Gayatri Asokan

Template:About Gayatri Asokan

Gayatri Asokan (born March 2, 1978) is a playback singer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. Apart from singing, she also composes music for albums and jingles. She is well trained in Bhajans and Hindustani and ghazals.

Biography

Gayatri Asokan is the daughter of Dr. P. U. Asokan and Dr. K. S. Sunidhy. She started her playback career with the song "Deena Dayalo Rama" for the film Arayannagalude Veedu under music director Raveendran. "Enthe Nee Kanna" for Sasneham Sumitra won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer in 2003. Her memorable hits include "Chanjadi Adi" from Makalkku, "Thumbikkinnaram" from Naran and "Pularumo" from Ritu.^[1]

Career

Gayathri was first trained in Carnatic music by Sri Mangat Natesan and Sri Vamanan Namboodiri at Trichur. Later she started training in Hindustani music under Dr. Alka Deo Marulkar in Pune and later under Pandit Vinayaka Torvi in Bangalore, which she is continuing. A person who has influenced Gayatri a lot is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. She is an active member of the Art of Living foundation.

She is also a Hindustani classical music singer, a Bhajan singer and has given Hindustani concerts and programs based on film songs abroad. She has sung in many albums and has also sung and given music for a new album for the Art of Living foundation which was released in September 2006 by HMV worldwide. She has also shared the stage with eminent singers like S.P.Balasubramanyam, Yesudas, Jayachandran, S. Janaki, Shankar Mahadevan, Madhu Balakrishnan and Pradip Somasundaran. She recently sang for an album by music maestro Ilayaraja, Thiruvasagam, which was released by Sony Music.

Other activities

She has performed for established sabhas like Thyagaraja Sabha, Bharatham and Soorya Festival at Trivandrum. She also has given performances for Soorya in the Gulf countries, Malaysia, Europe and the UK. She also performs regularly on Asianet, Kairali T.V, Jeevan T.V, and Amrita TV. Gandharva Sangeetham, a popular music talent search show on Kairali T.V. was jointly hosted by her and G. Venugopal. Gayatri is a jury member for the hit reality show Super Star Global on Amrita TV. She is now anchoring popular gazal show Khayal on Media One TV.^[2]

Personal life

Gayathri was married to Dr.Sayij, but they later divorced.^[3] A devotee of Ravi Shankar, Gayathri is an active participant in Art of Living's Satsangs all over the world.

Film songs(partial)

^[4]

Albums

1. Anahata- Art of Living
2. Neeyum Nilavum- Manorama Music
3. Thiruvasagam -Sony Music
4. Vishudhi- Art of Living
5. Sarveshwari- Art of Living
6. Iniyennum _ East Coast
7. Pranayathhin Ormakal
8. Ghazals by Umbayi
9. Palanivel
10. Smaran - Art of Living
11. Sankirtan - Art of Lving
12. Chants for workplaces - Kedar Pandit

Awards

1. Kerala State Film Award (2003) - Enthe Nee Kanna - Sasneham Sumitra
2. 2007 Art of Living award for Outstanding Women Achievers

References

External links

• www.gayatriasokan.com
• A Devoted singer: Webpage
• Gayatri to perform in Raveendran Night at Swaralaya-2006
• The Hindu Article
• Gayatri-M-Pod Interview
• The Hindu Interview