Pradip Somasundaran

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Pradip Somasundaran
Pradip Somasundaran
Country	India
Years active	1996–present
Genres	playback singing, carnatic music, bhajan
Website(s)	http://www.pradipsomasundaran.com

Pradip Somasundaran also known as Pradeep Somasundaram is a playback singer and a lecturer in Electronics from Thrissur, Kerala, India. He was born on 26th January 1967 at Nelluvaya, Thrissur, Kerala. He started training in Carnatic Music at an age of 12, and started giving stage performances at the age of 16. A noteworthy person among his music teachers is Shri. V Gopalan of Trichur. He is a Graded artist in All India Radio and Doordarshan. He sings classical Carnatic Music, Ghazals and Devotional songs in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, English and Japanese languages. He has also given musical performances out of India in countries like UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Quatar and Japan. He has also performed with major playback singers in Kerala and Bollywood like K.J. Yesudas, Jayachandran, M.G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chitra, Sujatha Mohan, Madhuri, P. Susheela, Sunidhi Chauhan, and many singers of the younger generation.

He began his playback singing career in 1993 with the song "Samayam Manoharam" from the film "Ezhuthachan". His first released film song was "Perumathodi Kotti Varunne" from "Mannadiyar Penninu Chenkotta Chekkan" in 1996 also tuned by Raveendran. He has sung around 15 songs in films and has around 40 albums to his credit till date, and has sung for many major music directors of Kerala such as Ilayaraaja, Raveendran, Johnson, Mohan Sitara, Vidyadharan, Kaithapram & Ramesh Narayan. He is also a Life member of the MACTA (Malayalam Cine Technicians Association).

A Post Graduate Degree holder in Electronics, he is working as a Senior Lecturer & Head of Department of Electronics at the Govt. College of Applied Science,Vadakkencherry, Palakkad, Kerala managed by Institute of Human Resources Development. He is also involved in the use and promotion of GNU/Linux & Free Software. He was involved in the programs by Free Software Foundation Kerala, on the occasion of the visit of Richard M. Stallman to Cochin.^[1]

He is a regular participant in the "Swaralaya Dance & Music Festival" held at Palakkad and "Chembai Sangeethootsavam" at Guruvayur. He regularly appears in popular T.V programs like Symphony, Gaanaanjali, Navaratri Swaralaya program, Anjali, Ghazal etc. that are telecast on the popular south Indian Television channels like Doordarshan, Kairali TV, Asianet and Amrita TV. He has also performed for Satya Sai Baba at Puttaparthi.

1 Singing Style
2 Major Achievements
- 2.1 Discography
  - 2.1.1 1. Film Songs
  - 2.1.2 2. Albums
3 Awards
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Singing Style

Pradip is well known in Kerala for his uncanny abilities to sing any type of song, be it carnatic music, fast numbers, soft melodies, Ghazals or even English songs. His face is the most familiar one to Malayaless on Doordarshan, as at least one song of him appears on Doordarshan in a day. He spent his early part of school life in Gujarat and Assam which has helped him achieve a good Hindi accent. His singing talents were discovered by the Musical Colossus, the late Ravindran who gave him the first break in films. This was much earlier than "Meri Awaz Suno". Even after "Meri Awaz Suno", it was again Ravindran who first used his voice for a film. Later he rendered many songs for him. He has also sung for Johnson, another reputed Music director of Malayalam Films. The song "Muthe Ninne Thedi" a romantic duet with "Minmini" from the Dileep starrer "Manasam" was a big hit in 1997. "Punyam Pularna" a Ravindran song from "Kalyanappittennu" a Dileep Starrer was also a hit. He has also sung for "Mohan Sitara" & "Ilayaraaja". By the end of 2000, Pradip turned his attention more to "Ghazals" and now he is known more for his Ghazals, and old Hindi songs in T.V programs. He is also seen on many stages in Kerala singing in "Art of living" foundation Satsangs. Many people feel that Kerala has still not seen the best of this talented and versatile singer, due to apathy by the Film industry and it's mysterious ways. But this singing Lecturer still continues to amaze and enchant the Malayalees and continues searching for innovative means of popularising good music. His [music blog] is an example for his virtuosity and innovation. Though the quality of his singing has never been questioned, the lack of freeness and bhaavam in his singing, makes some of his songs, less appealing.

