Ramesh Narayan (born 3 November 1959) is an Indian classical vocalist, composer and music producer who works predominantly in

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, '' Elippat ...

. He belongs to the Mewati gharana of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

. Narayan began his initial training in

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 ...

and later mastered the classical

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

style under the renowned

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

. Narayan began his career composing score music for documentaries, films and

Indian television The television industry in India is very diverse and produces thousands of programs in many of the Indian languages. More than half of all Indian households own a television. As of 2016, the country had over 857 channels of which 184 were pay ...

programs in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. He composed and sung the national integration song ''Saur Mandal Mein Tim Tim'' in 1996, directed by

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

laureate

M.T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

for Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad. Narayan's film-scoring career began in the early 1990s with the Malayalam film

Magrib The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

. His notable works include

Garshom ''Garshom'' is a 1999 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. T. Kunju Muhammed. The film stars Urvashi, Murali, Madhu and Siddique in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Ramesh Narayan. It was the debut film of noted lyricist Rafeeq ...

Meghamalhar ''Meghamalhar'' is a 2001 Indian Malayalam-language romance film written and directed by Kamal from a story by Iqbal Kuttippuram. It stars Biju Menon and Samyuktha Varma in the lead roles, while Poornima Mohan, Sreenath, Shivaji, Siddique a ...

, Saira,

Makalkku ''Makalkku'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language film by Jayaraj, and starring Suresh Gopi and Shobana in lead roles. Noted Indian singer Adnan Sami performed a song in this movie. Shobana's performance as an intellectually disabled woman won ...

Rathri Mazha ''Rathri Mazha'' is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language film by Lenin Rajendran starring Vineeth and Meera Jasmine in lead roles. Rathri Mazha was chosen as one of the Indian entries for the Asian, African and Latin American Competition segment of t ...

Paradesi (2007 film) ''Paradesi'' () is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by P. T. Kunju Muhammed. It was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the company Aashirvad Cinemas. Mohanlal plays Valiyakaththu Moosa, in three stages of his li ...

Manjadikuru ''Manjadikuru'' ( en, Lucky Red Seeds) is a 2008 Malayalam film written and directed by Anjali Menon. A shorter video version of the film was premiered at the 2008 International Film Festival of Kerala, and won the FIPRESCI Award for best Mala ...

Adaminte Makan Abu ''Adaminte Makan Abu'' () is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language social drama film written, directed and co-produced by Salim Ahamed. It stars Salim Kumar and Zarina Wahab, with Mukesh, Kalabhavan Mani, Suraj Venjarammoodu, and Nedumudi Venu in su ...

Veettilekkulla Vazhi ''Veettilekkulla Vazhi'' () is a 2010 Indian Malayalam adventure drama film written and directed by Dr. Biju. The film is about terrorist organizations operating in India and how they recruit young Keralites. It stars Prithviraj, Indrajith an ...

Makaramanju ''Makaramanju'' ( en, The Mist of Capricorn, italic=yes) is a 2011 Malayalam language romantic drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran. The film is about celebrated painter Raja Ravi Varma's life at a certain stage in his life. It al ...

Edavappathy ''Edavappathy'' () is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran. It deals with the story of the mental conflicts of a Tibetan Buddhist priest. Siddharth Lama plays the male lead with Utthara Unni opposi ...

Ennu Ninte Moideen ''Ennu Ninte Moideen'' (English: ''Yours Truly, Moideen'') is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language biographical romantic drama film written and directed by R. S. Vimal, based on the real-life story of Kanchanamala and B. P. Moideen, which took pla ...

Suryakantha ''Suryakantha'' is a Sanskrit film made in Kerala, India. It is the fifth Sanskrit film overall and the first contemporary Sanskrit film, which narrates the story of an ageing couple living out their last days. It talks about common people who ...

etc. Narayan has earned National Film Awards, four

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

, two

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

, four Kerala state Television awards, two Kerala State Television Critics Award, two Madrid Imagine India Film festival Award. In 2007, he received the Indian Music Academy Award for popularizing

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 ...

from the then

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

Dr.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

. Narayan became popular by performing a 36-hour vocal recital as part of celebrating the 100 years of

Indian Cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, K ...

at the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

, Pune. This performance got him an entry to the

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

2013 for completing the 24 hour

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

cycle. In 2023, he was honoured with Kerala Sree Award, third highest civilian award given by the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

Early life

Narayan was born in

Kuthuparamba Kuthuparamba is a town and a municipality in the Kannur district, state of Kerala, India. It is about 24 km south east of Kannur and 14 km east of Thalassery. History Kuthuparamba was part of Kottayam dynasty under the reign of Pa ...

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a Cities in India, city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city a ...

in a family of

Carnatic musicians 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 ...

. He received his early lessons in music from his parents. His father Narayan Bhagavathar was a Carnatic musician and his mother Narayani Amma was musical as well. The artistic ambience the family during his early childhood left a lasting impression on him and inspired Narayan to pursue his training in Carnatic music until the age of 20. During his university years at the Government Music College, Chitoor, Narayan was drawn to

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, si ...

. His brother Ramdas, who was based in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, supported his dream to study Hindustani music and introduced Narayan to the city of Pune.

Career

Upon moving to Pune, he learnt Sitar under the tutelage of Satchidananda Phadke, a disciple of

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

virtuoso

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...

