S. Thaman

Thaman was born as Ghantasala Sai Srinivas in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, into a Telugu-speaking family of musicians from Pottepalem, Nellore District. He is the grandson of director Ghantasala Balaramayya. His father Ghantasala Siva Kumar was a drummer, who worked for seven hundred films, under the composer, K. Chakravarthy. His mother, Ghantasala Savitri is a playback singer and his aunt is singer. B. Vasantha.[8] Thaman is married to playback singer Sri Vardhini and they have a son.[9]

He studied at Don Bosco School in Chennai. He joined a music team consisting of S.P. Balasubrahmanyam and G. Anand as a rhythm pads player when he was nine years old,[10] and discontinued studies when he lost his father at the age of 13. He was compelled to make his hobby into a profession to overcome the crisis in his family.[11] He then joined the Raj–Koti team and worked for three years on sixty films and collaborated M. M. Keeravani, working with him for three years to complete thirty films.

Thaman considered Mani Sharma to be his guru and spent eight years under his tutelage while working on 94 films with him.[12] On the whole he put in fourteen years of rhythm and keyboard programming with the veterans before branching out on his own.[13]

He owns a music band named Thakkali.[14][15]

Thaman made his debut as a composer in through the Telugu feature film Malli Malli (2009), although the soundtrack album was released in 2008. Jeevi of Idlebrain credited Thaman's work in the film is credited as "good".[16] The same year his second soundtrack, of the film Sindhanai Sei, marked his debut in the Tamil cinema.[17] He has also made his playback singing debut by recording "Uchimeedhu" song from the soundtrack. A critic rated the album 2 out of 5 and stated, "The music itself is rather dramatic, and sometimes strident. Almost all the songs, barring one seem to be pitched on the 6-kattai scale, which does not afford much variety in terms of listening".[18] A Telugu version of the album was released for the film's dubbed Telugu version. Background score in the Tamil film Eeram (2009) received good reviews from the critics.[19][20] Although he started composing the music of the film 2007, the soundtrack was released in 2008 and eventually the film was released in 2009.

Although Thaman got his major success with the album of the film Kick (2009), critics gave mixed reviews citing it as "mediocre".[21] In the same year, he has four more soundtrack album releases–three in Telugu and one in Tamil.[22] Composition of "Mahalakshmi" and "Dhakku Dhakku" songs from the film Sankham were praised.[23] In 2010, he has composed score and soundtrack album for nine films, with majority of them being Tamil. Brindavanam was the most successful composition of all. Released on 12 September 2010, the album received positive reviews. 123Telugu gave a review stating "Overall the songs of Brindaavanam are fast, most of them soulful, enjoyable and a touch catering to the lovers of mass numbers. Most Telugu music directors have been going the Rahman way focusing on a fast beat while the song is slow. This album is an exception, where the songs are as fast as they can get. Thaman manages to keep everyone interested with his tunes, in spite of the pressure to cater to dance needs of Jr.NTR."[24]

In May 2017, Thaman made his Hindi debut when he was one of the six composers who featured in the soundtrack album of Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again, a comedy franchise in Hindi cinema.[25] In 2018, he composed a theme song for Rohit Shetty's successful venture Simmba.

Thaman is working as a Judge for Telugu Indian Idol, which is streaming on Aha[26]

South Indian International Movie Awards

• 2012: SIIMA Award for Best Music Director (Telugu) for Dookudu[27]
• 2013: SIIMA Award for Best Male Playback Singer (Telugu) for "Sir Osthara" – Businessman[28]
• 2015: SIIMA Award for Most streaming song for "Aagadu title song" – Aagadu[29]
• 2021: SIIMA Award for Best Music Director (Telugu) for Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo

Filmfare Awards South

• 2012: Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu for Dookudu[30]

Other awards

• The Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for Dookudu[31]
• MAA Music Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for Dookudu
• TSR TV9 Awards 2011 – Best Music Director for Dookudu.
• TSR TV9 Awards 2016 – Best Music Director for Sarrainodu, Srirastu Subhamastu.
• GAMA Awards 2016 – Best Love song "Nuvve Nuvve" in Kick 2.
• Zee Cine Awards Telugu – Favorite Music Director for Tholi Prema.
• 17th Santosham Film Awards 2019 – Best Music Director Award for Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018).

• S. Thaman at IMDb
• S. Thaman on Twitter
• S. Thaman on Instagram