Vidyasagar (born 2 March 1963) is an Indian composer, musician and singer who works predominantly in the

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, na ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

, and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

film industries. After working with several composers as assistant and conductor, Vidyasagar made his debut as a film composer in the 1989 Tamil film ''

Poo Manam ''Poo Manam'' is a 1989 Indian Tamil language film directed by S. Rajasekar and produced by S. Rajagopal. It stars Rajasekar and Mahalakshmi. The film was released on 1 January 1989. Plot Cast * S. Rajasekar *Mahalakshmi *Janagaraj J ...

'' and nicknamed as Melody King Working for over 225 feature films, he is the recipient of the National Award and five

Filmfare Awards 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 ...

Life and career

Vidyasagar was born to Ramachandra Rao, a musician, and Sooryakantham in

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 22 ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. He was named after the 19th century social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was brought up in

Bobbili Bobbili is a town in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Geography Bobbili is located at . It has an average elevation of 103 metres (337 feet). History The town of Bobbili was founded during the 17th cen ...

. He underwent carnatic vocals training first and then started taking classical guitar classes in Chennai from Master Dhanraj along with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

and then later piano. Vidyasagar became an independent film composer with the song ''En Anbe'' in the 1989 Tamil movie ''Poomanam''. Vidyasagar started his music career with a Tamil film, he gained recognition good in the Tamil music industry at a later stage. He shifted base to

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

in 1989. In 1994–95, Vidyasagar was approached by Tamil actor-director Arjun, with whom he worked for many musical films like ''Jai Hind'', ''Karna'' and ''Subash''. Their combination resulted in acclaimed Tamil language melodic songs like ''Malare'' and ''Padu Padu''. From 1996 to 2001 Vidyasagar mainly concentrated on Malayalam films. During this period, Vidyasagar also composed for a few Tamil movies like '' Nilaave Vaa'' and ''

Uyirodu Uyiraga ''Uyirodu Uyiraga'' is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Sushma Ahuja starring Ajith Kumar and Richa Ahuja in the main roles. The film which told the tale of a couple's struggle to deal with terminal illness, had a su ...

''. He won three Kerala State Film Awards. About his stint in the

Malayalam Cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, '' Elippathaya ...

, Vidyasagar was quoted saying "I believe that it was a God sent opportunity for me to work in one of the finest film industries". From the year 2002, he started composing soundtracks for '' Dhil'', ''

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

'', '' Dhool'', '' Ghilli'' etc. in Tamil and '' Summer in Bethlehem'', '' Meesha Madhavan'', '' Kilichundan Mampazham'', '' Pattalam'', '' C.I.D. Moosa'' etc. in Malayalam. His

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

venture '' Hulchul'' directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in H ...

was a box-office blockbuster, but the songs only became nominal hits, not bringing him the acclaim he was usually used to in Tamil and Malayalam films. During this period, Vidyasagar composed for his first English language feature, ''Beyond The Soul'', a low-budget independent film directed by

Rajiv Anchal Rajiv Anchal (born 20 December 1956) is a film director, screenwriter, and sculptor who works in Malayalam language cinema. In 1997, he made ''Guru'', India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His firs ...

. Between 2003 and 2005, he composed songs for several notable films like '' Anbe Sivam'', '' Madhurey'', '' Kochi Rajavu'', '' Ji'' and ''

Chandrolsavam ''Chandrolsavam'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ranjith. It stars Mohanlal with Meena, Ranjith, Cochin Haneefa, VK Sreeraman, Santhosh and Jagadish in supporting roles. V. Dakshinamoorthy make ...

