Vijay Prakash (born 21 February 1976) 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 ...

and also a

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 ...

from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He has given his voice for predominantly

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

language films. In addition, he has also sung in

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. He is one of the judges for the

reality show ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'' on

Zee Kannada Zee Kannada is an Indian Kannada pay television GEC that was launched in the year 2006 and owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is also being as the first mainstream satellite channel in Kannada. History Zee Kannada was launched in 2006 ...

. He has also performed shows with

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

. Prakash won the Karnataka Government's 'Best Playback Singer' award for the year 2016 for the song "Nammooralli Chaligaladalli" from the film ''

Beautiful Manasugalu ''Beautiful Manasugalu'' ( Beautiful Minds) is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Jayatheertha. Jointly funded by S. Prasanna and S. Shashikala Balaji, the film is produced under Skkandda Entertainment ...

''. He is also one of four artists credited for the song " Jai Ho", which won the 2008

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

. Specifically, he sang the portion with the words "Jai Ho" that takes an extended high pitch at numerous junctures of the song. The song also won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in the category "Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media." He has also won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Artist – Kannada twice for the songs ''Gatiya Ilidu'' from the Kannada film Ulidavaru Kandante and ''Belageddu'' from

Kirik Party ''Kirik Party'' is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by G. S. Guptha and Rakshit Shetty. It stars Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna, Samyuktha Hegde, and Achyuth Kumar while Aravinnd Iye ...

Early life

He was born in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, India to Carnatic Artists Lopamudra and Late L. Ramasesha, and is himself trained in Carnatic music. He was trained carnatic classic music by Bellary.M.Raghavendra

Career

After moving to Mumbai in 1996, he became a student of

Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...

. Prakash was a participant in the program ''

Sa Re Ga Ma Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...

'' on

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

, hosted by

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema and Kannada Cinema. He has been honoured by the Govern ...

. He made it to the mega-finals in 1999. Later he compered ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'' on

. He got his first break in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

with the film '' Baaz'' in 2002, and his first song for

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

was in Ashutosh Gowariker's ''

Swades ''Swades: We, the People'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-written, directed and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi and Kishori Ballal while Daya Shankar Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, Lekh Tan ...

'', followed by the same composer's Tamil title track for the movie ''

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

''. His song "Kavite" in

movie ''

Gaalipata ''Gaalipata'' () is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Rajesh Krishnan, Diganth, Daisy Bopanna, Neethu and Bhavana Rao. The plot revolv ...

'' too became famous. He has done backing vocals for about 25 foreign films, including the film

Couples Retreat ''Couples Retreat'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Billingsley marking his directorial debut, and written by Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Dana Fox. Vaughn and Favreau star with Jason Bateman, Faizon Love, Kristin Da ...

, with music by A. R. Rahmaan. He has recorded for ads like "Kabhi chatpataa" for Knorr Soups and "Na sar jhuka hain kabhi" for

HDFC Life HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd. ( d/b/a HDFC Life) is a long-term life insurance provider with its headquarters in Mumbai, offering individual and group insurance services and incorporated on 14 August 2000. The company is a joint venture be ...

Insurance. In 2008 he sang the "Condom a capella"

ringtone A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...

composed by Rupert Fernandes and produced by the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

Trust for an Indian safe sex campaign. In 2009, his song, "Jai Ho"(Only chorus, original song sung by Sukhwinder Singh), won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song. He was one of the Judges in Confident Star Singer 2 (

), which aired on

Asianet Suvarna Star Suvarna is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The channel telecasts Kannada language programmes such as dra ...

in 2009. He has sung "Om Sivoham", a Sanskrit song penned by Vaali and composed by

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 ...

which was the main theme song of 2009 Tamil film

Naan Kadavul ''Naan Kadavul'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action drama film co-written and directed by Bala. The film is based on the Tamil novel ''Yezhaam Ulagam'' by Jeyamohan, who also penned the dialogues for the film. The film stars Arya and ...

