G. V. Prakash Kumar is an established music director, known for his excellent work in Tamil cinema, with films like Aayirathil Oruvan (2009), Aadukalam (2010), Thalaivaa (2013), Raja Rani (2013), and Theri (2016). Along with an extensive music career in Tamil and Telugu cinema, Prakash ventured into acting with cameo appearances before significant roles in Darling (2015), Trisha Illana Nayanthara (2015), and Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru (2016). Not only this, the music director-actor is an established playback singer with many hit songs to his credit. He composed music for the 2017 films Bruce Lee, Mupparimanam and Lens .
Early life
Prakash Kumar was born to G Venkatesh and playback singer A. R. Reihana, elder sister of A. R. Rahman. Prakash has one younger sister, Bhavani. He did his schooling from Chettinad Vidyashram in Chennai.
Personal life
Prakash got married to his school friend singer Saindhavi on 27 June 2013 at the Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall in Chennai.
Movie career
As a music director
GV Prakash's first step as a music composer came with director Vasantha Balan's Tamil film Veyil (2006). His impressive work in the first film got him to work as a music composer for a string of Tamil movies in 2007 like Oram Po, Kireedam, Polladhavan, and Kaalai, to name a few. He then worked on the background score and five songs in the 2008 drama film Kuselan starring Pasupathy and Meena in lead roles. One of the songs Cinema Cinema sang by Shankar Mahadevan, was made to honor the 75th anniversary of Tamil cinema, whereas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Dhanush, Kushboo Sundar, Rajinikanth, Nayantara, Vijayakumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar and N. T. Rama Rao, made cameo appearances in the song. In the same year, Prakash was hired by director Hari to work on the soundtrack of his romantic action film Seval.
After working on a few more films, Prakash gained praises for his compositions in Madrasapattinam (2010), especially the song Pookal Pookum. The song won him The Mirchi Music Awards South for Best Song of the Year along with nominations for Best Music Director at Filmfare Awards South and Vijay Awards. GVP also worked on the soundtrack of the Telugu dubbed version of the film titled 1947: A Love Story.
Even though Prakash was already popular among audiences for his work, his breakthrough came with the Dhanush- Taapsee Pannu starrer Aadukalam. He composed the entire soundtrack for the film, of which the most popular songs were Yathe Yathe and Otha Sollaala. His work in the film garnered him The Best Music Director Award at several prestigious award functions like Filmfare Awards South, Mirchi Music Awards South, South Indian International Movie Awards, and Vijay Awards. His song Otha Sollaala received The Vijay Music Award for Best Folk Song of the Year, whereas he was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song Yathe Yathe.
Prakash’s next success came with huge critical acclaim for his compositions in the film Mayakkam Enna (2011), with the lyrics of the songs penned down by the director of the film Selvaraghavan, and the lead actor Dhanush. One of the songs Pirai Thedum in the movie album was sung by Prakash along with his then fiancée singer Saindhavi. He also composed music for the drama television series Chellamay. His work in the film Deiva Thirumagal got him nominated for Best Music Director at Filmfare Awards South. Prakash composed the soundtrack for Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal (2011), before moving on to the popular political satire film Saguni in 2012. worked on Joker and Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2, all in 2012.
The music director then forayed into Hindi cinema with Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1, and later Vijay-starrer box office hit Thalaivaa and the Arya-Nayantara starrer Raja Rani, was highly appreciated. Critics applauded the Raja Rani music album to be a pleasant one and appreciated the composer for innovative music. After working on a few more films in the year, Prakash took up the film Saivam in 2014, which had songs performed by Chinna Ponnu, Gaana Bala, and Haricharan. Also, Unnikrishnan's eight-year-old daughter Uthara Unnikrishnan won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song Azhagu, making her youngest winner of this award. Prakash later worked on the music of the horror-comedy Darling and the Hindi movie Ugly in the year.
