Dharan Kumar (born 8 October 1983) is an Indian
music 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 Defi ...
, who mainly produces film scores and soundtracks in the Tamil film industry. He made his film debut ''
Parijatham'', featuring the hit single "Unnai Kandene".
He credits director and actor K. Bhagyaraj as his guru.
Early life
Dharan was born on 8 October 1983 in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling at St. Johns,
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School
Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School is located in Egmore, Chennai. The school was established in July 1958 with 140 students and Fr. Mallon as the principal, and has since grown to over 5000 students. The school is affiliated to mat ...
and Anna Gem schools in Chennai. He started working as an assistant to composer
Harris Jayaraj
Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
He has been honoured with K ...
in the films ''
Kaakha Kaakha
''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured music ...
'', ''
Chellame'' and ''
Anniyan
''Anniyan'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The plot centres on a disillusioned everyman whose frustration at what he see ...
''.
Career
Film scores
Dharan used to participate in music programs in the college, director
K. Bhagyaraj
Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj (born 7 January 1953) is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi and Telugu films and TV serials. As an actor, ...
's daughter
Saranya
Sanjna (Sanskrit: संज्ञा, IAST: ''Saṃjñā''), also known as Saranyu ( sa, सरन्यू, IAST: ''Saraṇyū''), is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of Surya, the Sun god. She is mentioned in the ''Rigveda'', and also app ...
studied in. Dharan entered the film industry as a composer in 2005. For Saranya Bhagyaraj's debut venture, ''
Parijatham'', directed by her father, Saranya recommended Dharan as the film composer. The album became a chartbuster, with the song "Unnai Kandaene" being listed among the top ten songs of the year. ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' in its review described Dharan's songs and background score as "a major highlight" of the film, which became a commercial successful as well.
His next release was the soundtrack album to the low-budget horror thriller ''
Sivi'' that starred newcomers. The album received very positive reviews and response as well,
while Dharan's background score was highly appreciated by critics and described as "haunting",
and "top-class" that gives the film "its true color".
''Behindwoods'', in particular, praised his work, citing that Dharan had "enjoyed his work and threatened
he audiencecontinuously with his music", further adding that he had understood his role "perfectly well" and "delivered the goods with a sharp flourish".
The film, despite garnering favourable reviews,
performed poorly at the box office. Only 2009, his next album, the soundtrack to the gangster film ''
Laadam
''Laadam'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language gangster thriller film written and directed by Prabhu Solomon and produced by Ponnurangam. The film stars debutant Aravindhan and Charmy Kaur, while Kota Srinivasa Rao, Jayaprakash, Dheeraj Kher and M ...
'', released, which was based on
Hip-hop music, featuring Malaysian rappers Dr. Burn and Emcee Jezz. The film, directed by
Prabu Solomon
Prabhu Solomon (born 7 May 1969) is an Indian film director who has primarily worked on Tamil films. After making his debut in 1999, he had a middling career before rising to prominence with the success of the romantic tragedy film ''Mynaa'' (2 ...
, also
bombed at the box office, failing to propel his career.
In 2010, Dharan first release was
Bharath's ''
Thambikku Indha Ooru
''Thambikku Indha Ooru'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Badri. It stars Bharath, Sana Khan, Prabhu, Vivek, Madalsa Sharma, and Ranjith. The music was composed by Dharan Kumar with cinematography by Saalai Sahadeva ...
'', which, too was highly unsuccessful at the box office, while his next release would be ''
Siddu
Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, Siddaramaiah served as Chief Minister of Karnataka from 13 May 2013 to 17 May 2018 and currently serving as the leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembl ...
'', collaborating again with K. Bhagyaraj. The soundtrack to the film was released in 2009, for which he made composer
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...
and director
Venkat Prabhu
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first ...
to sing each a song, with the former's song "Poove Poove" emerging a chartbuster. He made his Malayalam debut with ''
The Thriller
''The Thriller'' is a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by B. Unnikrishnan. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Siddique, Lalu Alex, Catherine Tresa and Sampath Raj in pivotal roles. It was released on 17 Novem ...
'', starring
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of rol ...
and worked on the
Salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
-based romantic-musical ''
Podaa Podi
''Podaa Podi'' ( Go boy, go girl) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant Vignesh Shivan, starring Silambarasan and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. The score and soundtrack of the film were composed ...
'' which also features a Bhangra number.
Upon the release on 10 October 2012, the album became a big chartbuster.
Non-film ventures
Dharan has worked on non-film projects as well. In 2009, he produced a single "Sing One More Time" as a tribute to
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, who Dharan describes as his "biggest inspiration in his childhood".