[edit] Major Achievements

He has won many prizes in music at the College, University and Inter-University levels during the course of his education.^[2]

His tryst with fame in the national music arena started by winning the Lata Mangeshkar Trophy for the best male singer along with Sunidhi Chauhan who won in the female category, in the national level music competition "Meri Awaz Suno" in 1996, which was telecast by Doordarshan. "Meri Awaz Suno" was conducted jointly by Doordarshan, Lata Mangeshkar, and Yash Chopra’s “Metavision”, which was telecast all over India on the national network. The program was hosted by the famous theater and film personality Annu Kapoor. The Mega-final of the event was judged by a panel of the most eminent musicians of India including Pandit Jasraj, Bhupen Hazarika, Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar.^[2].^[3]

He has been active in International Youth exchange programs too, and was selected to be a part of the 19 member Indian contingent, which took part in the 6th Ship for World Youth Program in 1994, that Visited Japan, Singapore, Srilanka, Kenya, & Greece, on a two-and-a-half months long ship voyage. He has also participated in the "Renaissance-2003 World Youth Leaders Meet" which was held in Japan in 2003. He was one of the four Indians selected for representing India in this program.^[2]

In 1997, he was bestowed with the the "TOYI" (10 Outstanding Young Indian) Award, by JCI India for his contributions in the field of music.^[2]

He was also selected as the best male playback singer for Television serials in 1998, by "Malayalam Television Viewers Association", for the song “Ennakkaruppin Ezhazhagu” from the serial “Ishtamai”.^[2]

[edit] Discography

Some of the major milestones in his musical career include the listed below.

[edit] 1. Film Songs

Sl	Song	Film	Released by	Music Director	Year of Release
1)	Samayam Manoharam	Ezhuthachan	HMV (RPG)	Raveendran	1993
2)	Perumathodi	Mannadiyar Penninu Chenkotta Chekkan	Ankith Audio	Raveendran	1996
3)	Punyam	Kalyanappittennu	Sargam	Raveendran	1997
4)	Muthe Ninne Thedi	Manasam	Ankith Audio	Johnson	1997
5)	Vavaa Voo	Manasam	Ankith Audio	Johnson	1997
6	Moham Manassil	Arjunan Pillayum Anju Makkalum	Sargam	Mohan Sitara	1997
7)	Mohini Enikkayi	Manjeeradhwani	Johny Sagariga	Ilayaraaja	1998
8)	Sandhya Ragamai	Kannadikkadavathu	East Coast Audio	Balabhaskar	2000
9)	Manava Mochana	Arunam	--	Ramesh Narayan	2006 (To be Released)

[edit] 2. Albums

Sl	Album	Language	Released by	Music Director	Year of Release
1)	Pratyasha Vol 1,2,3,4	Hindi	Dharma Bharati, Indore	Paul Poovathingal	1994,1997,2000,2006
2)	Sangeetharchana	Malayalam	HMV (RPG)	Jaya Vijaya	1997
3)	Ayyappamayam	Malayalam	Sargam	Suresh & Suma Varma	1997
4)	Pradakshinam	Malayalam	Audiotracs	Kalyan Anand	1997
5)	Kripa	Malayalam	Johny Sagariga	Jerson Antony	1997
6)	Sangeetha Sangamam	Malayalam	Johny Sagariga	MACTA Live Program	1998
7)	Ninakkayi	Malayalam	East Coast Audios	Balabhaskar	1998
8)	Ponnonam	Malayalam	Sargam Audios	Raveendran	1998
9)	The Golden Voice	Hindi	Maruthi Audios	Cover Versions	1998
10)	Aadyamayi	Malayalam	East Coast Audios	Balabhaskar	2000
11)	Onappeeli	Malayalam	East Coast Audios	Balabhaskar	2000
12)	Ayyappathrippadam	Malayalam	Pranathy Audios	Ravindran Paingodu	2000
13)	Angel	Malayalam	Angel Vision	Johnson, Joy Cheruvathoor, Ouseppachan	2000
14)	Ennennum	Malayalam	Satyam Audios	Manoj George	2001
15)	Jeevan	Malayalam	Grace Communications	Joy Cheruvathoor	2002
16)	Koti Pranaam	Malayalam	HMV (RPG Worldwide) for The Art of Living Foundation International	Pradip Somasundaran	2006 (To be released )

[edit] Awards

1991-President's Gold medal winner in A.I.R National level Light Music competition

1996- Lata mangeshkar Award for best male singer of India in Meri Awaz Suno, the first National level Televised Music competition.

1997- The prestigious TOYI (Ten Outstanding Young Indian Award) given by JCI (Junior Chamber International) India in recognition to his contributions in music.