Sai Vignesh is an Indian playback singer, musician, Carnatic singer, music teacher and content creator who mainly dubs for Tamil and Telugu songs. He rose to fame in September 2022 after dubbing the song “Varaha Roopam” in the Kannada film “Kantara”.
Wiki/Biography
R. Sai Vignesh or Sai Vignesh Ramakrishnan was born on Thursday, November 20, 1996 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (26 years old; as of 2022). His zodiac sign is Scorpio. Sai studied at Smt Ramkuwar Devi Fomra Vivekananda Vidyalaya (2001-2011) and Sri Ahabila Math Oriental Higher Secondary School, Chennai (2012). In 2014, he pursued his Bachelor of Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. Sai studied at the University of Madras, Chennai and received a Master of Music in Vocal Performance.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′5″
Weight (approximately): 65kg
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Sai’s father Ramakrishnan Venkatachalam is a keyboard player. His mother’s name was Vijayalachmi Ramakrishnan.
Sai Vignesh and his father Ramakrishnan Venkatachalam (left)
Sai Vignesh and his mother Vijayalakhmi Ramakrishnan
wife
Sai Vignesh is unmarried.
other relatives
Sai’s grandmother’s name was V. Vijaylakshami.
Sai Vignesh and his grandparents
Religion/Religious Views
Sai and his family have been devotees of Sathya Sai Baba since childhood and he has performed devotional songs many times in Sathya Sai organizations.
Sai Vignesh, seeking the blessings of Sathya Sai Baba
Profession
As a child, Sai often accompanied and sang in her grandmother V. Vijaylakshamim’s stage singing performances. When Sai was six, his father noticed his talent and enrolled him in music classes, and he began training in Indian classical music with Indian musician Lakshmi Ananthakrishnan. Sai gained recognition after participating as a contestant in Star Vijay’s Tamil singing reality TV show Airtel Super Singer Season 4 in 2013, where she was among the top 7 contestants.
Sai Vignesh appears in the stills of Star Vijay’s Tamil singing reality TV show Airtel Super Singer Season 4
Sai made her debut as a playback singer in 2018 with the song “Oora Nenjila” from the Tamil film Eghantham. In the same year, he lent his voice to the song “Kaalai Theme” in the Tamil film Kadaikutty Singam. In 2022, he premiered the song “Anuragam Ashai” from the movie “Darunam” in Telugu. Sai rose to fame in the Kannada film industry with her debut Kannada song “Varaha Roopam” from the film “Kantara” (2022). As of 2023, the song has been viewed more than 62 million times on YouTube.
#VarahaRoopam –𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠#𝟏𝐨𝐧 @YouTubeIndia ❤️🔥– https://t.co/KC8vw1ZSsR#DivineBlockbusterKantara#kantala @shetty_rishab @VKiragandur @hombalefilms @gowda_sapthami @HombaleGroup @AJANEESHB #ArvindKashyap @actorkishore @KantaraFilm pic.twitter.com/a0lSure1rB
— Hombale Films (@hombalefilms) October 21, 2022
In the same year, his song “Kurumugil” in the Telugu film “Sita Ramam” was well received by the audience.
Awards
- 2013: Second Runner-up in The Times Thyagaraja Awards
Sai Vignesh wins second runner-up in Times Thyagaraja Awards
- 2017: Best Future Sound Award 2017 by TAG Carnatic Music Forum
- 2018: Spirit Youth Festival Conservatory of Music Award for Best Vocal Artist 2018
- 2019: HCL Concert Series won the British Academy of Music’s Best Concert Award
- 2019: Awarded Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr MS Subbulakshmi Scholarship in Carnatic Music
Sai Vignesh poses with his Sri Shanmukhananda Bharat Ratna Dr MS Subbulakshmi Carnatic Music Scholarship
Facts/Trivia
- Sai received professional singing training from Indian musician TR Vasudevan, who belongs to Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu.
- In June 2014, Sai won the “Shankar Mahadevan Singing Competition 2014” organized by Shankar Mahadevan Academy and got the opportunity to perform live with Shankar Mahadevan in Bangalore.
- Sai is a “B-High” artiste of All India Radio (AIR). It is divided into four levels: B, B-High, A, and Top, which are awarded to artists by a committee of music experts based on their performance quality standards.
- In an interview, Sai said that Gautham Menon is one of his favorite film directors.
