Shankar Mahadevan Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Children, Biography & More

Shankar Mahadevan

Shankar Mahadevan is a popular Indian playback singer and music composer. He is a part of the famous Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy musical trio. He is best known for his rendition of the song ‘Breathless.’

Wiki/Biography

Shankar Mahadevan was born on Friday, 3 March 1967 (age 52 years; as in 2019) in the Chembur suburb of Mumbai. He did his schooling from Chembur’s Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School and Swami Vivekananda High School. He attained his graduate degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, Navi Mumbai in 1988. By the age of 5, Shankar had already become an adroit harmonium player and had also started playing the Veena. He learned the Hindustani Classical music from Pandit Shrinivas Khale.

Shankar Mahadevan's Mentor Pandit Shrinivas Khale

Shankar Mahadevan’s Mentor Pandit Shrinivas Khale

He has also been mentored by TR Balamani in Carnatic Classical Music.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Black

Singer Shankar Mahadevan

Family, Caste & Wife

Shankar Mahadevan belongs to a Tamil Iyer Family, which hails from the Palakkad City of Kerala. [1]Interesting facts about musical genius Shankar Mahadevan-India TV

Shankar Mahadevan with his mother

Shankar Mahadevan with his mother

Shankar Mahadevan has a sister named Deepika Shringarpure.

Shankar Mahadevan with his sister

Shankar Mahadevan with his sister

Shankar is married to Sangeeta Shankar Mahadevan.

Shankar Mahadevan and his wife

Shankar Mahadevan and his wife

The couple has two sons named Shivam Shankar Mahadevan (born in 2001), who is a singer, and Siddharth Mahadevan (born on 16 April 1993), who is a singer and composer.

Shankar Mahadevan with his sons

Shankar Mahadevan with his sons

Career

As a singer

Before stepping his foot in the music industry, Shankar used to work as a software programmer for the Oracle Corporation. Shankar started his music career by singing jingles for the advertisements. Shankar Mahadevan made his singing debut with the 1994 film “Humse Hai Muqabala (Hindi version of the Tamil film-Kadhalan ),” in which he sang two songs “Petta Rap” and “Urvasi Urvasi.”

He made his Bollywood debut with the song “Tum Nahi Jaana” from the film “Duplicate” (1998). He has sung numerous hit songs such as “Chamma Chamma,” “Bhumbro Bhumbro,” “Ghanan Ghanan,” “Maahi Ve,” “Kajra Re,” “Mitwa,” “Sau Aasoon,” and many more. In 1998, he released his first album “Breathless,” which rose Shankar to fame. The songs on the album were composed by Javed Akhtar.

Breathless- Album by Shankar Mahadevan

He made his Tamil debut with the song “Netru No No” from the film “V. I. P. (1997).”

He made his Telugu debut with the song “Shivamethara Sambayya” from the film “Antahpuram” in 1998. Shankar made his Kannada debut with the song “Dennana Dennanaa” from the film “Janumadatha (1999).”

He made his Malayalam debut with the song “Pakkala Paadan Vaa” from the film “Dreamz (2000).”

Shankar made his Marathi debut with the song “Mann Udhaan Varyache” from the film “Aga Bai Arrecha! (2004).”

Apart from these, he has also sung songs in Tulu language; the first one being “Jai Tulunadu” from the film “Rickshaw Driver (2014).”

As a Composer

He has been working as a music composer as the part of the musical trio ‘Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy;’ the first one is for the film “Rockford (1999).”

Rockford- Shankar Mahadevan

He has given music to the films like “Mission Kashmir (2000),” “Dil Chahta Ha(2001),” “Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003),” “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006),” “Taare Zameen Par (2007),” “My Name Is Khan (2010),” and “2 States (2014).”

Other Works

Apart from singing, he has also done acting. He made his acting debut in the Doordarshan’s TV serial “Ek Se Badh Kar Ek” in 1995. Shankar made his film debut as an actor with the Marathi film “Katyar Kaljat Ghusali,” in which Shankar played the role of “Pandit Bhanu Shankar Shastri.”

