V. Harikrishna (born 5 November 1974) is an Indian

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

and soundtrack composer,

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 app ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He has mainly scored music for

Kannada films Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directed ...

. After his stint as a programmer and assistant musician, Harikrishna made his debut as an independent composer in actor Darshan's first production venture ''

Jothe Jotheyali ''Jothe Jotheyali'' is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed by Dinakar Thoogudeepa and produced by Meena Thoogudeepa. The film stars Prem and Ramya. The music for the movie was composed by a debutante music composer V. Harikrish ...

'' in 2006. Since then, he has been scoring for majority of Darshan's films besides working for many other leading production houses. He owns an audio company called "D-Beats" established in 2013 and produces music under his own company starting from the film ''

Bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical As ...

'' (2013). He has turned into a director with the 2019 Kannada film 'Yajamana'. Harikrishna has won three consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music for ''

Gaalipata ''Gaalipata'' () is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Rajesh Krishnan, Diganth, Daisy Bopanna, Neethu and Bhavana Rao. The plot revolv ...

'' in 2008, ''

Raaj The Showman ''Raaj-The Showman'' is a 2009 Kannada language drama film starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Priyanka Kothari, who made her debut in Kannada films. And Ramnitu chaudhary in the guest appearance The film was directed by Prem. Pavan Ranadheera, who w ...

'' in 2009 and '' Jackie'' in 2010.

Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in Kannada ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...

Early life

Harikrishna was born in 1974 in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, in the

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state of India. At the age of eight, he began playing

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

in an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

that his father bought and named after him. He took to playing the keyboard professionally in 1987 and discontinued his studies after matriculation. In his first professional assignment, he worked with composer, Manoranjan Prabhakar. Following his father's death in 1990, Harikrishna took over his mechanic shop, where he worked as a mechanic. In 1994, following composer

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach (born 24 March 1966) known by his screen name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian musician, actor, comedian, film director and producer, and an occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his care ...

's insistence, Harikrishna took to music again.

Career

Music programming and arranging

Harikrishna started out working as an assistant to many leading music directors in 1990's including

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

Gurukiran Gurukiran or Gurukiran Shetty is an Indian music director of the Kannada film industry in India. He started his career as a music director of the Kannada movie '' A'', directed and acted by Upendra. His music for his next movie ''Upendra'' furt ...

among others. He has worked as a programmer, an arranger and as a keyboard player for many music directors. He has worked for feature films, short films, daily soaps, ad jingles and private musical albums.

Music direction

In 2006, Harikrishna was first signed up to compose music for actor Darshan's first home production ''

''. Until this time, Harikrishna was a struggling musician under the protege of actor - director

. Despite the industry's negative feedback for his move, Darshan went on to sign him as the music director. The film, starring Prem and

Ramya Ramya (Sanskrit: रम्य) is a Sanskrit female given name, which means "pleasant" and "delightful". Notable people * Ramya (born 1982), Indian actress and politician * Ramya Barna (born 1986), Indian actress * Ramya Krishnan (born 1970), ...

in the lead and Darshan in a guest role, was directed by

Dinakar Thoogudeepa Dinakar S (born 21 September 1978) mononymously known as Dinakar Thoogudeepa is an Indian film director, actor and producer who mainly works in Kannada films. who started his film career as an actor from the movie Ayyo Pandu in 2004 later he ...

and had a successful run for about 25 weeks. The film's soundtrack was hugely popular upon release and this immediately silenced the critics. This was immediately followed by the actor's second home production ''

Navagraha Navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu astrology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( sa, नव "nine") and ''graha'' ( sa, ग्रह "planet, seizing, laying hold of, ...

''. Since then, Harikrishna has been the official composer for most of the Darshan starrer films and productions. Some of the successful collaborations with Darshan include '' Bhoopathi'' (2007), ''

Gaja Gaja () is a Sanskrit word for elephant. It is one of the significant animals finding references in Hindu scriptures, as well as Buddhist and Jain texts. Symbolism In general, a gaja personifies a number of positive attributes, including abund ...

'' (2008), ''

Porki ''Porki'' (English: Rogue) is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language action film directed by M. D. Sridhar, starring Darshan, Pranitha Subhash and Ashish Vidyarthi in the lead roles. It is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film ''Pokiri''. Ashish Vidyarthi ...

'' (2010), ''

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

'' (2011), ''

Saarathi ''Saarathi'' ( en, Charioteer) is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language romantic action film written and directed by Dinakar Thoogudeep. It stars Darshan and debutante Deepa Sannidhi in the lead roles. V. Harikrishna scored for the film's background ...

'' (2011) and '' Chingari'' (2012) to name a few. His first collaboration with director - lyricist

Yogaraj Bhat Yogaraj Bhat (born 8 October 1972) is an Indian Kannada film-maker, director, screenwriter, lyricist and producer. He is most known for the 2006 film ''Mungaru Male''. The film recorded the highest box-office collections in the history of Kannad ...

for the film ''

'' (2008) starring

Ganesh Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...

fetched him his maiden

Filmfare award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

for his successful soundtrack. Another film ''Payana'' in the same year saw him belting out soft romantic melodies which was appreciated. The year 2009 proved to be more successful for him with back to back successful soundtracks for the films such as ''

Ambari Ambari is a locality in Guwahati, India. Located North West of Guwahati, it is a site for important archaeological excavations related to ancient Assam. Some important buildings located here like Guwahati Press Club, Asom Gana Parishad Office, ...

