S. P. Venkatesh (also credited as Sangeetharajan; born 5 March 1955) is an Indian music director and composer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He was at his prime in the late 80s and 90s, being reputed for his background scores and songs in Malayalam cinema.

S. P. Venkatesh
Also known asSangeetharajan
Born (1955-03-05) 5 March 1955 (age 69)
GenresFilm score
Occupation(s)Film score composer, music director, instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Guitar, vocals, violin

Career

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Venkatesh's father Pazhani was an accomplished Mandolin player. Earlier in his life, he played guitar, banjo and mandolin, and was an assistant musical director to Shyam and Raveendran during his early days. He was introduced into the Malayalam film industry by Dennis Joseph, with his first break coming in the film Rajavinte Makan, directed by Thampi Kannanthanam. The film and the songs in it were big hits, and Venkatesh subsequently became a regular collaborator of Thampi's, resulting in a series of hit musical albums during the 1990s. His most well-known film scores include Indrajaalam, Kilukkam, Minnaram, Spadikam, Dhruvam, Kauravar, Johnnie Walker, Kizhakkan Pathrose, and Hitler.

He has also handled the orchestration for many other music directors. He composed background scores for films for which songs were composed by other composers, such as Devasuram He has also scored for some Bollywood and Bengali films.

In 1993, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for his work in Paithrukam and Janam. Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for his work in Paithrukam

In 1999, he notably recorded nine songs in a single day for the unreleased Tamil film Ithu Mudivithillai starring Babu Ganesh and Vichithra.[1]

Style and orchestration

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Venkatesh's song compositions feature extensive use of acoustic guitar, bass guitar and violin orchestra, and his background scores feature synth-based orchestra fused with traditional strings. He also used symphonic style strings orchestration in most of his songs.

Filmography

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Malayalam films

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Tamil films

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Kannada films

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Bengali films

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Year Film Other notes
2008 Bhalobasa Bhalobasa
2008 Bajimaat
2008 Jor
2003 Champion
2003 Mayer Shakti
2003 Nater Guru
2003 Sangee
2002 Sathi

Hindi films

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References

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  1. ^ "Indiainfo: Tamil: Movie News". movies.indiainfo.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

"SP. Venkatesh – Malayalam Music Director". www.raaga.com. Retrieved 15 November 2008.

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