Shankar Mahadevan-Katyar Kaljat Ghusali

Shankar Mahadevan has also worked on “Sarnang,” an album by Rajesh Dhabre, Shreya Ghoshal, Sukhwinder Singh, Hariharan, Dr Bhavana Dhabre, and Shankar. Shankar sang two songs on the album; one is “Bhoomiputra” and the other one is “Sangini.”

Controversy

Shankar Mahadevan was judging the singing reality show ‘Rising Star: Season 3 (2019)’ along with Neeti Mohan and Diljit Dosanjh. During the show, two of the contestants passed sexist comments on Neeti Mohan, after which she pretended to walk out from the show calling comments as rude. When the contestants got worried, the judges called the act as ‘prank.’ However, the prank did not go well with the gender activists Kirthi Ajay Kumar and she criticised the judges for it.

Kirthi Ajay Kumar's Tweet on Rising Star's Judges

Kirthi Ajay Kumar’s Tweet on Rising Star’s Judges

Awards

  • Padma Shri in 2019

    Shankar Mahadevan receiving Padma Shri

    Shankar Mahadevan receiving Padma Shri

  • Lata Mangeshkar Award on 28 September 2011
  • Kerela State Film Award for the Best Singer for the song “Kalyana Kacheri” from the film “Madampi” in 2008
  • Filmfare Award for the Best Male Playback Singer- Telugu for the song “Chandrullo Unde” from the film “Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana” in 2005

Nandi Awards (presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh)

  • Best Male Playback Singer for the song “Okkade Devudu” from the film “Shirdi Sai” in 2012
  • Best Male Playback Singer from the film “Venkatadri” in 2008

National Award

  • Best Male Playback singer for the song “Yenna Solla Pogirai” from the film “Kandukondain Kandukondain” in 2000

    Shankar Mahadevan receiving National Award

    Shankar Mahadevan receiving National Award

  • Best Music Direction (as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) for the film “Kal Ho Naa Ho”
  • Best Male Playback singer for the song “Maa” from the film “Taare Zameen Par” in 2007
  • Best Male Playback singer for the song “Bolo Na” from the film “Chittagong” in 2012

Favourite Things

  • Food: Chicken With Jasmine Rice, Spicy Green Thai Curry, South Indian Food, Sweet Dishes made up of Chocolates
  • Restaurants: Royal China in Mumbai, Chenab in Mumbai, Hotel Supreme Heritage in Mumbai
  • Musician: Zakir Hussain
  • Bands: Pink Floyd, U2, Yes
  • Travel Destination(s): Dubai, Orlando, Mauritius, San Francisco, California, Miami

Facts

  • Shankar loves cooking and drawing caricatures.
  • Shankar founded the Shankar Mahadevan Academy along with Sridhar Ranganathan on 3 March 2011. The academy provides training in the Indian Music via online courses and is affiliated to the Berkely College of Music.
    Shankar Mahadevan- Shankar Mahadevan Academy
  • Mahadevan came into the limelight after the release of his first album “Breathless.” The unique feature of the album was one of its tracks titled ‘Breathless,’ which was moulded to sing in one breath. Hence, the title of the album was kept after it.
  • His song ‘Breathless,’ which is 2 min 48 sec long, was not sung in one breath. In an interview, Shankar told-

    This must be the 3,000,000th time I am answering this question. But, no it was not in one breath. It was a song which seemed like it was sung in one breath and it just starts and goes on and on.”

    Reportedly, the song topped the music charts for nearly 10 weeks, with over 3,00,000 copies sold.

  • Shankar Mahadevan is a part of the musical quintet ‘Remember Shakti.’ Other members of the band are John McLaughlin (English guitarist), Zakir Hussain (tabla), U. Srinivas (mandolin), and V. Selvaganesh (kanjira, ghatam, mridangam).
    Shankar Mahadevan with his band Shakti

    Shankar Mahadevan with his band Shakti

    The band won the Best Global Music Album award for the album ‘This Moment’ at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2024.

