Cross-Cultural Lines of Music

Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam musician, composer and singer, Vidyasagar, with over 225 movies featuring his music, in his career, was born today in 1963.

Vidyasagar; Source: Public Domain

Born to Ramachandra Rado, himself a musician, in Andhra Pradesh, Vidyasagar traces a legacy of learning from the best musicians of his time - like Master Dhanraj, the famous music teacher in Chennai, from whom he learnt guitar and piano. His debut as an independent film composer would come in 1989, with the Tamil movie Poomanam. While he started with a Tamil movie in his career, he would get recognition in this industry quite later.

In the meantime, he shifted his base to Telugu cinema in 1989.

Vidyasagar would come back toTamil cinema in 1995, and work till 1996 in films like Jai Hind, Karna and Subhash. Once again shifting careers, he began his work in Malayalam films, winning three Kerala State Film Awards shortly thereafter. Vidyasagar was very appreciative of the environment he worked in, often calling it ‘one of the finest film industries’ to work in.

Working in tandem, he worked for movies in both Tamil (Dhool, Run, Ghili etc.) and Malayalam (Summer in Bethlehem, Meesha Madhavan, Kilichundan Mampazham, Pattalam) cinema. His debut in Bollywood would soon come with the movie Hulchul, but it is in the film industries of South India where he would have the most impact and recognition.

Success at the national stage came when he won the 2005 National FIlm Award for his music in the Telugu film Swarabhishekam.

Since then, he has worked in the three southern film industries nearly constantly, and continues to work for so. His works like Anuraga Vilochananaayi are public hits for their time. Over time, he has won more than 4 film music awards at the local, regional and state levels.