Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Sivakumar (born 16 November 1983), professionally credited as Thaman S, 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

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

known for his works majorly in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

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 ...

cinema. He is the recipient of the

National Film Award for Best Music Direction The National Film Award for Best Music Direction (the Silver Lotus Award) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the National Film Development Corporation of India to a musician who has composed the best score for films ...

for his work in the 2020 musical hit '' Ala Vaikuntapuramulo''. His breakout film as a music director was ''

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

'' (2009). His notable compositions include films such as ''

Eeram ''Eeram'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language horror thriller film written and directed by Arivazhagan in his directorial debut and produced by S. Shankar. The film stars Aadhi Pinisetty, Nandaa and Sindhu Menon. Saranya Mohan, Srinath, ...

'' (2009), ''Brindavanam'' (2010), ''

Mirapakay ''Mirapakay'' ( Chilli) is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Ramesh Puppala under Yellow Flowers. The film stars Ravi Teja in the lead role, alongside Richa Gangopadhyay, Deeksha Se ...

'' (2011), ''

Osthe ''Osthe'' (''The Best'') is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by S. Dharani, a remake of the 2010 Bollywood film ''Dabangg''. It stars Silambarasan, Richa Gangopadhyay, Sonu Sood, Jithan Ramesh, Santhanam, VTV Ganesh ...

'' (2011), ''

Dookudu ''Dookudu'' () is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Srinu Vaitla and written by Vaitla, Kona Venkat, and Gopimohan. It is produced by Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta, and Anil Sunkara under the banner 14 Reels Entertain ...

'' (2011), ''

Businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

'' (2012), '' Naayak'' (2013), ''Baadshah'' (2013), '' Greeku Veerudu'' (2013), '' Ramayya Vasthavayya'' (2013), ''

Race Gurram ''Race Gurram'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film co-written & directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Nallamalupu Srinivas under his banner Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions. The film stars Allu Arjun and Shruti ...

'' (2014), ''

Aagadu ''Aagadu'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Srinu Vaitla. Written by Anil Ravipudi, Upendra Madhav and Praveen Varma, the film was jointly produced by Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta and Anil Sunkara under their ban ...

'' (2014), ''

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

'' (2015), '' Sarrainodu'' (2016), '' Tholi Prema'' (2018), '' Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'' (2020), ''

Akhanda ''Akhanda'' () is a 2021 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language action drama film co-written and directed by Boyapati Srinu. It was produced by Miryala Ravinder Reddy, under Dwaraka Creations. It stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in a dual role alon ...

'' (2021), ''

Sarkaru Vaari Paata ''Sarkaru Vaari Paata'' () is a 2022 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Parasuram (director), Parasuram. It is produced by Mythri Movie Makers, 14 Reels Plus and G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment and st ...

'' (2022), ''

Varisu ''Varisu'' ( ) is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Vamshi Paidipally, who co-wrote the film with Hari, Ashishor Solomon and Vivek Velmurugan. Produced jointly by Dil Raju and Sirish under the banner of Sri Venkateswa ...

'' (2023), and ''

Daaku Maharaaj ''Daaku Maharaaj '' (transl. King of the Bandits) is a 2025 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed and co-written by Bobby Kolli and produced by Sithara Entertainments, Fortune Four Cinemas and Srikara Studios. The film stars Na ...

'' (2025). Thaman has been the judge in the reality singing show '' Telugu Indian Idol''. He is known for his frequent collaborations with

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised for his roles in action comedy films, he is popularly referred to as ...

Surender Reddy Surender Reddy is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He made his directorial debut with ''Athanokkade'' (2005), which won him Nandi Awards, Nandi Award for Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director, Best Fi ...

Sreenu Vaitla Srinu Vaitla (born 24 September 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema, particularly in the action comedy genre. He has received several accolades, including five Nandi Awards—three for Best Sc ...

Trivikram Srinivas Trivikram Srinivas (born Akella Naga Srinivasa Sarma; 7 November 1971) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised for his witty dialogues, humour, and philosophical themes, he is one of the high ...

, and Boyapati Srinu.,

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Thaman was born as Ghantasala Sai Srinivas in a

family of musicians in

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and grew up in

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 ...

. He is the grandson of veteran director and producer,

Ghantasala Balaramayya Ghantasala Balaramayya was an Indian film director, producer, and actor in Telugu cinema. His notable films include ''Sri Seeta Rama Jananam, Sri Seetarama Jananam'' (1944), ''Balaraju'' (1948), ''Swapna Sundari (film), Swapna Sundari'' (1950) ...

. His father, Ghantasala Siva Kumar, was a drummer, who worked for seven hundred films, under music director K. Chakravarthy. His mother, Ghantasala Savitri, his sister,

Yamini Ghantasala Yamini Ghantasala is an Indian playback singer who works in Telugu and Tamil films. She is the sister of popular music director Thaman S. Ghantasala started with song Aagayamey in movie called Yaanum Theeyavan in 2016. After that, she recorded � ...

, and his aunt, B. Vasantha, are all

s. Sai Srinivas adopted the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Thaman and suffixed it with an S, the initial of his father's name Sivakumar. Thaman's father was his first teacher, who was also an accomplished drummer who worked with the likes of legendary percussionist Sivamani. Thaman entered

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 ...

as a supporting drummer at the age of 11 when he accompanied his father for the background score for the film ''

Bhairava Dweepam ''Bhairava Dweepam'' () is a 1994 Indian Telugu-language high fantasy film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. Starring Nandamuri Balakrishna and Roja in lead roles, the film features Vijaya Rangaraja as the titular antagonist, Bhairava. The s ...