- Sai has considered playback singer and music composer Dr SP Balasubrahmanyam as his inspiration since his childhood.
- In an interview, Sai talked about how he became interested in music at a young age, saying;
My grandmother used to sing and Carnatic music was also heard on the radio every morning and noon. I used to listen to them all the time. My father was a keyboard player and my aunts sang bhajans at home. So, my love for music started at home. ”
- As of 2023, Sai has performed over 1000 live performances in India and other countries such as the United States, Canada, London, Singapore, Australia, Germany, and more. Additionally, he has shared the stage with some of the leading music artistes such as Ilaiyaraaja, SP Balasubrahmanyam, Shankar Mahadevan, KS Chithra and D. Imman.
- Sai provides music training to aspiring musicians through online and offline workshops.
- When Sai entered eighth grade, he sang his first song for film score composer Vishal Chandrashekar.
- Sai describes himself as a Carnatic musician as he has been trained in Carnatic music for 18 years.
- Sai performed for the first time at the UK’s 18th Saiva Conference Live Concert in London on 7 May 2017.
- In 2019, Sai was appointed as a Selected Artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
- In 2020, Sai founded Gandiva, an Indian classical contemporary fusion band in Chennai with dancer Kavya Muralidharan and music producer Navin Shankar. Their first video, Shiva Tandava, was uploaded to the channel on January 1, 2021 and has received over 1 million views on YouTube.
- In an interview, Sai spoke about his experience of recording the super hit song ‘Varaha Roopam’ from the Kannada film ‘Kantara’ despite not knowing much Kannada and said;
I sang the climax song of the film called ‘Varaha Roopam’. This is a very strong number. Although “Kurumugil” is a romantic melody, this song is special because I have been studying Carnatic music for 18 years and have always wanted to sing a classical song with a modern twist. I am very grateful to composer Ajaneesh Loknath for inviting me to sing this song. Even here, I was initially asked to sing a version of the track. But it was a good experience learning the lyrics and singing in Kannada, a language I was unfamiliar with. ”
- Sai’s hobbies include traveling, driving, photography and watching movies.
- On September 30, 2022, the Kannada film “Kantara” starring Rishab Shetty was released in Indian theaters. The song “Varaha Roopam” sung by Sai Vignesh in the film sparked controversy after Kerala-based multi-genre band Thaikkudam Bridge claimed that the song was deliberately plagiarized from one of their 2015 release songs “Navarasam”. On October 24, 2022, the band shared an Instagram post in which they accused the film’s director Rishab Shetty and the production company Hombale Films. Copying their songs without their permission. On October 27, 2022, Thaikkudam Bridge Band filed a case against the filmmaker in the Kozhikode District Court, following which the court passed an interim injunction in favor of Thaikkudam Bridge Band on October 28, 2022 and The makers of the Kantala movie were ordered to remove the song from various online streaming platforms including theatres, online digital platforms and social media. Another petition was filed in the Palakkad district court in Kerala by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Ltd., which owns the copyright of Navarasam songs. However, the filmmakers denied the allegations but complied with the court order and removed the song from all streaming platforms. On December 3, 2022, the Palakkad district court lifted the ban citing lack of jurisdiction, so the song was once again available on all platforms. In an interview, Sai discussed the ongoing legal dispute between the film’s producers and the band Thaikkudam Bridge, saying:
I can’t speak for the music composers or the film team. I had not heard “Navarasam” before we recorded the song. In my opinion, the mood of the two songs is different. “Navarasam” depicts the nine bhavas (emotions) while “Varaha Roopam” focuses on the Bhoota Kola culture and is more about divinity. “Varaha Roopam” and “Navarasam” are not based on the same set of Ragas. “
- In 2022, Sai Vignesh was invited to be a judge for the second season of the online Tamil singing competition Kuralosai 916, which aired on Youtube. In the show, contestants compete against each other by recording and sending a two-minute video of any Tamil song according to the music genre assigned to them.
- Sai Vignesh has an eponymous YouTube channel where he posts videos of his singles; the channel has over 10,000 subscribers. On December 9, 2022, he uploaded the unplugged version of the Kannada song Varaha Roopam, which received over 250,000 views within 3 days of its release.
- As of 2023, Sai has lent his voice to over 500 records and has worked with many renowned music directors such as Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, AR Rahman and Harris Jayaraj.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education