (title), ''WE'' Magazine, Chennai, India *2017, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback (for "Nenje Nenje" from Ayan)

Carnatic Music

* An “A” grade artiste of the All India Radio / Doordarshan. * All Kerala ICSE Award for Light Music in 1996. * All Kerala State First Award for Carnatic Music in 2001. * Bala Bhaskara Award in 2001, for Excellence in Carnatic Music- VDS Arts Academy Chennai. * Best Performer Award from Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in 2005. * Best Young Vocalist Award( For raga alapana) from the Music Academy, Chennai. 2006. * Innisai Ilayavani -2006 * Innisai Ilavarasi -2007 * Youth Excellence Award from the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Trust in the field of Carnatic Music in Dec 2008. * P. K. Chari Endowment Prize for the Best Concert of Gokulashtami Series 2010 from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai * Sangeetha Seva Mani from Kanchi Kamakoti Peetadhipathi Sri . Sri. Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal. * Yuva kala Bharathi – Bharath Kalachar -2011 * Innisai Chudar Oli – 2013- Sydney * Gana Kala Vipanchee -2014- Vipanchee Trust * MS Subbalakshmi Endowment prize – Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai 2015 * G. Ramnathan Award – Sri Parthsarathy Swamy Sabha, Chennai, 2015 * Vani Kala Nipuna – Thyaga Brhama Gana Sabha, 2016 * Isai Peroli - Kartik Fine Arts 2017 * Music Academy 2018 - Best Pallavi Prize

References

{{authority control 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Carnatic singers Women Carnatic singers Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School alumni Indian women classical singers Indian women playback singers Living people Singers from Chennai Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Tamil playback singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu Year of birth missing (living people)