Unni Menon
| Unni Menon | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nambalatt Naryanankutty Menon |
| Born |
2 December 1958 Guruvayoor, Kerala, India |
| Genres | Film score, Devotional |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, music director, actor |
| Years active | Early 1980s–present |
| Website | Official website |
Unni Menon is an Indian film playback singer. He has sung over 3000 songs in South Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In the early part of his career, he spent many years as a low-profile playback singer. The turning point in his career came when he sang the song "Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from Mani Ratnam's award winning 1992 Tamil film Roja, composed by A. R. Rahman. He has frequently associated with A. R. Rahman, lending his voice to nearly 25 memorable songs from films like Karuththamma (1994) and Minsaara Kanavu (1997).
Unni Menon was born in Guruvayoor, the temple town in the Thrissur district of Kerala. His father was V. K. S. Menon, an officer in Tamil Nadu police and a native of Valanchery in Malappuram district and Malathy. He did his schooling in Guruvayoor and B.E.M. High School, Palakkad. Later, he attended the Government Victoria College, Palakkad, from where he graduated with a degree in Physics. Unni Menon exhibited great talent and enthusiasm for music in childhood, winning many prizes in competitions throughout his schooling and college life.
Unni Menon is basically a Malayalam film playback singer. Kunjunni, a violinist for music director Ilaiyaraaja introduced him to B. A. Chidambaranath, a music director, and Unni's musical career was launched in 1981–82. His maiden song "Amudhum Thenum" was never released, but with "Pon maane kobam eno" he became a noted singer in 1984. He was a track singer and after listening to his tracks for the film, Kadathu, KJ Yesudas asked to the music director, Shyam, to make it straight. And after the huge success of the Kadathu songs ("Olangal Thaalam Thullumbol", "Punnaare Poonthinkale", etc.), Unni became a regular singer for the hit music director, Shyam. Shyam has given him a good number of popular songs like "Maanathe Hoori Pole" (Ee Naadu), "Valakilukkam Oru Valakilukkam" (Munnettam), "Kaayampoo Korthu Tharum" (Aarorumariyaathe) and "Thozhuthu Madangum Sandhyayumetho" (Aksharangal). After Shyam's decline from the film music field, Unni's career in Malayalam film musicdom also went into shades. During that period, he has given some hit private albums such as Raagageethi and Raaga Lahari, with his contemporary playback singer, Ashalatha.
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