MK Balaji


MK Balaji is an Indian playback singer, song writer and a television host from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. As a playback singer he has sung more than 100 songs in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. His first song a lyricist was for the movie Sethupathi. He has hosted popular TV shows in Star Vijay and Zee Tamil

Biography

MK Balaji is the voice behind many South Indian film songs including "Rettai Kathire" from the Tamil movie Maattrraan directed by K. V. Anand starring Surya Sivakumar. He has delivered many successful songs in Tamil and Telugu. He started his career as a playback singer for the Tamil film Pandhayam, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. He went on to sing hits like "Sexy Lady" from Ninaithale Inikkum in the music of Vijay Antony, "Vellaikari Nee" for the film Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam in the music of G. V. Prakash Kumar, "Enge Poveno" for the film Angadi Theru directed by Vasanthabalan, and "Hey Mama" from Sethupathi. His first breakthrough in Telugu was "Dailamo Dailamo" for the movie Mahatma directed by Krishna Vamsi.
He has also collaborated with music directors like D Imman, Karthik Raja, Sundar C babu, Taj Noor, James Vasanthan, Sirpy, Sabesh Murali and Srikanth Deva.

Live shows and tours

MK Balaji, a prominent stage performer has performed for over 300 shows including award functions, television shows, college pro shows and corporate events. He was one of the very few South Indian singers to perform for the Indian Premier League edition 1 and 3. His unplugged performance in the Isai Aruvi awards garnered him special praise from the actor Vijay. His multilingual performance in the finale of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Tamil was appreciated by legendary singer P.B.Srinivas. His tours overseas include shows in Paris, Japan, Dubai, Kuwait, Seychelles, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka to name a few. He has also toured with music directors Harris Jayaraj and Vijay Antony on their music shows.

TV host

As a television host he has hosted television shows like Paadum Office on STAR Vijay, a Tamil version of the popular Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Tamil and many other shows.

Early music

He started his singing career with reality shows on television. His band V3, of which he was the lead singer, presented a sound track in the Oohlalala album which consists of original compositions by the winners of the show Oohlalala aired on the Tamil channel Sun TV. It was judged by the Oscar winner AR Rahman. His band was judged the winning band and he eventually got the breakthrough as a playback singer.

Discography

Below is the partial discography of the songs sung by MK Balaji.
Song titleFilm/albumMusic directorco singers
Hey MamaSethupathiNivas K. PrasannaAnirudh Ravichandar
Rettai KathiraeMaattrraanHarris JayarajKrish
Oru Oorla Rendu RajaOru Oorla Rendu RajaD. ImmanAnthony Daasan
Sara Sara SaravediIdhu Kathirvelan KadhalHarris JayarajKK, Srilekha
Kadal Naan ThaanEndrendrum PunnagaiHarris JayarajAndreah Jerimiah, Bombay Jayashree
VellaikariIrumbu Kottai Murattu SingamG. V. Prakash KumarNSK Ramya
Enge povenoAngadi TheruVijay AntonyBenny Dayal
Dhool TuckerDhool Tucker SingleL.V Ganesanfeat Prabhu Deva
Unnai EnniAayirathil IruvarBharathwaj
Sexy LadyNinaithale InikkumVijay AntonyNSK Ramya, Maya
Suda SudathanNagaraja Cholan MA, MLAJames Vasanthan
Poi PoiAdhibar"Vikram Selva""Gaana Bala"
Eecham pazhamPuriyadha Anandham Pudhidhaga Arambam"A. R. ReihanaA. R. Reihana
Un TholilSonna PuriyathuYateesh Mahadev
Ayyao PocheSonna PuriyathuYateesh Mahadev
Thulle RaniSuper CowboyG. V. Prakash KumarNSK Ramya
Dilamo DilamoMahatma Vijay AntonySangeetha
Siru SiruMarkandeyanSundar C BabuSwetha Mohan
Tuneega TuneegaTuneega TuneegaKarthik Raja
Ready ReadyShiva poojayil KaradiSundar C BabuSuchithra
Indha kadhalKanagavel KakkaVijay AntonyDivya Vijay
Sirisiri ViriMarkSundar C BabuChinmayee
O RabbayaManchivaduSirpyAnitha
ThavaniyellamMilagaSabesh Murali
Marudhani pooVamsamTaj NoorChinmayee
PallanguzhiBayam AriyanP.C.ShivanRita
Dhara DhiriBayam AriyanP.C.ShivanVijaynarain, PC sivan
Pudhusa PudhusaMadurai to theni Xavi
Oru KinnathaiIndira VizhaYateesh Madhav
SuranganiPandhayam Vijay AntonyMegha, Maya
Rasikkum SeemaneRasikkum SeemaneVijay AntonySangeetha
Mittai PenneMittaiSabesh Murali
PenillamePugaippadamGangai AmaranKrish
Un KangalPandiSrikanth DevaKarthik
Edhuvum SeivomOohlalala Album"V3"
"Ramaiya Osthavaiya"Kadhal Solla AasaiM. M. SrilekhaVelmurugan, Senthil Das, Krishnamurthy

;As lyricist
Song titleFilm/albumMusic director
"Hawa hawa"Sethupathi''"Nivas K. Prasanna"

;As TV Host
TV Showfor TV Channel
Paadum OfficeStar Vijay
Sa Re Ga Ma PaZee Tamil