On Shankar Mahadevan’s 54th birthday, here's a playlist of his most popular numbers

Celebrated singer Shankar Mahadevan turned 54 today. Also popular for being a music composer, the singer is a part of the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Shankar has a degree in Software Engineering and he also worked for a software technology company, however, he left that path to pursue music.

In 2000, he received a National Award for the Best Playback Singer for his song Yenna Solla Pogirai from the Mammootty-Tabu-starrer Kandukondain Kandukondain.

The music composer-singer is also an actor and has appeared in a 2015 Marathi film called Katyar Kaljat Ghusali and a Hindi serial Ek Se Badh Kar Ek.

On the occasion of Shankar’s birthday, let’s take a look at some of his most celebrated songs:

Breathless

This song was from Shankar’s 1998 album of the same name. The unique thing about this song is that it appeared like it was sung in one breath and many people believed the same, however, the singer has clarified in his interviews that Breathless was not sung in one breath. The song was composed by Shankar and written by legendary lyricist Javed Akhtar.

Maa

Composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and voiced by Shankar, the song is from the 2007 film Taare Zameen Par. Picturised on Darsheel Safary who played the role of a kid with dyslexia in the film, Shankar received a National Film Award for Best Playback Singer for this song.

Man Mohini

Picturised on a fiery Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who played the role of Nandini in the 1999 hit film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the song was composed by Ismail Darbar and written by Mehboob Kotwal.

Kajra Re

Sung by Shankar, Alisha Chinai and Javed Ali, the song has been picturised on Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. This peppy number became a hit soon after its release in 2005. It was composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and written by Gulzar.

Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe

This song from the 2001 hit film Dil Chahta Hai was sung by Shaan and KK along with Shankar. Written by Javed Akhtar, this song was also composed by the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.