The single, which also partly features lyrics by him, was rendered by ten singers and released as a video album.
He had also composed the theme song for the 2010 Challenger Beach Volleyball Championship, held in Chennai, apart from composing
jingles
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
for
television advertisements
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
. Dharan composed team anthems for the cricket team
Ruby Trichy Warriors in the 2016 and 2017 editions of
Tamil Nadu Premier League
The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and was formed in 2016 by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). It is played during July and August of every year ...
. The multi-talented
T. Rajendar
Thesingu Rajendar (born 9 May 1960), also known as Vijaya T. Rajendar or T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker, musician, cinematographer and distributor who works primarily in Tamil film industry. He is also a politician in Chennai, Tamil Nadu ...
gave voice for team anthem of 2016 edition and the lyrics were written by RJ Vijay, while for 2017 edition anthem, both voice and lyrics were given by RJ Vijay. In January 2018, RJ Vijay and Dharan associated again to produce a single "Yaaru Kitta"- a
Jallikattu
(or ), also known as and , is a traditional event in which a bull ('' Bos indicus''), such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's b ...
anthem as a tribute to
2017 pro-jallikattu protests
The 2017 pro-jallikattu protests, also known as the pro-jallikattu movement, were leaderless apolitical youth protests which took place in January 2017 in large groups in several locations across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Some sporadic smal ...
. In March 2021, Dharan collabarated with
Sivaangi Krishnakumar
Sivaangi Krishnakumar (born 25 May 2000), also known as Sivaangi, is an Indian actress, playback singer and television personality. In 2019, she participated in the singing competition ''Super Singer 7,'' which was aired on Star Vijay and, in 2 ...
and released an album song "
Asku Maaro" featuring
Kavin Kavin (/kəvɪn/)(Tamil. கவின் or English. /ˈkɛvɪn/) ) is a unisex given name, which is Tamil/English for "beauty", "grace", "fairness" or "comeliness". The name Kavin may refer to:
People
* Kavinn (born 1984), Jamaican football playe ...
and Teju Ashwini with lyrics penned down by Ku. Karthik and was directed by Dongli Jumbo.''
Personal life
In September 2017, Dharan married film actress
Deekshitha Manikkam
Deekshitha Manikkam is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After making her debut in the Tamil film ''Kerala Nattilam Pengaludane'' (2014), she has been in films including ''Thirumanam Enum Nikkah'' (2014) and '' Aagam' ...
.
Filmography
Released projects
Independent songs
Singer
Notes:
* The films are listed in order that the music released, regardless of the dates the film released.
* The year next to the title of the affected films indicates the release year of the either dubbed or remade version in the named language later than the original version.
*
# indicates that Dharan has only the background score, while the songs are by another composer.
* • indicates original language release. Indicates simultaneous makes, if featuring in more languages.
* ♦ indicates a remade version, the remaining ones being dubbed versions.
Upcoming projects
* ''
Thollaikatchi
Ashwin Kakumanu is an Indian actor, who is best known for his role as Ganeshan in Venkat Prabhu's ''Mankatha''.
Career
Ashwin initially auditioned for a role in ''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa''. The director, Gautham Vasudev Menon, was close to g ...
''
*''
Pistha Pistha may refer to:
* Pistha (1997 film), an Indian Tamil-language comedy film
* Thoranai, or Pistha, a 2009 Indian action drama film
* Pistha (2022 film)
''Pistha'' is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by M. Ramesh Baarathi and ...
''
*''
Takku Mukku Tikku Thalam''
Television
* 2008 ''
Maanada Mayilada
''Maanada Mayilada'' is an Indian dance competition show airing from 2007 till 2015 on Kalaignar TV. The show was conceived, produced and directed by noted choreographer Kala Master. She is also one of the judges and the only constant judge th ...
''
* 2014 ''
Uyirmei
''Uyirmei'' is a Tamil language, Tamil medical drama, medical soap opera that aired on Zee Tamizh, Zee Thamizh. The series is apparently inspired by ''Grey's Anatomy'' and ''House (TV series), House''. The plot revolves around the lives of some ...
''
* 2021 ''
Thalattu
''Thalattu'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language film directed by T. K. Rajendran and produced by P. Mohanraj. The film stars Arvind Swamy, Sukanya and Sivaranjini, while Goundamani, Senthil, Vijayakumar and Kovai Sarala play other supporting ...
''
Webseries
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Dharan
Living people
Tamil musicians
Tamil film score composers
Tamil playback singers
1983 births
Don Bosco schools alumni
Indian male playback singers
Indian male composers
Musicians from Chennai
Male film score composers