K (composer)

Indian music composer (born 1987)

Krishna Kumar in 2018

Background information
Birth name| Krishna Kumar
Also known as| K
Born|  (1987-01-08) 8 January 1987 (age 38)
Origin| Chennai
Occupation|

* Music composer

Years active| 2010–present

Musical artist

Krishna Kumar, better known by his stage name K, is an Indian music composer.[1]

## Background

[edit]

K did his schooling at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Chennai, where he took lessons in playing the keyboard. He quickly progressed and finished Grade 8 certificate exams in music with the Trinity College of Music, London. K graduated in genetic engineering (BTech) from SRM University, Chennai.

His musical talent found an outlet when he joined his first rock band aged 12, and then played with a successful funk/rock and roll band ‘Panatella’ for several years after that. He moved to creating jingles for advertisements and corporate films, singing several songs for the same.

## Music career

[edit]

In the year 2010, K was brought on board for director Mysskin's film Yuddham Sei. The film's sound track was a hit. He then composed for Mysskin's Mugamoodi starring Jiiva. His next big career break came when famed cinematographer Rajeev Ravi roped him for his directorial venture in Malayalam, Annayum Rasoolum. The movie went on to become a cult favourite.

He marked his debut in Bollywood with the Hindi remake of the hit Tamil film Pizza, by composing the background score of the movie.[2] In 2015, the film Kirumi opened to positive response subsequently becoming one of the most acclaimed Tamil films of the year.

Almost for the entire first half of the year 2016, K was working on the Dulquer Salmaan starrer Malayalam film Kammatipaadam, his second collaboration with Rajeev Ravi.[3] K's background score for the film too received tremendous praise, with a reviewer saying "Composer K's music peps up these action sequences. With his adrenaline igniting music, he even manages to make the sight of bones cracking look cool. He is to Rajeev Ravi what Amit Trivedi and Sneha Khanwalker were to Anurag Kashyap in Gangs Of Wasseypur".[4]

Kallappadam, directed by debutant Vadivelu, was the first film in which K was featured on-screen. He had previously turned down a role in his first film Yuddham Sei, but had agreed to play one of the leads in Kallappadam.[2]

Directed by M.Manikandan, Aandavan Kattalai, his next major release was very well received. The music for the film, including the 9 songs, was supplemented by a background score where the lyrics of the songs were based on the dialogues on screen.[5] In 2017, a Telugu remake of the film was made by Chinni Krishna, named London Babulu, which featured music re-used from K's Tamil original. The remake only featured 5 out of the 9 tracks from the original.[6]

Ammani, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan's 3rd film as a director, was released a month later amidst mounds of praises. The background music of the film was handled very maturely, leaving a lot of silent spaces, so as to not disturb the emotional and poignant storyline. The highlight of the Ammani album was 'Mazhai Ingillaye', sung by the prodigious Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, who rendered the song pitch perfect, adding to the unique blend of Carnatic music and synth sounds.[7][8][9]

In 2016, K composed the background score for N. Padmakumar's 'A Billion Colour Story' which won several awards and accolades worldwide, including Best Feature, LIFF, London, and Best Feature Audience Award, IFF, Los Angeles.[10][11][12]

In 2017, Sankalp Reddy's Ghazi (The Ghazi Attack), a Telugu-Hindi film for which he worked as a music director, was released.[13][14] K received appreciation for his "unobtrusive" background score.[15] That same year, Anando Brahma, a Telugu horror-comedy, which he worked as the composer, was released.[16][17] The promo song features Malgudi Subha[18] and is a rendition of a Mohammed Rafi song from 1970.[19]

K has worked on the music of Telugu film[20] Yatra – a biographical film about Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, which was released in 2019.[21][22] That same year, K agreed to compose for Prasanna Vithanage’s off-beat Sinhala film Gaadi which premiered at Busan International Film Festival in October 2019.[23][24][25] In late 2019, he was also signed by Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies to compose the background score of Vaanam Kottattum, written and produced by Mani Ratnam and directed by his protege, Dhana Sekhar.

K has composed the music for the 2023 German documentary, Sara Mardini – Gegen den Strom directed by Charlie Wai Feldman.[26] K composed the music for the 2023 British documentary ‘Neither Confirm nor Deny’ a British directed by Philip Carter.[27]

K composed the background score for veteran director Prasanna Vithanage's film Paradise, presented by Mani Ratnam and Madras Talkies.[28] The film stars Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran, Shyam Fernando, and Mahendra Perera. It premiered at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival, winning the Kim Jiseok Award for Best Film and the Prix du Jury Lycéen at the Vesoul International Film Festival in February 2024.[29] Paradise is set for release in India in June 2024.[30]

K composed the score for Atul Sabharwal's film Berlin (2023), starring Rahul Bose, Aparshakti Khurana, and Ishwak Singh.[31]

## Film discography

[edit]

### Feature films

[edit]

