– Sathyaprakash
A song that is most hummed by the youngsters, kids and even the elderly in 2017 was ‘Aalaporaan Thamizhan’ from Mersal, composed by A.R.Rahman, which has not only made the composer and the movie rise sky high but also its Singer Sathyaprakash who added the magic to it.
The past year has been a special year to the enthralling playback singer, who also sang the romantic number ‘Nallai Allai’ from Kaatru Veliyidai, a Maniratnam movie. Sathyaprakash has so far sung more than a hundred songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and some independent albums. He has the distinction of working with leading music composers of the industry like Ilaiyaraaja, A.R. Rahman, Anirudh, D. Imman, G.V. Prakash, James Vasanthan, Sean Roldan, Nivas Prasanna and many more in his short career.
“There have been so many cherished moments in my life. But I would always consider singing in front of the legendary composers M.S. Viswanathan and Ramamorthy at the Airtel Super Singer one of the most unforgettable and the greatest opportunity of my life,” said a delighted Sathyaprakash.
Born in an agricultural background of Madurai, Sathyaparkash’s parents settled in Coimbatore and thus the city became his home town. He not only had his education at school and college level in Coimbatore but also learnt Carnatic Music here, which helped him become a star singer.
“My grandfather Ramaiah Pillai, who worked as a Tamil Pandit in Madurai, was the one who first spotted the singing talent in me. Later, it was my Guru Pandanallur Chandrasekhara Bhagavathar who taught me Classical Music for which I gained recognitions from everyone. It was my training in Classical music that helped me achieve success at the Airtel Super Singer competition,” he said.
He started singing when he was just eight years old and neither he nor anyone in his family had the slightest idea or the remotest plans of entering into the playback singing industry. “I always wanted to become a classical singer like Unni Krishnan, TM Krishna and Sanjay Subramaniam, but getting into playback industry is a mere accident. While doing my final year mechanical engineering in college, my friends asked me to participate in the Airtel Super Singer competition, which I simply did, without ever imagining that singing was going to be my profession,” said Sathyaprakash who hails from a family without any musical background.
“Hailing from a non-music family, it was tough for me in the beginning to find my place when I was required to sing only classical songs in the show. But, eventually with the help of Srinivas, Unni Krishnan and Ananth Vaidyanathan, I started singing cinema songs, which really helped me hog the limelight in the show,” said the singer nostalgically.
The singer is worried about the recent trends and calls it an unhealthy competition. “Back in those days there used to be less competition because there was no software. If you have to become a playback singer, then you must sing the whole song at one stroke with no break nor cut. But now with instruments like synthesizer, anyone can become a singer, you can record any number of times and compile it as a song, which gives the public a boosted image of the singer’s ability, says a devastated Sathyaprakash. He says that such a practice gives singers without natural ability to excel a false hope that they can also become singers.
However captivating the youths with his magical voice, the Coimbatore singer has already made the city proud with his hard earned recognition and is still working hard as ever to earn more awards and honors for the city. “Although I was born in Madurai, I grew up in Coimbatore. So, this is always a special place for me. Wherever I may go and live, I always miss the climate, water and the warmth of the people of Coimbatore. Whenever I want to relax myself from the hectic activities of my profession, it is to Coimbatore I return to gain peace and serenity,” said Sathyaprakash with a beaming smile.
– Tamil Meganathan.