Blessed with the Bay of Bengal coastline and several pristine locations around the city, Vizag has played the muse to many a filmmaker. Over the last few decades, the city has also seen several remarkable artists crossing over to leave their distinctive mark on the Indian Cinema. From yesteryear star music composer, Ramana Gogula to the latest national sensation, Shanmukha Priya, we have put together a list of amazing playback singers from Vizag.
List of 10 playback singers from Vizag:
#1 Ramana Gogula
A music composer and a playback singer by profession, Ramana Gogula is a noted artist in the Telugu Film Industry (TFI). In 1996, his band, Misty Rhythms released the Indie Pop, studio album ‘Aye Laila’, which became a chartbuster on major music channels like MTV and Channel[V] in India. He then ventured into Telugu cinema and composed songs and background score for around 25 films. His most celebrated hits include films like Thammudu, Premante Idera, Badri, and Yuvaraju. Gogula’s collaboration with Actor Pawan Kalyan garnered huge popularity back then and is considered to be iconic even to this day.
#2 Sricharan Pakala
Hailing from Vizag, Sricharan is an Indian music composer. He entered the film industry as a music director with the Telugu film KISS in 2013. The artist went on to compose music for popular movies including Kshanam, Evaru, and Krishna, and His Leela among others. He also gave vocals to a couple of songs, Edo laga undhi from Kshanam and Sakhiya from Goodachari.
#3 Mallikarjun
After emerging as one of the semi-finalists in the first edition of the singing competition Padutha Theeyaga in 1996, this Vizag singer was flooded with opportunities from the South Indian film industry. He has sung more than 300 songs in films and 2000 private devotional albums. An ardent fan of Telugu actor Chiranjeevi, Mallikarjun lent vocals to the hero’s hit films such as Indra and Tagore.
#4 Revanth
Born and brought up in Srikakulam, Revnath’s family shifted to Vizag when he was still studying in school. After bagging the title of Super Singer, the South Indian film industry opened its doors to Revanth. It was ‘Manohari’ from Baahubali: The Beginning, which brought a thumping response from the public and national-level recognition to the singer. After winning season 9 of Indian Idol, he went on to sing tracks from Premam, Arjun Reddy, Geeta Govindam, and other films.
#5 Poojan Kohli
Born in Vizag, Poojan began pursuing his singing career at the age of 15. To his credit, the musician has lent his vocals to tracks from films in the likes of Kshanam, Rangula Ratnam, and Naruda Donaruda. His independent works include Rehnuma, Hoobahoo.
#6 Nikhita Srivalli
Trained under the renowned guru Sri IVL Sastry and Mutnuri Jalajakshi, she rose to fame with Super Singer 8, a singing reality TV show, where she stood as the first runner-up. Known for her crisp and bass voice, she worked as a playback singer for Kannada and Telugu films. The turning point came with Thaman’s, Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava. She lent her vocals to the popular track- Yeda Poyinado which received an overwhelming response.
#7 Malavika
Malavika forayed into the film industry with the song ‘Nuvvu nenu kalisunte’ for the movie Gangotri. The singer has sung tracks for about 500 movies. For the years 2006 and 2011, Malavika received the Nandi Award, under the category ‘best playback singer’.
#8 Shanmukha Priya
Performing since the age of five, her TV debut was marked in 2008 with ‘Little Champs’ that pushed her into the limelight. Ever since there’s no looking back for this young singer from Vizag. With The Voice India Kids’ and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs in Hindi, Shanmukha Priya further honed her skills. Known for her exceptional yodelling skills, she debuted as a playback singer with Samjhe Kya from Ashi Hi Aashiqui in 2019. The seventeen-year-old from Vizag is currently vying for the Indian Idol 12 title.
#9 Sireesha Bhagavatula
The list of playback singers from Vizag is incomplete without Sireesha. Fondly called Chitra Ji of Indian Idol 12, Sireesha’s voice is as soothing as that of the legendary singer. Trained in Carnatic music, Sireesha had previously participated in Super Singer. It was during this period, she was noticed by one of the top music directors of the country, AR Rahman. Mesmerised by her vocals, the musician offered the youngster to sing tracks in his films, the latest being Seemanthapoo from 99 songs.
#10 Amala Chebolu
An alumnus of Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM), Ms Chebolu made her singing debut with the film Maaya. Her recent outing, ‘Whattey Beauty’ from Nithiin-starrer, Bheeshma went on to become a huge hit among the listeners.
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