Arjun Menon

Arjun Menon (born 19 December 1987) is an Indian playback singer and songwriter based in New York City/London. He has sung for top music directors including A.R. Rahman, Harris Jayaraj, G.V Prakash etc. Arjun started his music career performing Carnatic music as a solo artiste and subsequently performed several shows across the country collaborating with top musicians. He sang the re-recording song "Kulu Kulu Venpani Pola" for the movie Engeyum Kadhal which was composed and penned by Harris Jayaraj. His playblack debut and big break came with the song "Latcham Calorie" from the movie Yaan in 2014.

Early life

Arjun was born on 19 December 1987 in Chennai into a family of music connoisseurs. His parents, Prem Menon and Usha discovered his love for music at a young age and initiated his vocal training when he was four and a half years old. Arjun started learning Carnatic music under several gurus including Ajay Namboodiri and Prof. Ramamoorthy Rao (a disciple of Bhimsen Joshi). He was also under the tutelage of Chitravina Ravikiran for a brief period of time. He performed his first stage show at the age of five.

He performed several Carnatic concerts from 1997-2003 and even performed at the prestigious Tiruvaiyyaru Tyagaraja Aradhana in the years 1999 and 2000. During his schooling, Arjun was exposed to several genres of music which fascinated and inspired him to learn to play the acoustic guitar. He also won several competitions organized by groups like the Sangam Kala Group and The Annual Swathi Smrithi Music Competition.

In 2001, Arjun played the role of Ayyappan in the Malayalam serial "Swami Ayyappan". The serial was directed by the legendary director P. N. Menon (director) and was telecast on Asianet. His role was appreciated by the critiques. However, Arjun decided to focus on music and give up acting.

While at college, Arjun took part in several inter college culturals and won several awards like "Best vocalist" at "Pradharshini-`06" conducted by the Kilpauk Medical College in the year 2006. He also won the prestigious Light Music Vocal - Solo title at "Saarang -`09" organized by Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai which made him a common name in the college cultural circle. While at college. he formed the band "Clarity in Confusion" which one several awards including "Best Band" award at "Milan `08", organized by SRM Institute of Science and Technology. The band performs shows regularly till date.

Arjun completed his school education at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Taylors Road in 2005 where he was awarded the Best Performer in Co-curricular activities and went on to complete his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering in 2009. He also holds a PGDBA in Operations Management from SCDL, Pune. Arjun joined Cognizant in 2009 after completing his graduation. Apart from English, he speaks Tamil and Malayalam fluently, and sings in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu.

Career

Music
Arjun's music career started at a young age. He started performing carnatic music concerts across the country as a solo artiste and often accompanying his gurus. Arjun appeared on the television channel - Zee Tamil`s unplugged music show - "Isai Unplugged" in 2010. His performance was widely appreciated by the audience. The show ran for over a year where he collaborated with several prominent musicians. He featured in the second season of the show in 2013 where he performed with his band CinC. He has performed across India, the US and Canada.

His voice first featured in the Kollywood movie Engeyum Kadhal in 2011 when he crooned the re-recording song Kulu Kulu Venpani Pola composed and penned by Harris Jeyaraj. Arjun continued singing chorus and track sessions for several top music directors including G.V. Prakash for movies like Saguni and Thalaiva for the next couple of years. During this period, he collaborated with several independent musicians and rendered his voice for several gospel and devotional albums.

Arjun's playback debut came in 2014 with the song "Latcham Calorie" from the movie Yaan. The song received great reviews from both critics and music lovers and found its place in the Radio Mirchi Top 20 Tamil Songs (peak position 5), Suryan FM Top 20 Tamil (peak position 1), Behindwoods Top 10 Songs (peak position 4)  and ranked no 3 in Qatar iTunes Top 100 

Arjun has performed over 400 shows across the country and has judged music competitions at various corporate and educational institutions like Anna University, SIET, Meenakshi Dental College, AJUBA, Cognizant and Ethiraj College. He regularly performs gigs with his melodic rock band - CinC.

IT
Arjun serves as a Business Analyst at Cognizant serving Fortune 500 Retail & Consumer Goods clients in Requirement Elicitation, Analyzing and identifying inefficiencies in client processes and systems and recommending efficient solutions. He joined Cognizant after graduating in 2009.

Discography

Film Songs

Title Songs for Television Soaps

Personal life
Arjun is married to Preethi, a software professional. They have a daughter Aria.

Voluntary Work & Fund Raising
While at school, Arjun was a member of several non profit voluntary organizations including the National Cadet Corps where he held the rank of Sergeant. He was also an active member of the Junior Red Cross, a sub-division of the Indian Red Cross. While at college, he was the President of the college chapter of the national professional non-profit organization Indian Society for Technical Education and was an active member of the college Rotract Club.

Arjun has performed at several fund raiser shows for non profit organizations including the Rotary International, Round Table and the TANKER foundation. He regularly performs for children with special needs and has also performed at orphanages like Udavum Karangal.

References

External links

Category:1987 births
Category:Living people
Category:Songwriters from New York (state)
Category:American male singers of Indian descent
Category:American singers of Indian descent
Category:Tamil playback singers
Category:Telugu playback singers
Category:Singers from Chennai
Category:21st-century American singers
Category:21st-century male singers