Shabareesh Varma is an Indian lyricist, singer and actor working in Malayalam and Tamil films. Shabareesh made his debut as actor and singer in the Alphonse Putharen's acclaimed 2013 film Neram where he rose to fame with his lyrics for the song Pistah, which was also used as the promo song for the 2016 Indian Premier League.
Early life
Shabareesh Varma was born to P.K Nandana Varma and Sulekha Varma in North Paravur, Ernakulam. After completing the graduation course From MES College Marampally, Aluva,he studied in SAE Institute, Chennai and graduated in Audio Engineering and Music Production. He started his acting stint with a short film "Cling-Cling" followed by "Neram (short film)" in which he was the protagonist pitched up against Vijay Sethupathi (as Vatti Raja).
Film career
He started his film career as an audio engineer in 2007. His first film as an audio engineer was Ye Maaya Chesave followed by Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Ekk Deewana Tha . Thus he had the rare feat of working on the same story made in three different languages. He went on to work as audio engineer in movies like Vithagan , Pizza ,Pizza II: Villa ,Soodhu Kavvum , Nadunisi Naaygal. Jigarthanda was the last movie he worked as an audio engineer.
His first film as an actor and singer was the Tamil version of Neram directed by Alphonse Putharen. In 2015, he was a part of the Malayalam movie Premam as a lyricist, singer and actor. He wrote the lyrics for 7 songs, sung 5 of them and played the character 'Shambu' in the film. Since then he has been active in Malayalam film industry donning various roles, as lyricist, singer, actor and associate director.
Pistah as the IPL Anthem
The song Pistah which Shabareesh sung for the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual Neram was the promo song for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 edition. As a result of this, the peppy number was celebrated throughout India.
Filmography
All films are in Malayalam, unless otherwise noted.
As lyricist
As an actor
As a Singer
Outside film industry
In 2016, he sung the official theme song of the Manjappada, which is the supporters group of Kerala Blasters. In 2020, he wrote one song for Yennum Yellow, which is an album released by Kerala Blasters as a tribute to their fans. He also performed one song called 'Vaa Varika Vaa' which is written by Manu Manjith and Nikhil Thomas.
During lockdown he released his first musical album named "Lokam". Lokam talked about the relevance of coming together and being supportive during the adverse time of the Covid pandemic. The album featured several prominent people from the Malayalam film industry in the likes of Alphonse Puthren, Nivin Pauly, Asif Ali, Darshana Rajendran, Chemban Vinod, Vinay Forrt, Vineeth Srinivasan, Noby Marcose, Saiju Kurup, Siju Wilson, Ahaana Krishna, Gauthami Nair, Krisnasankar, Dinoy Paulose, Swasika, Balu Varghese and Sharaf u Dheen and singers like Sayanora Philip, Resmi Sateesh, Niranj Suresh, Sachin Warrier and Mujeeb Majeed.
Awards and nominations
Vayalar Samskarika Vedhi Film Award 2016– Best Debut Actor (Male)- Shambhu from Premam
SIIMA
2015 – Best Lyricist for 'Malare' from 'Premam'
IIFA Utsavam Awards
2015 – Best Lyricist for 'Malare' from 'Premam'
Vanitha Film Awards
2015 – Best Newcomer for the role 'Shambhu' from 'Premam'
Asianet Comedy Awards
2015 – Best Comical Song for 'Scene Contra' from 'Premam'
References
External links
http://www.filmibeat.com/celebs/shabareesh-varma
http://spicyonion.com/singer/shabareesh-varma
http://www.hungama.com/artists/shabareesh-varma/779454
http://malayalasangeetham.info/displayProfile.php?category=lyricist&artist=Shabareesh%20Varma