'', ''

Junglee Junglee may refer to: * ''Junglee'' (1961 film), an Indian film * ''Junglee'' (2009 film), a Kannada-language Indian film * ''Junglee'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language Indian film * Junglee.com, a defunct e-commerce website by Amazon.com *Junglee, a ...

'', '' Raam'', ''

Maleyali Jotheyali ''Maleyali Jotheyali'' is a 2009 Indian Kannada-language film that stars Ganesh, Anjana Sukhani and Yuvika Chaudhary.It is directed by Preetham Gubbi, who also co-wrote the script. Shilpa Ganesh, wife of Ganesh, produced the film under their pr ...

'' and '' Raj, The Showman''. While in the former film, he debuted as a playback singer, the latter film fetched him his second Filmfare award for best music direction. In 2010, Harikrishna composed for 8 feature films and most of them were received very well upon release. Most noteworthy being '' Jackie'' which fetched him his third and hat trick Filmfare award and ''

Super Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

'' directed and enacted by

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

. The year 2011 saw him composing for over 14 films with many of them turning to be blockbusters and musically well appreciated. ''

'', ''

Hudugaru ''Hudugaru'' ( Boys) is a 2011 Kannada-language drama film directed by K. Madesh, starring Puneeth Rajkumar, Srinagar Kitty, Yogesh (actor), Yogesh and Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. The film, which is a remake of the successful 2010 Tamil fil ...

'', ''

Vishnuvardhana Vishnuvardhana (r. 1108–1152 CE) was a king of the Hoysala Empire in what is today the modern state of Karnataka, India. He ascended the Hoysala throne after the death of his elder brother Veera Ballala I in c.1108. Originally a followe ...

'', ''

Paramathma ''Paramatman'' (Sanskrit: परमात्मन्, IAST: Paramātman) or ''Paramātmā'' is the Absolute ''Atman'', or supreme Self, in various philosophies such as the Vedanta and Yoga schools in Hindu theology, as well as other Indian re ...

'' and ''

Jogayya ''Jogayya'' is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by Prem. starring Shiva Rajkumar in his 102nd film. It was produced under the banner of Prem Pictures. Rakshita Prem, who is married to the director Prem, is ...

'' turned out to be biggest musical blockbusters cementing the top status for him. The success was followed in 2012 with '' Chingari'', '' Anna Bond'', ''

Katariveera Surasundarangi ''Katari Veera Surasundarangi'' is a 2012 Indian Kannada-language romantic fantasy film starring Upendra triple role two leads and one cameo appearance and Ramya. The film is a spiritual sequel to Upendra's 2003 film ''Raktha Kanneeru''. Veteran ...

'', ''

Addhuri ''Addhuri'' is a 2012 Kannada film, Kannada romantic drama film starring Dhruva Sarja in his debut film, along with Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. The story, screenplay, dialogues and direction are by A. P. Arjun of the Kannada movie ''Ambar ...

'', '' Jaanu'', ''

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

'' ''

Yaare Koogadali ''Yaare Koogadali'' is a 2012 Indian Kannada-language action film written and directed by Samuthirakani, starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Bhavana. Parvathamma Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar are producing the film under for Poornima Enterprises. ...

'' and ''

Prem Adda ''Prem Adda'' is an Indian Kannada-language action film. Prem, Meka Murali Krishna and Kriti Kharbanda are of the film. The film is directed by Mahesh Babu and the film music is scored by V. Harikrishna. The film is the remake of Tamil film ' ...

'' receiving enormous positive response both musically and at the box-office. He was also awarded for his singing in ''Anna Bond'' by the

SIIMA South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appreci ...

. His fourth Filmfare award was for his second collaboration with Yogaraj Bhat, ''Drama''. ''Addhuri'' won him Udaya awards for his music direction. The successful journey continued further in 2013 with many chartbuster soundtracks for the films such as ''

Topiwala ''Topiwala'' is a 2013 Kannada political satire film starring Upendra and Bhavana in the lead roles. The film was written by Upendra and directed by M. G. Srinivas. Kanakapura Sreenivas and K. P. Srikanth jointly produced this venture under R ...

'', '' Bachchan'', ''

'', ''

Kaddipudi ''Kaddipudi'' is a 2013 Indian Kannada language crime drama film directed by Duniya Soori and produced by M. Chandru. The screenplay was written by Soori and Rajesh Nataranga and the film stars Shiva Rajkumar as Anand alias Kaddipudi, a ''rowdy' ...

'', ''

Sakkare ''Sakkare'' ( kan, ಸಕ್ಕರೆ) (English : ''Sugar'') is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film written and directed by Abhaya Simha, which stars Ganesh and Deepa Sannidhi in the lead roles. The major portions of the film have ...

