Anandan "Drums" Sivamani (born 1 December 1959) is an Indian percussionist. He plays many instruments including drums,

octoban Octobans, also known as tube toms, are deep, small diameter, single-head tom-toms. Octobans were originally grouped in melodically-tuned sets of eight, hence the name, in reference to octave and from octo meaning "eight". Part sets of two or f ...

darbuka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...

udukai The udukku , udukai or udukkai (Tamil: உடுக்கை) is a member of the family of membranophone percussion instruments of India and Nepal used in folk music and prayers in Tamil Nadu. The drums are an ancient design of hourglass drums ...

ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

and

kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in the Indian subcontinent for many centuries. The Kanjira's emergence in Sout ...

. He performed drumming during the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. He is affiliated with the

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

team, but gained recognition through his role as

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

's lead percussionist. They have been close friends since childhood. In 2019, he was conferred with

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

Career

Sivamani is a

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

-based percussionist. He began drumming at the age of seven. Sivamani started his musical career at the age of 11, and later shifted to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. He was inspired by Noel Grant and

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

. He has played for

M.S.Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. Popularly known by the sobriquet "Mellisai Mannar" (), he ...

K.V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician who won the inaugural National Film Award for Best Music Direction in (1967) for '' Kandan Karunai''. K ...

, G. Devarajan,

Illayaraja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil in addition to Telugu, M ...

and others. In 1990, he shared the stage with

at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan. He has stated that

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), commonly known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is widely regarde ...

is his godfather. Sivamani's earliest experiments with music were with Carnatic maestros including

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. His father, sang an ...

, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Valliyapatti Subramaniam and Pazhanivel, and L. Shankar. During the early stage of his career, he collaborated with T. Rajendar for many of his music compositions. Sivamani also appeared on screen for the song " Dhinam Dhinam Un Mugam" alongside Actor Anand Babu for the movie "Thangaikkor Geetham" directed by T. Rajendar. The

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

player Zakir Hussain invited him to share the stage with himself and

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinu ...

at a fusion concert in Mumbai. Sivamani has since collaborated with several musicians including

Louis Banks Louis Banks (born Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi on 11 February 1941) is an Indian film composer, record producer, keyboardist, and singer. He has often been referred to as the 'Godfather of Indian jazz'. He has done world tours with

and collaborated with him for ''

Bombay Dreams ''Bombay Dreams'' is a Bollywood-themed musical, with music by A. R. Rahman, lyrics by Don Black and the book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, originally produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The London production opened in 2002 and ran for two ...

''. He has also been a part of a musical group called ''Shraddha'' which comprises

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (''honoris causa'' degree) by Birmingham Ci ...

, Hariharan,

U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. U. Srinivas was called the Mozart of classical Indian music and he was a child prodigy. He was awarded the Padma ...

and

Loy Mendonsa Loy Mendonsa is an Indian music director and part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio which consists of himself, Shankar Mahadevan and Ehsaan Noorani. Before becoming a music composer, he played piano and keyboards for famous Indian music compos ...

. Sivamani has a band called "Asia Electrik" with

Niladri Kumar Pandit Niladri Kumar is an Indian sitar player and music composer. Early life He was born to sitar player Kartick Kumar, a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He started learning sitar under his father at the age of four. Kumar gave his first public per ...

, Louiz Banks and Ravi Chari. He also plays at another world music band named "Silk & Shrada." Sivamani has played drums for many film score composers hailing from Tamil Nadu. He has played drums for many Indian films including '' Roja,'' ''

Rang De Basanti ''Rang De Basanti'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language epic coming-of-age socio-political drama film written, produced, and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars an ensemble cast including Aamir Khan, Siddharth (in his Hindi d ...

'',''

Swades ''Swades'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-written, directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, alongside Gayatri Joshi, Kishori Ballal, Daya Shankar Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, and Lekh Tandon. T ...

'', '' Taal'', ''

Lagaan ''Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India'', or simply ''Lagaan'', () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language epic period musical sports drama film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film was produced by Aamir Khan, who stars alongside debuta ...

'', '' Dil Se..'', ''

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

'',''

Kabul Express ''Kabul Express'' is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language adventure thriller film written and directed by Kabir Khan in his feature directorial debut, produced by Aditya Chopra and starring John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid, Hanif Humgaam, a ...

'' and '' Rockstar'' . Some of the songs that he has contributed to include "Kadhal Rojave," "Pudhu Vellai Malai" '' Chaiya Chaiya'' and ''Nadaan Parinde''. Sivamani has also acted in two Telugu films: ''

Padamati Sandhya Ragam ''Padamati Sandhya Ragam'' (; ) is a 1987 Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Jandhyala. The film features Vijayashanti as Sandhya, a young Indian woman, and Thomas Jane as Chris, a White American man, who fall in love a ...

'' and ''

Sirivennela ''Sirivennela'' (Telugu language, Telugu :సిరివెన్నల) () is a 1986 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language romance film written and directed by K. Viswanath. The film stars Suhasini Maniratnam, Suhasini, Sarvadaman D. Banerje ...