. After learning sitar, he joined the

Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya New Delhi is an institution established in 1939 to popularize Indian classical music and dance. The Mahavidyalaya (school) came into being to perpetuate the memory of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the great reviver of ...

to study Hindustani vocal, and took his "Visharad" degree. Narayan said that he "felt entranced by the style of

" and decide to hone his talent and technique under Jasraj, who belongs to the Mewati Gharana. Pandit Jasraj gave him rigorous training for more than seven years in the "subtler aspects of music". Narayan accompanied Pandit Jasraj during several of his concerts. One of his feats is a 30-hour concert he performed as a dedication to his father, the late Narayana Bhagavathar, and to

Pandit Motiram A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

, an exponent of the Mewati gharana. Narayan has composed music for feature films and television serials such as '' Gharshom, Elayum Mullum,

Anyar ''Anyar'' is a Malayalam language fiīlm of India. It was released on 19 September 2003. The film deals with the hot topic of communal polarisation in Kerala. The film stars Jyothirmayi and Biju Menon Plot Sooraj and Razia are college mates. ...

and

Sheelabathi ''Seelabathi'' is a 2005 Malayalam drama film written and directed by R. Sarath, starring Kavya Madhavan and Narain in the lead roles. The film, according to the director, is for "all those girls who have been reported missing from several par ...

.'' His latest work include a

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

song

Nee poyathil pinne Nee or NEE may refer to: Names * Née (lit. "born"), a woman's family name at birth before the adoption of another surname usually after marriage **The male equivalent " né" is used to indicate what a man was originally known as before the adop ...

written by Jose Manuel Motha in 2020.

Personal life

Ramesh Narayan is accompanied at many of his concerts by his wife Hema. She is a Carnatic musician and was also a student of Pandit Jasraj for a short period. Ramesh Narayan has two daughters, Madhuvanthi and

Madhushree Madhushree (born Sujata Bhattacharya, 2 November 1969) is an Indian playback singer who sings in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Telugu films. A familiar voice in A. R. Rahman's compositions, Madhushree hails from a musically inclined fami ...

who both musicians. Narayan established the Pandit Mothiram Narayan Sangeeth Vidyalay in 1996, at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

to foster appreciation for Hindustani Classical Music. Inaugurated by Pandit Jasraj, it's the only music school in India to be associated with Mewati Gharana.

Original scores

Discography

* ''Nandagopalam'' * ''Rudra'' * ''Mridumalhar'' * ''Ayyappa Sahasra Namam'' * ''Shivoham'' * ''Swati Manasam'' * ''Radheshyaam'' * ''Mridugeetham pole''

Awards and achievements

;

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award is an award given by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous organisation for the encouragement, preservation, and documentation of the performing arts of Kerala, set up by the Department of Cultu ...

2012 ;

: * 2005 – '' Best Background Score'' - Saira * 2006 –

Best Music Director Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

* 2014 –

- White Boys * 2015 –

- Edavapathy & ''

'' Kerala state Television awards * 2000 - Best Music Director - * 2004 - Best Music Director - 'RAGARDHAM' * 2006 - Best Music Director - * 2012 - Best Music Director - Choodu Kerala Film Critics Awards * 2002 - Best Music Director - "Megha Malhar" * 2006 - Best Music Director - Rathri Mazha Kerala Critics TV Awards * 2002 - Best Music Director - "Devaranjini" * 2003 - Best Music Director - "Madrid International Award" * 2010 - Best Music Director -Veettilekulla vazhi ''Madrid International film festival Spain'' * "Goldenchakra" award for best music director - Paradesi "Imagine India 2011 International Award" * 2010 - Best Music Director -Veettilekulla vazhi Prem Nazir Foundation TV Awards * 2010 - Best Music Director - Film Audience Award * 2005 - Best Music Director - 'Sheelabati' and 'Makallkku' Mathrubhumi Medimix Film Award * 2002 - Best Music Director - "Megha Malhar" * Limca Book of Records 2014 for continuous vocal recital for 36 hours and has completed 24-hour raga cycle in accordance to the 'samay siddhant', at the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune - is 2013. *Title ‘Nadha Kala Nipuna-2013’ by Ravindran School of Music, Chennai *Title of 'Sangeet Mahayogi' by Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma Foundation, trivandrum - 2012 *"Acharya Varishtata" from Pandit Jasraj Institute New York-2011. *"Taan Samrat Award"from Bhavalaya Muscat-2011 *"Pt. Bhimsen Joshi Puraskar" from Bharathiya Vidyalaya India-2011 *"Leadership Award"from cultural Education Center, New Jersey, United States- 2009 *"Sangeet Samraat" Award from Shikshayatan Cultural Center, New York - 2008 *"Sangeetha Puraskar" received by the Arts and Cultural Movement Of India - July 2008 *Sree Chakra Puraskar 2006. *Virtuoso Award 2005. *Nominated for V. Santharam Award, Mumbai. *John Abraham Award 2001. *Soma Award for the year 2000. *Centre for Media Studies Buddha Award for the year 1998. *Akashavani Annual Award for the year 1997.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayan, Ramesh 1959 births Hindustani singers People from Kannur district Living people Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award Kerala Sree Award Winners