'' and ''

Shravani Subramanya ''Shravani Subramanya'' is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Manju Swaraj and produced by K. A Suresh under his home production banner Suresh Arts Productions. The film features Ganesh and Amulya in lead ...

''. In 2014, his first musical release ''

Gajakesari ''Gajakesari'' is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language historical action film directed by cinematographer Krishna and produced by Jayanna and Bogendra. The film stars Yash in leading role along with Amulya and Anant Nag. The film also prominently f ...

'' evoked mixed response while his scores for films such as '' Fair & Lovely'' and ''

Ambareesha ''Ambareesha'' is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language action film directed and produced by Mahesh Sukhadhare under the Sri Sukhadhare Pictures banner. The film stars Darshan, Rachita Ram and Priyamani. Dr.Ambareesh and his wife Sumalatha Ambarees ...

'' was expected to be successful.

Film production

In 2012, Harikrishna announced his intention in producing films and he started it with the film ''

Jai Bajarangabali ''Jai Bajarangabali'' () is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Ravivarma Gubbi and starring Ajai Rao and Sindhu Loknath. Cast *Ajai Rao as Ajju *Sindhu Loknath as Ambuja *Anant Nag * Shobharaj *P. Ravishankar *Tennis ...

'' starring

Ajay Rao Ajay Rao (also credited as Krishna Ajay Rao) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Kannada film industry. He rose to fame with 2003 blockbuster movie '' Excuse Me''. Career Ajay Rao debuted as a lead with the film '' Excuse Me'' (2003) and ...

and

Sindhu Lokanath Sindhu known by her stage name Sindhu Loknath, is an Indian actress and model. She made her debut in films, with a cameo role in '' Parichaya'' (2009). She is recognized for her performances in '' Lifeu Ishtene'' (2011), ''Drama'' (2012), '' C ...

. He was also reported to be directing the

Yogesh Yogesh is an Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' is a compound of the words ' and ' and has the meaning "master of yoga" and has also been used as an epithet of Shiva. Notable people * Yogesh (actor) (born 1990), Indian actor * Y ...

starrer ''Raate''. His audio company D-Beats acquired the audio rights of the film ''

Adyaksha ''Adhyaksha'' () is a 2014 Indian Kannada language romantic comedy film directed by Nanda Kishore. It stars Sharan, Hebah Patel, Chikkanna, P. Ravi Shankar, Malavika Avinash and Ramesh Bhat. It is a remake of the Tamil film ''Varuthapadatha V ...

'' in 2014 which had music composed by

Arjun Janya Arjun Janya (born Lokesh Kumar) is an Indian Film composer, film score soundtrack composer and singer. Arjun made his film debut in the 2006 Kannada film ''Autograph Please''. Since then he has composed and scored music for successful films suc ...

Personal life

Harikrishna is married to singer and composer

Vani Harikrishna Vani Harikrishna ( kan, ವಾಣಿ ಹರಿಕೃಷ್ಣ) is an Indian film playback singer and music director, who works in South Indian films, primarily in Kannada cinema. She has composed, written and sung several devotional songs befor ...

, the granddaughter of veteran composer

G. K. Venkatesh Gurusala Krishnadas Venkatesh (21 September 1927 – 17 November 1993) was an Indian film score composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema during the 1960s, 1970s and until the late-1980s. He also composed music for Telugu, Malayalam and Ta ...

. They have a son, Aditya, who started as a playback singer with one of Harikrishna's composed films.

Discography

Awards

* Won 3 consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music (''

'' and '' Jackie'') * RNJ awards in 2009 * Suvarna Film Awards for Best Music Director (''

Raaj the Showman ''Raaj-The Showman'' is a 2009 Kannada language drama film starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Priyanka Kothari, who made her debut in Kannada films. And Ramnitu chaudhary in the guest appearance The film was directed by Prem. Pavan Ranadheera, who w ...

'', ''

'') * 2012 – Filmfare Award for ''

'' *

State Award for the film

* 2012 – Nominated – Best Music Director for '' Anna Bond'' * 2018 – Nominated –

Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Kannada The Kannada Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated t ...

for ''

Raajakumara ''Raajakumara'' () is a 2017 Indian Kannada language action drama film written and directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the Hombale Films banner. It stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priya Anand in lead roles. Apart fro ...

'' * 2017 - Karnataka State Award for Best Music Director - For ''Raajakumara'' * 2021- SIIMA Award for Best Music Director for ''

Yajamana In the Hindu tradition, a ''yajamana'' is the ritual patron, on whose behalf a religious ritual or a ''yajna'' is performed by a priest, generally a Brahmin.Society and Religion: From Rugveda to Puranas, Jayant Gadkari, Popular Prakashan, 1996 p. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harikrishna, V Living people Singers from Bangalore 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Kannada film score composers Kannada playback singers Indian male playback singers Filmfare Awards South winners 20th-century Indian composers 1974 births Film musicians from Karnataka 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian singers Musicians from Karnataka 21st-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian male singers