'' in 2004–05. The year 2005 saw Vidyasagar receiving his first

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

for his music in the Telugu film '' Swarabhishekam'' directed by K. Vishwanath. The music in the film was predominantly Carnatic. The same year, he composed music for the film '' Chandramukhi''. In 2007, Vidyasagar was signed by

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

for his production venture '' Mozhi'' starring

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of ...

and Jyothika. The film directed by Radha Mohan had critically acclaimed melodies like ''Kaatrin Mozhiye'' and ''Sevvanam''. The songs of ''Mozhi'' had the distinction of being completely devoid of duets. The only female voice was of Sujatha Mohan in Katrin Mozhi. In 2008 Vidyasagar's notable releases were Vijay's '' Kuruvi'' and the Priyadarshan directed ''

Mere Baap Pehle Aap ''Mere Baap Pehle Aap'' (translation: ''My father, You first'') is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film directed by Priyadarshan. The film stars Akshaye Khanna, Genelia D'Souza, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Manoj Joshi, Archana Puran Singh ...

'' in Hindi. After his brief dull phase in

, he bounced back into the scene with the Lal Jose directorial ''

Neelathamara Neelathamara may refer to: * Neelathamara (1979 film), a Malayalam-language romance film * Neelathamara (2009 film) ''Neelathamara'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by La ...

'', scripted by the legendary M.T. Vasudevan Nair, with the song ''Anuraga Vilochananaayi'' becoming a cult favourite. He followed it up with hits in Apoorva Ragam and Makeup Man. Meanwhile, in

, he delivered hits with

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...

's ''

Siruthai ''Siruthai'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Siva. It is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film ''Vikramarkudu'', directed by S. S. Rajamouli. It stars Karthi playing dual roles, alongside Tamannaah and comedian ...

'' and Vijay's '' Kaavalan''. In 2012, Vidyasagar had three releases in

with '' Diamond Necklace'', Thappana and '' Ordinary''. In 2013,

signed him in for his film, ''

Geethaanjali ''Geethaanjali'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language horror film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Abhilash Nair, with dialogue by Dennis Joseph. Though promoted as spin-off of the 1993 Malayalam film ''Manichitrathazhu'', it was an off ...

'' in

with

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

in the lead role. Lal Jose's ''

Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum ''Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum'' ( Leopards and a Lamb) is a 2013 Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Lal Jose. It has Kunchacko Boban, Namitha Pramod in lead roles. ''Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum'', scripted by M Sindhuraj, ...

'' and ''

Jannal Oram ''Jannal Oram'' () is a 2013 Tamil-language road comedy thriller film directed by Karu Pazhaniappan A remake of the 2012 Malayalam film, '' Ordinary'', it stars Parthiban, Vimal, Vidharth, Poorna and Manisha Yadav of ''Vazhakku Enn 18/9'' fame. ...

'', the Tamil remake of '' Ordinary'' were his other releases of the year. The end of veteran filmmaker Sathyan Anthikkad's 10-film long collaboration with composer

Ilaiyaraaja 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 o ...

saw him collaborate with Vidyasagar for the film ''

Oru Indian Pranayakatha ''Oru Indian Pranayakadha'' () is a 2013 Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written by Ikbal Kuttipuram and directed by Sathyan Anthikad starring Fahadh Faasil and Amala Paul. The film was a sleeper hit despite competition from ''Drishyam'' ...

''.

Sathyan Anthikad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

continued his collaboration with Vidyasagar for his next 2 films, ''

Ennum Eppozhum ''Ennum Eppozhum'' () is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Ranjan Pramod based on a story by Raveendran. It was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the production company Aashirvad C ...

'' (released in 2015) and ''

Jomonte Suvisheshangal ''Jomonte Suvisheshangal'' ( ''Jomon's Gospels'') is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and written by Iqbal Kuttippuram. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan, Mukesh and Aishwarya Rajesh. Aishwarya Raj ...

'' (released in 2017).

Discography

Awards

Interview

*
Vidyasagar Interview
' (BehindwoodsTV, January 2020) *
Vidyasagar talks on music
' ( International Broadcasting Corporation for Tamil, February 2020)

References

External links

* *

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) * Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

Vidyasagar

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