    Shankar Mahadevan, along with other band members, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards

    Shankar Mahadevan, along with other band members, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards

  • Since his childhood, Shankar has been a fan of the band ‘Shakti.’ He used to buy their cassettes and decode all the complex rhythm patterns and phrases from their music. Years after when John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain put together another band with the same concept called ‘Remember Shakti,’ Shankar Mahadevan became part of it. Talking about it, he said-

    Never in my life did I ever think that I am going to be part of it.”

    Shankar Mahadevan with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain

    Shankar Mahadevan with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain

  • On 30 April 2012, Shankar was invited to perform at the UN General Assembly hall for the finale of the International Jazz Festival by the UNESCO and the US State Department.
  • When Shankar was learning music from TR Balamani, she used to consider Shankar as an extremely mischievous and useless person. When talking about the reason for it, Shankar said-

    I would bunk classes, sometimes because of my cricket, I would not do riyaaz. But there was a lot of love underneath that strict demeanour and I knew that.”

    Shankar Mahadevan with his Guru TR Balamani

    Shankar Mahadevan with his Guru TR Balamani

  • Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa make the popular musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. During the initial days of Shankar’s singing career, Ehsaan and Loy were already established composers in the advertisement field. Shankar, along with the then duo of Ehsaan and Loy, often used to collaborate together for advertisements. Ehsaan and Loy often asked for Shankar’s suggestion while composing. It was in 1997 that the trio got a chance to work together for a song in Mukul S. Anand’s film “Dus,” which never got released due to Mukul Anand’s death, but the music of the film was released later. The song was ‘Sabse Aage Honge Hindustaani,’ which was released in 1999 and became an instant hit. Ever since then, the trio has been working together.
  • The trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is often referred to as the ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ of the Hindi Music Film Industry.

    Shankar-Ehsan-Loy

    Shankar-Ehsan-Loy

  • Shankar and Sangeeta know each other since their childhood. They met for the first time when they were 14 years old. They were both neighbours and used to play badminton together.

    Shankar Mahadevan with his wife Sangeeta

    Shankar Mahadevan with his wife Sangeeta

  • Music was a part of Shankar’s life from the beginning, as he did not leave it even when he was an engineer. He would often have jamming sessions with his friends and play with a local band called ‘Divya.’
  • Shankar had left his job just five to six months prior to his marriage to Sangeeta.
  • Apart from being a singer, he is also an excellent cook. He can cook Thai and South Indian cuisines, and can also make great salads and soups. According to his wife, had Shankar not been a singer, he would have easily become a good chef.
  • Shankar and Hariharan are neighbours; as their farmhouses in Karjat (a small town near Mumbai) are divided by a wall.

    Shankar Mahadevan with Hariharan

    Shankar Mahadevan with Hariharan

  • Shankar is a part of a popular Indo-Swedish fusion jazz band called Mynta.

    Shankar Mahadevan performing with his band Mynta

    Shankar Mahadevan performing with his band Mynta

  • Shankar is also a part of the Indo-Jazz fusion band called ‘Silk.’ The name of the band is derived from its band member, i.e. the world-famous percussionist Sivamani, Sridhar Parthsarthy, Louiz Banks (Keyboards), bassist Karl Peters, including Shankar Mahadevan.

    Shankar Mahadevan with the SILK's members

    Shankar Mahadevan with the SILK’s members

  • He is politically inclined towards the Bharatiya Janata Party.
  • He has judged the reality shows Rising Star Live and Indian Voice.

    Shankar Mahadevan in Rising Star

    Shankar Mahadevan in Rising Star

  • He is a dog lover and owns two dogs named Honey and Kiwi.

    Shankar Mahadevan with his pets Honey and Kiwi

    Shankar Mahadevan with his pets Honey and Kiwi

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