Ravisankar is an Indian

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

. He has recorded about 100 songs in the

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 ...

language.

Early life

Ravisankar was born and raised in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, Kerala, India, to S. Ramachandran Nair and S. Hamsini Thankam. He started learning music as a child from his mother, a teacher at Bharatiya Vidyabhavan,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. He went on to study music formally under L. Vaikuntapaty, Perumbavoor G. Ravindranath and M. G. Radhakrishnan. While at school, he took part in singing competitions such as the

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 ...

University and inter-university competitions, winning several prizes. After completing school in

, Ravisankar took a degree in law from the Kerala Law Academy in

, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

. He started working as a lawyer, before switching to a career in music.

Career

Ravisankar debuted in playback singing in 1999, with his first movie song, "Ponnolappanthalil Velippennayente Swayamvararajakumari Varumo...", recorded for the movie ''Saaphalyam'', directed by G.S. Vijayan. The song was written by

Kaithapram Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannett ...

and composed by Sri M.G. Radhakrishnan. He is currently appearing on the program ''Raindrops'' on Kairali TV alongside Vrinda Menon. Ravisankar performed two songs for the movie ''Love Birds'', and a song for the movie ''Devdaas'', written by Gireesh Puthenchery. A career breathrought came when he sang "Chembarattikkamalitu kuppivala konjalittu..", a composition by M. Jayachandran, in the movie ''Maanikyakallu'', a Pritviraj movie directed by M. Mohan. He continued with songs in a number of movies including ''Bombay Mittayi'', ''Mr Bean'', ''Garbhashreeman'' (music by Sri Ouseppanchan), and ''Innaana kalyanam''(A Rajasenan movie with music by Bijibal). In 2015 he started contributing his own songs to projects including serials and albums, and made his debut music direction for a Malayalam movie called ''Crayons''. Apart from film music, Ravisankar has recorded several albums. He has also provided vocals to title songs for several television serials, including ''Uma'', ''Vikramadityan'', ''Dial 100'', ''Tenali Raman'', ''Abhirami'', ''Jeeva Jalakom'', and ''Kudumbam''. Ravisankar is currently anchoring ''Raindrops'', a live musical entertainment show on the

channel

Kairali TV Kairali TV is an Indian Malayalam-language general entertainment television channel owned by Kairali TV Network (Malayalam Communications Limited). It is headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram. It was launched on 17 August 2000. The channel is bac ...

. Ravishankar is married to Priyarenjini, a native of

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

and legal manager at Corporation Bank,

. The couple has one daughter.

Discography

* "Ponnolappanthalil" – ''Saaphalyam'' * "Ormakalil Nee" – ''Spandanam'' (Music Album) (2010) * "Vanakokilaaravam" – ''Spandanam'' (Music Album) (2010) * "Chemparathi Kammalittu" – Duet with

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

for the movie '' Manikyakkallu'' (2011)

References

{{Authority control Indian male playback singers Living people Malayalam playback singers Year of birth missing (living people)