Yugendran (born Yugendran Vasudevan on 20 December 1976) is an Indian actor and singer who has sung hundreds of songs in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. He is also an occasional music director and host.

Personal life

Yugendran is the son of the late Malaysian Malayali origin

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory o ...

playback singer-actor

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a Malaysian-Indian playback singer and actor in Tamil cinema. Early life Malaysia Vasudevan's parents were from Palakkad. Chattu Nair of Ottappalam and Amma ...

. He has two sisters named Pavithra and Prashanthini. Prashanthini is a Tamil playback singer as well and has sung in films such as '' 12B'', '' Veyil'' and ''

Vaaranam Aayiram ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Venu Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The film stars Suriya in dual lead roles as father and son, with Same ...

''. Yugendran performed in the Launch of a Tamil radio station in Sri Lanka called Swarna Oli in 1999, where he met his wife, Hayma Malini, a popular RJ host. His wife Hayma Malini who was born and raised in Singapore, holds an

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

citizenship. Together they have three children, Visashan Naarayan, Kishan Kutty Naarayan and Darshan Naarayan Nair. He, his wife and children had previously resided in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

and

. They currently reside in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and runs his own events company Rambutan Media Works NZ Limited.

Music career

Yugendran started out in the music industry as a

Mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is th ...

ist and made his debut solo performance at the age of 10. His mridangam arangetram had Dr. Balamurali Krishna accompanying him on the viola and was attended by Illaiyaraja himself. His first song was for the movie ''Uzhavan Magan'', "Senthoorave poove", where he sang the shepherd boy's voice. He went on to sing in stage shows with his father in India as well as overseas. Till the age of 14, he used to sing the female portion of the duets his father rendered on stage. After his voice broke, he went on to do solo performances in countries such as Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and America, even before becoming a playback singer. Yugendran's debut as a playback singer was with the song "Pollaachi Santhaiyile" (in the film ''Rojavanam''). This was followed by "Parthein Parthein" in the movie ''Parthein Rasithein''. He has rendered most of the songs for Baradwaj. He has sung in the music of the

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 o ...

and also the Oscar award winner

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 ...

and the younger music directors of today,

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 ...

, Sri Kanth Deva to Deva, Sirpy and Adidtyan. Yugendran continues to sing to date, his latest being the song from ''Goa''. He also composes music. He has composed music for ''Veeramum Eeramum'' and ''Balam'' and he did the re-recording for Aghatiyan's movie ''Nenjathai Killaathe'', starring Vikranth. His latest venture, ''

Nellai Santhippu ''Nellai Santhippu'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by K.B.B. Naveen and starring Rohith, Bhushan, Megha Nair, and Devika. Cast * Rohith * Bhushan * Megha Nair as Lalitha * Devika Madhav as Manju * P. L. Th ...

,'' released in 2012.

Acting career

Yugendran was initially supposed to make his acting debut through Raja Kantheeban's ''Mouname'' in 1998, but the project was shelved. Yugendran Vasudevan Nair's debut was in the movie ''

Poovellam Un Vasam ''Poovellam Un Vaasam'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Ezhil and produced by V. Ravichandran. It stars Ajith Kumar and Jyothika as childhood friends, alongside an ensemble supporting cast of Nagesh, Siva ...

'' opposite

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tami ...

and

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

. He went on to doing more movies with Illaiya Thalapathy Vijay. His latest movie is '' Yuddham Sei'', a Mysskin movie of 2011. He has acted as a hero in 3 movies: ''Kaiyodu Kai'', ''Ulla Kadathal'' and ''Pachai Nirame''. He has acted in TV serials such as Savithree, '' Kolangal'', '' Megala'' and '' Idhayam''. He has acted in TV Dramas in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Host

Yugendran started out hosting Musical programs on Jaya TV and went on to hosting more musical shows on Sun TV and VJ TV. He then was also roped in to host other genre programs, especially reality programs such as ''Treasure Hunt'' on Jaya TV and a couples contest show on the same Channel. Recently he has organised online 8 hours music tribute to his father Thiru. Malaysia Vasudevan on 75th Birthday with all renowned singers

TV Producer

Yugendran started a company called Rambutan Productions in India and Rambutan Media Works in Singapore. He is currently producing programs for India, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. He runs the company with his wife, Hayma Malini. He did TV shows in Singapore under Rambutan Media Works, which includes ''Endrendrum Punnagai'' (Film Based), ''Sollathaan Ninaikirain'' (Talk show), ''Vidumurai Vasantham'' (Holiday Variety), ''Kondaattam'' (info-ed) and ''Achamillai Achamillai'' (Talk show for women by women). Rambutan Media Works is now changed to 23 Frames Pte Ltd. and is currently producing the children's variety series "Vilaiyaattu Pasanga" (https://www.facebook.com/VilayaattuPasanga). He also directed a Reality Game Show on Starhub Varnam Television. He acted in a Singapore Tele-movie ''Sathurangam'', which was telecasted in Singapore on Father's Day 2016 on Vasantham (MediaCorp).

Filmography

As actor

As singer

As music director

References

External links

Songs sung by Yugendran
Actor Yugendran Latest Still
Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yugendran 1976 births Living people Indian male playback singers Indian male film actors Indian people of Malaysian descent Tamil playback singers Tamil male actors Tamil film score composers Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian people of Malayali descent Indian male film score composers