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Srinivas
name might not ring an instant bell as a singer, but
when you think about the hit songs he has sung, viz.
Ooo la la la (Sapnay), Dola dola (Dil Hi Dil Mein),
Ta ra rum pum (Doli Saja Ke Rakhna), Yeh jo zindagi
hai (1947 - Earth) and (Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya),
you know that he is among the few good singers with
an appealing voice. He had developed the fine ear
for music early in his life. When he was a mere kid
growing up in Trivandrum, followed the bhajanai
groups, who sang and went by the street during the
month of Margazhi.He started listening to Semmangudi,
M.D. Ramanthan and others through my aunt Mrs.
Padmanarayanan,his guru in music. Then the
soul-stirring voice of Kishore Kumar deeply
influenced him during the length of my schooling
years. Once in the Bombay University Department of
Chemical Technology for his B. Tech in textile dyes,
He fell in love with the ghazals of Mehdi Hassan and
started representing his university in youth
festivals.
He worked as a chemical engineer for 10
years, before his passion for music got the
better of him. In those 10 years, he
progressed in his career, moved to
Coimbatore, and got married. He approached
the music maestro Ilayaraja, the numero uno
in the tamil filmdom during the 80s, who
offered an opportunity but unfortunately it
didn't work. The singer is impressed with
Rahman’s dedication to music. "He’s totally absorbed
in his music, and there’s nothing else that affects
him," says Srinivas in praise of the maverick
composer, "For him music is God. And he gets the
best out of a singer." A die-hard fan of ghazal
maestro Mehdi Hassan, and also addicted to R.D.
Burman-Kishore Kumar hits, Srinivas has earlier sung
for a couple of Hindi albums like Pagalpan and
Ahsaas. The playback singer from South cuts his
first private album in Hindi titled Yeh Duniya Sab
Ki, which boasts of a new sound on the Indi-pop
front.... Also he worked as a co-composer to Praveen
Mani for "Little John" now. His first break came
from Mahesh, for the Tamil film 'Nammavar'. Its 'Sorgam
enbathu namakku' was a runaway hit, and his career
in singing launched successfully.Right from the
start, Srinivas was keen to sing for Rahman, after
he heard his haunting score in Roja. And his aim was
fulfilled soon.He went and met A. R. Rehman after
the phenomenal success of 'Roja' who auditioned him.
He was then employed with a Trivandrum based
company, as it's regional manager. He made Chennai
his base thereafter in 1994-95 and started doing the
track for advertising jingles and devotional albums.
To start with he did the chorus for Rehman's 'Manamadurai
maamara kizhiyile'.
But he actually got noticed as 'Oo..la la la'
happened (Film: Minsara Kanavu) to him. Then came
'En Uyire...' in Maniratnam's 'Uyire', the tamil
version of his hindi movie 'Dil Se', and Srinivas
was catapulted into fame. So much so that people
started calling him 'Uyire' Srinivas ! After that,
there has been no looking back for this singer.
Srinivas has sung for leading music directors like
Ilayaraja, Deva, Rahman, Vidyasagar, and in
languages like Tamil, Malayalam, etc. He has made a
foray into music direction through the tamil movie 'Ae
Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke', in which he was one among
the five music directors of the movie. And his
composition 'Ini Naanum naanillai' in that film is a
major hit. His famous albums include 'Ussele Ussele'
and 'Paarvai'.His did Hindi assignments include "Doli
Sajake Rakhna", "1947-Earth" and "Raja ko Rani se
pyar ho gaya" . |