Pradip Somasundaran (born 26 January 1967), is an Indian playback singer, who sang around 100 songs in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

languages. He is also a college principal by profession.

Early life

Pradip Somasundaran was born on 26 January 1967 in Nelluvaya, Thrissur district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. His parents are Somasundaran and Santha. He was initially trained in

carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

under Geetha Rani and later under V. Gopalan of

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, and started giving stage performances at the age of sixteen.

Music career

It was music director

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

who gave Pradip the first break in 1993, with the song ''"Samayam Manoharam"'' in the film ''Ezhuthachan''. He has also worked with the late

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Mohan Sithara Mohan Sithara is an Indian music composer. He received the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Music Director (2009) for the songs in Priyanandan's ''Soofi Paranja Kadha''. Since 1986 he has been an active musician in the Malayalam film industr ...

and

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

in Malayalam.

Sandeep Chowta Sandeep Chowta is an Indian music director who primarily works in Bollywood and Telugu cinema. He is also the head of Columbia Records in India. He has also sung some of his songs. In 2003, he produced an anti substance abuse documentary, titl ...

introduced him in

Telugu films Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

with ''

Bujjigadu ''Bujjigadu'' is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by K. S. Rama Rao. The film stars Prabhas, Trisha while Mohan Babu, Sanjjanaa, and Kota Srinivasa Rao play supporting roles. The film was later ...

'' directed by

Puri Jagannadh Petla "Puri" Jagannadh (born 28 September 1966) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who works primarily in the Telugu film Industry. He made his directorial debut with the Telugu film '' Badri'' starring Pawan Kalyan, Renu ...

. He also sang for '' Saleem'' another

musical, directed by

YVS Chowdary Yalamanchili Venkata Satyanarayana Chowdary is an Indian Telugu cinema writer, director, producer, distributor, exhibitor and a music company owner. He made his debut as a director in 1998 with the film ''Sri Sita Ramula Kalyanam Chootamu Raara ...

. He has also sung the title song ''"Bhagavane"'' for the television series ''Gajarajan Guruvayur Keshavan'' which was composed by Vidyadharan for Surya TV. In addition to being a playback singer he sings

ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

and

devotional songs A devotional song is a hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals. Traditionally devotional music has been a part of Hindu music, Jewish music, Buddhist music, Islamic music and Christian music. Each major religion has its own trad ...

. In 2007 he released ''"Koti Pranam"'' his first international album as a composer and singer for the

Art of Living foundation The Art of Living Foundation is a volunteer-based, humanitarian and educational non-governmental organization (NGO). It was founded in 1981 by Ravi Shankar. The Art of Living Foundation has its centers in 180 countries. Art of Living offers se ...

. In 2011 he released ''"Mazhanritham"'' his first musical work in Malayalam as a composer collaborating with other playback singers like

Gayatri Asokan Gayatri Asokan is a playback singer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. She started her playback career with the song "Deena Dayalo Rama" for the film ''Arayannagalude Veedu'' for music director Raveendran. "Enthe Nee Kanna" for ''Sasneham ...

, Franco, Shahabaz Aman and actor

Manoj K Jayan Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Se ...

Achievements

He won the "Lata Mangeshkar Trophy" for the best male singer along with

Sunidhi Chauhan Sunidhi Chauhan (pronounced ; born 14 August 1983) is an Indian playback singer. Born in Delhi, she began performing in local gatherings at the age of 5 and made her career debut at the age of 13, with the film ''Shastra'' (1996). During the ye ...

who won in the female category, in the national level music competition ''Meri Awaz Suno'' in 1996, which was telecast by

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

. ''Meri Awaz Suno'' was conducted jointly by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

, and

Yash Chopra Yash Raj Chopra (27 September 1932 21 October 2012) was an Indian people, Indian film director and film producer who worked in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. The founding chairman of the film production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, Chop ...

's ''Metavision''.

Personal life

Pradip holds a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

from

Andhra University Andhra University (IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest do ...

and is currently working as the principal of College of Applied Science, Vadakkancherry. He is a

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

enthusiast and was involved in the activities of the Free Software Foundation India during

Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...

's 2001 visit to

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. He has been residing at Thrissur for a long time.

Discography

Film songs

Non-film albums

References

External links

Official website
an
Music blog

Official Facebook Page

Youtube Link
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somasundaran, Pradip 1967 births Indian male playback singers Tamil playback singers Living people Malayalam playback singers People from Thrissur district Telugu playback singers Singers from Thrissur Film musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian male singers