. In 2010, he became a regular artist under composer

, as he performed several of his numbers such as "

Hosanna ''Hosanna'' () is a liturgical word in Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism it refers to a cry expressing an appeal for divine help.Friberg Lexicon In Christianity it is used as a cry of praise. Etymology The word ''hosanna'' (Latin ', Greek ...

" ('' Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya,

Ye Maaya Chesave ''Ye Maaya Chesave'' () is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha in her debut. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indir ...

''), " Beera Beera, Veera Veera (in Tamil & Telugu Versions)" ('' Raavan & Raavanan''), "Powerstar" ('' Komaram Puli'') and "

Kadhal Anukkal ''Enthiran'' is the soundtrack album to the 2010 Tamil cinema, Tamil science fiction film, science fiction-action film Enthiran, of the same name, directed by S. Shankar and starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The soundtrack album includes s ...

" (''

Enthiran ''Enthiran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first instalment in the ''Enthiran'' franchise. The film stars Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with Danny ...

''). Prakash has debuted as a music composer for the 2013 Kannada film '' Andar Bahar'' starring

Shivrajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

. He also won the

Vijay Music Awards A Vijay Music Award is an accolade given by Vijay TV to recognize outstanding achievement in the Tamil music industry. The annual awards ceremony made its debut in 2011 for the previous calendar year. It launched its official website in partnershi ...

for the Best Male Playback for the song "Hosanna" from ''

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa ''Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Silambarasan and Trisha. Jointly produced Elred Kumar, Jayaraman, VTV Ganesh and P. Madan under the ban ...

''. In 2013, he appeared as one of the artists in

Coke Studio @ MTV Coke Studio India, officially titled Coke Studio @ MTV is an Indian television programme, which features live studio-recorded music performances by various artists. Coke Studio combines myriad musical influences, from Hindustani classical, Hin ...

. In 2013, his song 'Khaali , written by lyricist

Yograj Bhat Yogaraj Bhat (born 8 October 1972) is an Indian Kannada film-maker, director, screenwriter, lyricist and producer. He is most known for the 2006 film ''Mungaru Male''. The film recorded the highest box-office collections in the history of Kannad ...

, went viral on social media. The song 'Hoge' that he has sung for the film 'Nam Life Story' in Kannada is also going viral. In 2018, the song 'Bombe Helutaite' from the film ''

Raajakumara ''Raajakumara'' () is a 2017 Indian Kannada language action drama film written and directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the Hombale Films banner. It stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Priya Anand in lead roles. Apart fro ...

'' inspired by the song 'Aadisi nodu bilisi nodu' from the film ''

Kasturi Nivasa ''Kasturi Nivasa'' () is a 1971 Indian Kannada-language drama film written and directed by the director duo Dorai–Bhagavan based on a story, ''Kasturi Nivasam'' written by G. Balasubramanium. It was produced by K. C. N. Gowda under the banner ...

'' became one of the industry evergreen songs. It was written by ''

Santhosh Ananddram Santhosh Ananddram is an Indian film lyric writer, screenwriter, director who works in Kannada cinema. He rose to fame with his debut directional venture 2014 film '' Mr. and Mrs. Ramachari''. He later went on and directed Kannada Star Puneeth ...

'' . In 2021, the duo created another magical song dedicated to the student-teacher relationship named 'Paatashala' in the film ''

Yuvarathnaa ''Yuvarathnaa'' () is a 2021 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by Santhosh Ananddram. produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the banner Hombale Films, it stars Puneeth Rajkumar, Sayyeshaa, Dhananjay, Prakash Raj, Digan ...

''. Prakash was also the brand ambassador of Nissan Evalia 'moves like music' campaign, which featured six young prominent artists of India. He is one of the very few Indian musicians who have had the honour of performing at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.

Discography

As a composer

As a playback singer

Kannada

Tamil films

Telugu films

Other films

Awards and Titles

References

External links

*
BBC World Service Trust – India – Condom condom – video
at ''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...