''. He has also acted in the Hindi film ''

Madaari ''Madaari '' () is a 2016 Indian social thriller film directed by Nishikant Kamat. It is produced by Shailesh R Singh, Madan Paliwal, Sutapa Sikdar, and Shailja Kejriwal and co-produced by Nishant Pitti. The film stars Irrfan Khan, Vishesh Ba ...

'' (2016). Sivamani has performed in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Moscow, New York,

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. During the Mumbai Festival 2005,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

India invited him to perform at the Limca Fresh Face 2005 event, where he created melody from

Limca Limca is an Indian multinational brand of lemon- and lime-flavoured carbonated soft drink made primarily in India and certain parts of the U.S. It contains 60 calories per 150ml can. The formula does not include fruit, relying instead on artif ...

bottles. He has also worked on ''Galli Galli Sim Sim'', an educational series on Pogo and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. He also composed music for the

ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

original film '' Atkan Chatkan'' (2020) where he worked alongside A. R. Rahman.

Personal life

Sivamani was married to Krashani, with whom he has two children; the couple divorced later. On 10 November 2014, he married singer Runa Rizvi in a private ceremony in

. Sivamani's son Kumaran is also a percussionist.

Awards and recognitions

In 2009, Sivamani was conferred upon with the title of

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

by the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

, which is the highest State Honour in the field of arts. In 2015, he was honoured with the ‘Best Instrumental Act’ at the prestigious LIVE Quotients Awards (LQA 2015). In 2019, Sivamani was conferred upon with the title of

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Sivamani received honorary doctorate from United Technological Research University of America on 20 January 2024 in Hyderabad.

Albums

* ''Golden Krithis Colours'', (1994) a Carnatic Experimental album. BMG Crescendo (collaboration with A. S. Dilip Kumar ( A. R. Rahman), Zaakir Husain and Srinivasan and

) * ''Pure Silk'' (2000) * ''Krishna Krishna'', a club track released in UK, with Malayalam composer

Rahul Raj Rahul Raj is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced Film score, scores and soundtracks predominantly for Malayalam language, Malayalam movies. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and holds a postgraduat ...

. * ''Drums on Fire'' (2003). New Earth (collaboration with James Asher) * ''

Kaash ''Kaash'' is a 1987 Bollywood film written and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It is produced by the comedian Mehmood's brother Anwar Ali. The film was described as a semi-art film and upon release, received critical acclaim. Arshad Warsi made hi ...

'' (first

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

album with Hariharan) * ''Mahaleela'' (first individual album by Sivamani) * ''

Arima Nambi ''Arima Nambi'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by debutant Anand Shankar. The film stars Vikram Prabhu, Priya Anand, and J. D. Chakravarthy. Drummer Sivamani made his debut as a music director in the film, wh ...

'' (2014) * ''

Kanithan ''Kanithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by T. N. Santhosh and produced by S. Thanu. The film stars Atharvaa and Catherine Tresa. Sivamani (percussionist), Sivamani composed the film's music. Havi ...

'' (2016) * '' Amali Thumali'' (unreleased)

Filmography

* ''

''; Telugu (cameo) (1986) *

; Telugu (supporting actor) (1987) *

; Tamil (music director) (2014) *

; Hindi (Drums Artist) (2016) *

; Tamil (music director) (2016) *

Mersal ''Mersal'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Atlee and produced by Thenandal Studio Limited, in the studio's hundredth film production. The film stars Vijay in triple roles, alongside S. J. Suryah, Kaja ...

; Tamil (Drums Artist) (2017) *

Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava ''Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava'' () is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Pooja Hegde alongside Jagapathi Babu, Naveen Chandra, Eesha Rebba a ...

; Telugu (Drums Artist) (2018) * ''

Arjun Suravaram ''Arjun Suravaram'' is a 2019 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by T. Santhosh. The film stars Nikhil Siddharth and Lavanya Tripathi. It is produced by Rajkumar Akella, and presented by B. Madhu on ...

''; Telugu (producer for song "Che Guevara", beat reused from ''Kanithan'') (2019) * ''Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo''; Telugu for the single "

Ramuloo Ramulaa "Ramuloo Ramulaa" is an Indian Telugu-language song composed by S. Thaman for the soundtrack of the 2020 action-drama film ''Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'' sung by Anurag Kulkarni and Mangli and penned by Kasarla Shyam. The song's official lyrical ve ...

"(Drums Artist) (2020) *''

Dehati Disco ''Dehati Disco'' () is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by Manoj Sharma and produced by Vaseem Qureshi, Gitesh Chandrakar, Kamal Kishor Mishra under the banner of Qureshi Productions Private Limited. The film revolves around t ...

''; Hindi (music director) (2022) *'' Quotation Gang Part 1''; Tamil (music director) (2024)

References

External links

*
Sivamani Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (January 24, 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sivamani Indian percussionists Kanjira players Tamil musicians Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award 1959 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Musicians from Tamil Nadu Male actors in Telugu cinema