Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 26 February 1979), better known as Premgi, is an Indian playback singer, composer, songwriter, actor and comedian. The son of composer and director
Gangai Amaran
Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films.
Personal life
Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...
, he often composes
rap songs
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...
in
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...
and is known for his comical performances in his elder brother
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 firs ...
's films.
His stage name, Premgi, is actually a spelling error, as it is meant to be "Prem G.", (the G referring to his father's name).
He is also best known for his
catchphrases
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
''Enna Koduma Sir Idhu ?'' (What atrocity is this, sir ?) and ''Evvalavo pannitom, itha panna mattoma'' (We've done so much, won't we do this also ?), the former being a modified version of
a famous dialogue used by
Prabhu
''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...
in ''
Chandramukhi'' (2005).
Career
In 1997, Premgi planned to enter the film industry as a director with a project titled ''Wanted'' starring
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 firs ...
and
S. P. B. Charan. The film, which had
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 ...
as music composer and
Gangai Amaren
Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films.
Personal life
Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...
and
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...
as comedians, did not complete shoot.
Primarily interested in composing music, Premgi then started his career as an assistant to
film music composer and his cousin
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 ...
,
turning a playback singer, singing mostly the rap portions in Yuvan Shankar Raja's compositions,
before working with other music composers as well. Working with Yuvan Shankar Raja, he also remixed some of his compositions for the soundtrack albums, the first being "Loosu Penne" from the film ''
Vallavan
''Vallavan'' ( ''Expert'') is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written and directed by Silambarasan, starring himself as the titular character along with Reema Sen and Nayanthara as lead heoines whilst Sandhya, Santhanam, Pr ...
''.
In 2006, however, he made his acting debut in
Silambarasan
Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, b ...
's ''
Vallavan
''Vallavan'' ( ''Expert'') is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written and directed by Silambarasan, starring himself as the titular character along with Reema Sen and Nayanthara as lead heoines whilst Sandhya, Santhanam, Pr ...
'' as the heroine's friend, following which he starred in his brother
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 firs ...
's directorial debut ''
Chennai 600028
''Chennai 600028'' is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language sports comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu in his directorial debut. It stars Shiva, Jai, Premji, Aravind Akash, Nithin Sathya and newcomers Ajay Raj, Ranjith, Vijay Vasanth, Pr ...
'' (2007), in which he played ''Seenu''. The movie went on to become the year's biggest summer blockbuster, establishing Premgi as a comedy actor. He joined with his brother for his next film ''
Saroja'', which fetched him accolades for his performance as Ganesh Kumar.
He appeared as a lead character in Venkat Prabhu's ''
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
'' (2010), before going on to make further appearances in ''
Mankatha
''Mankatha'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It stars Ajith Kumar in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali, Andrea ...
'' (2011) and ''
Settai'' (2013). In 2013, he made his Malayalam debut in ''
North 24 Kaatham
''North 24 Kaatham'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam language adventure drama film written and directed by debutant Anil Radhakrishnan Menon. The film features Fahadh Faasil, Nedumudi Venu and Swathi Reddy in the lead roles. The background score i ...
''.
In the upcoming ''Maanga'', he plays the lead character and also works as the music composer.
He currently acts in ''
Chennai 600028 II: Second Innings,'' which is a sequel of the super-hit movie ''
Chennai 600028
''Chennai 600028'' is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language sports comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu in his directorial debut. It stars Shiva, Jai, Premji, Aravind Akash, Nithin Sathya and newcomers Ajay Raj, Ranjith, Vijay Vasanth, Pr ...
.''
Composing
In 2005, he became an independent music director with ''Gnabagam Varuthe'', starring his brother.
After that, he composed for
Agathiyan
Agathiyan (born 18 August 1952; ) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, and actor. He was the first director in Tamil cinema to win the National Film Award for Best Direction for '' Kadhal Kottai'' (1996). For the film, ...
's ''
Nenjathai Killathe
''Nenjathai Killathe'' () is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mahendran. The film stars Suhasini, Sarath Babu, Pratap and Mohan. It focuses on a girl who is torn between the man she loved, and the ma ...
'' and for ''
Thozha'', in which he played one of the leading roles as well. Apart from film music, he composed music for an episode titled ''Planet Galatta II – Adra Sakkae'' on Singapore's satellite channel, "Mediacorp Vasantham".
Amaren composed a song with singer
Suresh Peters called "The One Anthem", and it was made as a tribute to the legend
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 ...
.
Family
Premgi is the son of veteran director and musician
Gangai Amaran
Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films.
Personal life
Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...
, and the younger brother of film director and actor
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 firs ...
. Film composer
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 ...
is his uncle, while
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 ...
,
Karthik Raja
Karthik Raja is an India composer based in Chennai, India. He made his debut as film composer in the Tamil film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films.
Personal life
Karthik ...
and
Bhavatharini
Bhavatharani Raja is an Indian singer and music composer. She is the daughter of Ilaiyaraaja and her brothers are the noted film composers Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja. She has mostly sung songs under the direction of her father and br ...
are his cousins.
Filmography
As actor
;Films
;Web series
As music director
Discography
Awards
;
International Tamil Film Awards
The International Tamil Film Awards (ITFA) is an awards ceremony that honours excellence in Tamil language films around the world since 2003.
History
The awards began in 2003 and the awards honour films from the previous calendar year.
Award ...
*
Best Supporting Actor – ''
Mankatha
''Mankatha'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action crime film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. It stars Ajith Kumar in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast including Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Rai, Anjali, Andrea ...
''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaren, Premgi
1979 births
Living people
Indian male film actors
Indian male playback singers
Telugu playback singers
Tamil playback singers
Tamil male actors
Tamil rappers
International Tamil Film Award winners
Tamil comedians
Tamil film score composers
Indian male film score composers
Indian male comedians
Male actors in Tamil cinema