Born to a Tamil Iyer family from Kerala, Shankar Mahadevan is a renowned music personality in the Indian film industry. By the age of five, he had acquired the skills to play the Veena. After his graduation in 1988, he worked as a software engineer for a while, until he ventured into the field of music. As a playback singer, he earned his first award for his song in Kandukondain Kandukondain. Upon the release of his first music album, Breathless, in 1998 and having garnered much recognition, he formed the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, constituting Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. As a playback singer, Mahadevan has a long list of films to his credit, some of which are Border (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Biwi No. 1 (1999), Hera Pheri (2000), Refugee (2000), Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), Nayak: The Real Hero (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Bunty Aur Babli (2005). He has also composed music for the films Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), 2 States (2014), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), Baar Baar Dekho (2016), Mirzya (2016) Rock On 2 (2016), Raazi (2018), Halkaa (2018), Saaho (2019) and Preetam (2021).