'' in 1994. He performed in 7000 stage shows all over the world before becoming a music director. He worked for 64 Indian music directors as a rhythm box player, keyboard programmer and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

for 900 films before he became a film music director. His debut releases as a music director were ''

'' in Telugu and ''

Sindhanai Sei ''Sindhanai Sei'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language heist film written and directed by R. Yuvan in his directorial debut. The film stars R. Yuvan and Madhu Sharma, with Shafi, Nitish Veera, Shashank, Bala, Tharsha, and Ajay playing supportin ...

'' in Tamil, both of which released in 2009. He made his acting debut with one of India's most celebrated directors Shankar's '' Boys'' (2003). Thaman studied at Boston School in

. He joined a music team consisting of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and G. Anand as a rhythm pads player when he was nine years old, and discontinued studies at the age of 13 when his father died. He was compelled to make his hobby into a profession to overcome the crisis in his family. He then joined

Raj–Koti Thotakura Somaraju ( – 21 May 2023) and Saluri Koteswara Rao, popularly known as Raj–Koti, were a duo of Indian film music composers, singer-songwriters, record producers, musicians and multi-instrumentalist in Telugu cinema. In a notable ...

and worked for three years on 60 films under their tutelage. He also worked with M. M. Keeravani for three years on 30 films. Thaman considers

Mani Sharma Yanamandra Venkata Subrahmanyam (Telugu: యనమండ్ర వెంకట సుబ్రహ్మణ్యం; born 11 July 1964), professionally known as Mani Sharma, is an Indian composer and music producer known for his work primaril ...

to be his guru and spent eight years under his tutelage, while working on 94 films with him. On the whole he put in fourteen years of rhythm and keyboard programming with the veterans before branching out on his own.

Career

Thaman made his debut as a composer in through the

feature film ''

Malli Malli ''Malli Malli'' () is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language action-drama film directed by Raaj Adithya and starring Skanda Ashok and Kalyani in their Telugu debuts. The film is inspired by the Hollywood film '' If Only'' (2004). The film also marked ...

'' (2009), although the soundtrack album was released in 2008. Jeevi of ''Idlebrain'' credited Thaman's work in the film is credited as "good". The same year his second soundtrack, of the film ''

'', marked his debut in the

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

. He has also made his playback singing debut by recording "Uchimeedhu" song from the soundtrack. Background score in the Tamil film ''

'' (2009) received good reviews from the critics. Although he started composing the music of the film in 2007, the soundtrack was released in 2008 and eventually the film was released in 2009. In May 2017, Thaman made his Hindi debut when he was one of the six composers who featured in the soundtrack album of

Rohit Shetty Rohit Shetty (born 14 March 1974) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, stuntman, producer and television personality who works in Hindi cinema. A notable director of Hindi cinema, his movies often mix the genres of action comedy and masala f ...

's ''

Golmaal Again ''Golmaal Again'' () is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language supernatural action comedy film written and directed by Rohit Shetty; produced by Rohit Shetty Pictures, Mangl Murti Films and Reliance Entertainment. The film is the fourth installment of ' ...

'', a comedy franchise in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. In 2018, he composed a theme song for Rohit Shetty's successful venture ''

Simmba ''Simmba'' is a List of Bollywood films of 2018, 2018 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Rohit Shetty Picturez, Reliance Entertainment and Dharma Productions. The third installment of Shetty's Cop ...

''.

Personal life

Thaman owns music bands named Band Thamania and Gongura band. He is also a Cricket player, part of CCL and He owns a team called the Thaman Hitters. His wife Mrs.Srivardhini a singer who sang lot of hit songs in Tamil & Telugu films is also a notable personality in the musical industry.

Discography

Filmography

Television

Accolades

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

*2022:

68th National Film Awards The 68th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2020 in Indian cinema. The awards ceremony was originally slated to be hel ...

– Best Music Direction for '' Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'' ;

South Indian International Movie Awards The South Indian International Movie Awards (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 appreciate and hono ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: Best Music Director – Telugu for ''

'' *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: Best Male Playback Singer – Telugu for "Sir Osthara" – ''

'' *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Most streaming song for "Aagadu title song" – ''

'' *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: Best Music Director – Telugu for '' Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo'' *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: Best Male Playback Singer – Kannada for '' Yuvarathnaa'' *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: Nominated – Best Music Director – Telugu for ''Bheemla Nayak'' ;

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 ...

: Best Music Director – Telugu for ''

'' ;Other awards *The Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for ''

'' *MAA Music Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for ''

'' *TSR TV9 Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for ''

''. *TSR TV9 Awards 2016 – Best Music Director for '' Sarrainodu'', '' Srirastu Subhamastu''. *GAMA Awards 2016 – Best Love song "Nuvve Nuvve" in ''

Kick 2 ''Kick 2'' is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Surender Reddy from a story written by Vakkantham Vamsi. It is produced by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under the banner of N.T.R. Arts. A sequel to the 2009 film ''Kick,'' th ...

''. * Zee Cine Awards Telugu – Favorite Music Director for '' Tholi Prema''. * 17th Santosham Film Awards 2019 – Best Music Director Award for '' Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava'' (2018)''.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thaman, SS. Indian male playback singers Telugu film score composers Telugu playback singers Filmfare Awards South winners Living people Tamil film score composers 1983 births Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh 21st-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers South Indian International Movie Awards winners Santosham Film Awards winners Zee Cine Awards Telugu winners Telugu Indian Idol Best Music Direction National Film Award winners Thaman S