Yanamandra Venkata Subrahmanyam (Telugu: యనమండ్ర వెంకట సుబ్రహ్మణ్యం; born 11 July 1964), professionally known as Mani Sharma, is an Indian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

known for his work primarily in

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

, along with contributions to

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films.

Early life

Mani Sharma was born as Yanamandra Venkata Subrahmanyam on 11 July 1964 in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, where he was also raised. His family has ancestral roots in the West Godavari and

Machilipatnam Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar (), is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the Tehsil, mandal ...

regions. His father was a violinist who played with composer Saluri Rajeswara Rao. Mani Sharma discontinued his studies after the 12th standard.

Career

Mani Sharma began his career as a programmer under Satyam and Saluri Rajeswara Rao, later working with composers like

Ramesh Naidu Pasupuleti Ramesh Naidu (1933–1987) was an Indian music composer, multi instrumentalist, and singer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He garnered the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the film ''Meghasandesam' ...

and M. M. Keeravani. Director

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu films.** * * Varma has dir ...

entrusted him with composing the background score for '' Raathri'' and ''

Antham ''Antham'' () is a 1992 Indian neo-noir crime film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi, it has Nagarjuna, Urmila Matondkar and Danny Denzongpa. The Telugu version was released on 11 September 1992, ...

'' (both 1992), along with a song for ''Antham''. Sharma was initially signed as a full-fledged music director (songs and background score) for a film produced by Aswini Dutt, starring

Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...

and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. However, the project was later helmed by

Gunasekhar Gunasekhar (born 2 June 1964) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has directed films in action, romance, mythological, and historical drama genres. He has won a National Film Award, multiple Nand ...

. While this film was in development, ''Super Heroes'' and ''

Bavagaru Bagunnara? ''Bavagaru Bagunnara'' () is a 1998 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee and produced by Nagendra Babu under Anjana Productions banner. The film stars Chiranjeevi, Rambha, and Rachana, with a su ...

'' were released earlier, and the Chiranjeevi–Aswini Dutt film was eventually released as ''

Choodalani Vundi ''Choodalani Vundi'' () is a 1998 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Gunasekhar, and produced by C. Aswani Dutt under Vyjayanthi Movies. This film stars Chiranjeevi, Soundarya, Anjala Zaveri and Prakash Raj. ...

''. As music director, he has worked on several films with producer Aswini Dutt, starting with ''Super Heroes''. he has been music director on more than 200 films, for the most part Telugu but also including 25 Tamil productions and several in Kannada. His first hit was ''

Preminchukundam Raa ''Preminchukundam Raa'' ( ''Come, Let's Love'') is a 1997 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee and produced by D. Suresh Babu under Suresh Productions. The film stars Venkatesh and Anjala Zaveri with mus ...

'' (1997); ''

'' and ''

Samarasimha Reddy ''Samarasimha Reddy'' is a 1999 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by B. Gopal and produced by Chengala Venkat Rao. It stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in the title role alongside Anjala Zaveri, Simran, Sanghavi, with music com ...

'' in particular have been highly successful. He has also collaborated on albums with many actors, including

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

Pawan Kalyan Konidela Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar; 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and martial artist serving as the List of deputy chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 11th Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Prade ...

and

Ram Charan Konidela Ram Charan (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, film producer, and entrepreneur who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and is also known for his dancing. He has featured in '' ...

. His works are noted for integrating

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

with Western classical instrumentation. He is sometimes known as ''Melody Brahma'' and ''Swara Bramha''. Composers including

S. Thaman Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Sivakumar (born 16 November 1983), professionally credited as Thaman S, is an Indian composer and playback singer known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He is the recipient of the National Film Award f ...

Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...

, and

Harris Jayaraj J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...

worked under him in their early days.

Awards

He has received two state

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, three

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

, two

CineMAA Awards The CineMAA Awards are presented annually by the Maa TV Group to honour artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Telugu cinema. The awards were introduced in 2004. The CineMAA Awards are voted for by both the public and a committee ...

and three

Mirchi Music Awards South Mirchi Music Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Mirchi Music Awards, presented by Radio Mirchi to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the South Indian music industry. The awards are separately giv ...

for Best Music Direction.

Discography

Telugu

Tamil

Kannada

Hindi

Background score only

Television

Other works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Mani 1964 births 20th-century Indian composers 21st-century Indian composers Filmfare Awards South winners Indian film score composers Indian male composers Indian male musicians Kannada film score composers Living people Musicians from Andhra Pradesh Musicians from Chennai People from Andhra Pradesh People from Krishna district Tamil film score composers Telugu film score composers Telugu people