GVP composed music for several movies in 2015 including Pencil, Idhu Enna Maayam, Kaaka Muttai, and Trisha Illana Nayanthara. He also composed music for the Marathi remake of Kaaka Muttai, titled Half Ticket (2016). He then worked on the music of the National Award-winning film Visaranai. After director Atlee's successful collaboration with Prakash for Raja Rani, he roped in the composer once again to work on the music of the Vijay-starrer Theri (2016). Their combination worked well this time too as the soundtrack of Theri was highly appreciated by critics as well as audiences. Prakash's other projects in 2016 include Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru and Enakku Innoru Per Irukku, in which he starred too. He also composed music for the 2017 films Bruce Lee and Mupparimanam. He even was the music director for the 2017 bilingual hostage drama Lens directed by Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan.
As a singer
Even though GVP is known as a music director, he entered the industry way back in 1993 as a playback singer. He debuted with the popular Tamil song Chikku Bukku Rayile from the movie Gentleman, composed by A. R. Rahman. He continued to sing several songs for A. R. Rahman such as Madrasai Suthi from May Madham, Kuchi Kuchi from Bombay, and Kuluvalilae from Muthu. He then collaborated with composer Harris Jayaraj for the movies Anniyan (2005) and Unnale Unnale (2007). After this came his award-winning movie album Aadukalam, the soundtrack of which he not only composed, but also performed the song Yaathe. This song won him The Best Song Sung by a Music Director at Vijay Music Awards and also a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer (2011). Prakash then won the Popular Duet of the Year at Vijay Music Awards for recording the song Pirai Thedum from the film Mayakkam Enna (2011). Subsequently, he collaborated with music composer N. R. Raghunandan to lend his voice for songs in Sundarapandian and Neerparavai in 2012, and Madha Yaanai Koottam in 2013. The song Yaaro Ivan in Prakash's voice from the film Udhayam NH4 (2013) also gained popularity.
The singer then joined hands with composer Yuvan Shankar Raja to perform the song Edhirthu Nil from Biriyani (2013). In the same year, songs like Imaye and Hey Baby from Raja Rani, and Yaarindha Saalai from Thalaivaa, made him one of the most desirable singers in the industry. In 2014, Prakash went on to record a Hindi number titled Suraj Hai from the film Ugly. After working on a few movies in 2015 like Darling, Rajathanthiram, and Idhu Enna Maayam, he went on to record two songs for the film Kaaka Muttai in the same year. Along with starring in a lead role and composing music in the 2015 adult comedy film Trisha Illana Nayanthara, Prakash also recorded two songs Bittu Padam Di and Yenachu Yedhachu in the movie album. In the following year, Prakash performed songs for the Vijay-starrer Theri and Shiva-starrer Adra Machan Visilu.
As an actor
After a successful career as a playback singer, Prakash made his first on-screen appearance with a cameo in the song Cinema Cinema from Kuselan in 2008. He made a few more cameos in the songs College Padam in Naan Rajavaga Pogiren (2013) and Vaanganna in Thalaivaa (2013), before venturing into lead acting with the 2015 film Darling in the role of Kathir. The movie was a box office success and received positive critical acclaim. Not only this, Prakash's excellent performance in the film won him several accolades like the Edison Award for Debut Actor, SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actor and Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South. He then went on to star as the male lead in Trisha Illana Nayanthara in the same year opposite Anandhi and Manisha Yadav, but it received average reviews from critics. In 2016, Prakash featured in lead roles in Enakku Innoru Per Irukku, Pencil, and Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru, which were moderate successes. His 2017 release includes the action-comedy film Bruce Lee, directed by Prasanth Pandiraj, in which he starred opposite Kriti Kharbanda.
Other ventures
GV Prakash started his own production house in 2013 titled GV Prakash Kumar Productions. The 2013 Tamil movie Madha Yaanai Koottam, directed by Vikram Sugumaran, was produced under this company banner.