List of K film credits  Year  | Title  | Language  | Notes

|
|
|

2011 | Yuddham Sei | Tamil |
2012 | Mugamoodi |
Aarohanam |
2013 | Annayum Rasoolum | Malayalam |
Onbadhule Guru | Tamil |
2014 | Mahabalipuram |
Kaadu
Pizza | Hindi | Background music only
2015 | Cartoon | Malayalam | [citation needed]
49-O | Tamil |
Kallappadam | also actor (as Himself)
Kirumi |
2016 | Ammani |
Aandavan Kattalai
Kammatipaadam | Malayalam |
A Billion Colour Story | English | [citation needed]
2017 | The Ghazi Attack |

* Hindi
* Telugu

Anando Brahma | Telugu |
London Babulu | Remake of Aandavan Kattalai. Same music re-used.
2019 | Yatra |
Gaadi | Sinhala | Sri Lankan film
Kallan | Tamil
2020 | Vaanam Kottattum | Background music only
2022 | Panni Kutty |
2023 | Thuramukham | Malayalam |
Paradise |

* Malayalam
* English
* Sinhala

2024  | Berlin | Hindi  |

### Short films

[edit]

List of K short film credits  Year  | Title  | Language  | Notes

|
|
|

2017 | Her. Him. The Other | Tamil-Sinhalese | [citation needed]

### Documentaries

[edit]

List of K documentary film credits  Year  | Title  | Language  | Ref.

|
|
|

2016 | Silence in the Courts | Sinhalese | [citation needed]
2017 | Is it too much to ask | Tamil | [citation needed]
2017 | The Talwars – Behind Closed Doors | English | [citation needed]
2023 | Sara Mardini – Gegen den Strom | German | [citation needed]
2023 | Neither Confirm Nor Deny | English | [27]

## Awards

[edit]

'Best Background Score' – Yuddham Sei at the 2013 BIG 92.7FM Tamil Melody Awards (2013).[32]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Manigandan, K. R. (2 August 2012). "Shot Cuts". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
2. ^ a b "'An Actor's Life is very Demanding'". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
3. ^ "Anurag Kashyap is all praise for Dulquer Salmaans Kammattipaadam". Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
4. ^ "Kammattipadam Review: A Tale Of Blood & Fire". Silverscreen.in. 21 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
5. ^ Vasudevan, K. V. (24 September 2016). "'I don't want to be a one-film wonder'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
6. ^ "Swathi Reddy gets a pat from London Babulu maker Maruthi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
7. ^ "Music Review: Ammani". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
8. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (14 October 2016). "Ammani – Mother superior". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 August 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
9. ^ "Ammani review: Good performances in a weather-beaten plot". Hindustan Times. 13 October 2016. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
10. ^ "A BILLION COLOUR STORY | IFFLA". www.indianfilmfestival.org. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
11. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (30 June 2017). "'A Billion Colour Story' Wins Top Prize at London Indian Film Festival". Variety. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
12. ^ "'A Billion Colour Story' film wins top award at UK festival". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
13. ^ "Music director K makes his Telugu-Hindi debut". Deccan Chronicle. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
14. ^ "Interview with K – "Aandavan Kattalai is an exciting prospect for me"". Only Kollywood. 18 May 2016. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
15. ^ "The Ghazi Attack movie review: A spectacular Indian war film". Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
16. ^ "Anando Brahma first look: Taapsee Pannu returns to Telugu cinema with a horror-comedy". The Indian Express. 27 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
17. ^ "Trailer of 'Anando Brahma' starring Taapsee Pannu is out and is quite quirky". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
18. ^ "Naa Madhi Ninnu: The latest video song from Taapsee Pannu's Anando Brahma is spooky". Pinkvilla South. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
19. ^ "Anando Brahma song Naa Madhi Ninnu: If Taapsee Pannu is a ghost, and so pretty, we are ready to confront her. Watch video". The Indian Express. 12 August 2017. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
20. ^ kavirayani, suresh (14 April 2018). "Ghazi wins national award". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
21. ^ "Powerful teaser of Mahi V Raghav and Mammootty's 'Yatra' released!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
22. ^ "Mammootty starts shoot for YSR biopic Yatra; movie to release during Sankaranti 2019". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
23. ^ "A film questioning identity politics". Indiansapidnews.com. 19 October 2019. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
24. ^ Ramnath, Nandini (3 October 2019). "In Sri Lankan film 'Gaadi', a searing exposition of the caste system across the Palk Straits". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
25. ^ "In Sri Lankan film 'Gaadi', a searing exposition of the caste system across the Palk Straits". Sri Lanka Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
26. ^ "Sara Mardini – Gegen Den Strom • Dokumentarfilm • mindjazz pictures". mindjazz pictures (in German). Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
27. ^ a b "NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY". DOC NYC. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
28. ^ SDM, Bash (25 May 2023). "Paradise – Newton Cinema". newtoncinema.com. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
29. ^ "Newton Cinema's Paradise wins Prix du Jury Lycéen at Vesoul International Film Festival". Uniindia News Service. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
30. ^ "Filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage's 'Paradise' screening graced by Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran, Jasmeet K Reen". Firstpost. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
31. ^ "BERLIN". IFFLA. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
32. ^ "Music awards". The Hindu. 3 September 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* K at IMDb
* Official Website Archived 3 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Authority control databases: Artists |

* MusicBrainz
* 2

|

*[Ref.]: Reference(s)