Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over four hundred films in mostly Malayalam and a few in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. He is an accomplished singer with several hit songs in several landmark movies and is a regular part of the biggest stage shows in Malayalam both in India and abroad.
Early life
Early life
Vidhu Prathap was born in 1980 in Kaithamukku in Trivandrum, Kerala, as the son of Prathapan and Laila. He did his early education from Holy Angel's Convent Trivandrum and then completed his schooling at Christ Nagar School, Thiruvananthapuram. During his school days in Christ Nagar, he used to participate in mono-acts and mimicry and had a real penchant for singing. Vidhu was the College union Arts Club Secretary in Mar Ivanios college, Thiruvananthapuram. where he did his graduation. In 1997-98, at the age of 17, he won the 'Voice of the Year Award' in a music competition conducted by Asianet, a leading private channel. It was after this that he seriously thought about becoming a singer. Vidhu started taking music lessons when he was three years old and has won many competitions in several musical categories.
Playback singing
He first sang for a movie called Paadamudra, when he was in class IV. But his real break was in 1999 in a movie Devadasi rendering 'Pon Vasantham', a difficult song with a classical touch. His rendering of the fast number 'Sukriya' in Niram made him a favourite with the masses, especially the youth. Besides, with a generation shift in Malayalam films, younger actors like Dileep, Kunchakko Boban and Prithviraj needed a young voice to suit their style. That was where Vidhu fitted in. His depth and range were once again evident in 'Sayahnam', directed by R. Sarath, which won Vidhu the Kerala State Film award in 2001 for the song 'Kalame Kaikolluka née'. His sensitive rendition of Mohan Sithara's 'Sukhamani Nilavu' a romantic song in the movie 'Nammal' won him the Lux-Asianet best male singer award in 2002. The credit for his 'mood rendition' should go to Devarajan, the famous music director, with whom he trained for four years. He has also trained under Music director Perumbavoor G Ravindranath. Vidhu renders his songs especially emotional ones with a pathos and feeling that only he can. Ilayaraja introduced him in Tamil in a movie 'Solla Marantha Kathai'. Later he sang many Tamil songs, most of them became hits. In 2003, he got another hit song 'Valeduthal Angakali' in 'Meesa Madhavan'. He also sang a song for the Malayalam musical albumChempakame, the song Melemanathu got many positive reviews from critics. Some movies that featured songs by him are 'Meesa Madhavan', 'Nammal', 'Swapnakoodu', 'Pattalam', 'Runway', 'Pandippada', 'Ravanan', 'Vargam', 'Out of Syllabus', 'Chathikatha Chanthu', 'Thanmatra', 'Vasthavam', 'Kadha', 'Kangaroo', 'In Ghosthouse Inn', 'Lollipop', 'Pazhassi raja','Orunal Varum', 'Violin', and '180'. He has sung the most songs for music director Alex Paul. He has completed songs in over a 150 movies, and hundreds of music albums. Vidhu is also an active performer in many stage shows in India as well as abroad.
He also tried his hands at acting for a time. He starred in a serial directed by the yester-years musician-lyricist-director Sreekumaran Thampi. It is called 'Paattukalude Paattu', and the story revolves around a struggling but upcoming stage singer. He has hosted shows like Idea Star Singer 2006 and Surya Challenge. He is currently judging Top Singer on Flowers TV.
Awards
He has several awards to his credit, most important being the first Asianet Voice of the Year Award, Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for the song 'Kalame Kaikolluka née', Lux-Asianet Best Male Singer Award for 'Sukhamani Nilavu', Sathyan Foundations Award, GMMA Award, Krystal Symphony Young Achiever's Award, and Film Critics Award.
