Sai Abhyankkar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 November 2004 Virugambakkam, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2022–present |
| Labels | Think Music |
Sai Abhyankkar (born 4 November 2004) is an Indian composer and singer. The son of playback singers Tippu and Harini, he is known for his breakout hit "Katchi Sera", which went viral in 2024 and became one of the most searched songs worldwide. The song, released as part of Think Music's independent music initiative, marked his debut as a solo artist.
Abhyankkar's other singles include "Aasa Kooda", "Sithira Puthiri" and "Vizhi Veekura", all composed for Think Indie. "Aasa Kooda" is his most-watched music video on YouTube, with 293 million views, surpassing the 236 million views of "Katchi Sera". His music videos usually feature an actress alongside him—"Katchi Sera" features Samyuktha Viswanathan, "Aasa Kooda" features Preity Mukhundhan, "Sithira Puthiri" features Meenakshi Chaudhary, and "Vizhi Veekura" features Saanve Megghana.
Bakkiyaraj Kannan signed Abhaynkkar to compose music for the Tamil film Benz in 2024, which was intended to be his film debut. However, he was later signed for the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual film Balti (2025), which is scheduled to be released before Benz, making it his actual debut. He soon signed several more films, including Karuppu, Dude (2025), STR 49, AA22xA6, SK 24 and Marshal.
Sai Abhyankkar was born on 4 November 2004 in a Tamil family in Virugambakkam, Chennai to singers Tippu and Harini. [1] [2] He was introduced to music at a young age. His sister, Sai Smriti, is also a singer. [3] A multi-instrumentalist, Abhyankkar learned to play the tabla, mridangam, piano, drums and guitar, and began composing music during early teens. [4] He trained in vocals under singers Sriram Parthasarathy, A.T. Ramamoorthy, and Henry Kuruvilla. [5] Though he described himself as not very academically inclined, unlike his sister, [3] he shifted to online schooling after completing 10th standard, allowing him more time to focus on music. [6] : 4:50 According to Smriti, he began composing original music at the age of 13, [3] and he has described his melodic arrangements as often leaning toward jazz and blues sensibilities. [7]
Sai Abhyankkar made his playback singing debut in 2022 with the song "Valam Varavendum", which he wrote himself and was composed by Sriram Parthasarathy. [8] [5] During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, he developed a routine of composing musical grooves daily. One of these compositions stood out to both Abhyankkar and his friend Adesh Krishna, who later wrote the lyrics for it. [9] In March 2023, Abhyankkar approached Think Indie with the track, which was immediately approved and later developed into "Katchi Sera". [7] [9]
Released on 21 January 2024, the music video featured Abhyankkar alongside Samyuktha Viswanathan and gained widespread popularity. As of 29 July 2025, the video has garnered over 300 million views on YouTube, [10] and was one of the most searched songs globally in 2024. [11] [12]
Following the success of his debut, Abhyankkar released his second independent single, "Aasa Kooda", on 12 June 2024. The track featured his sister, Sai Smriti, who sang alongside him. The music video included Preity Mukhundhan and received a highly positive response, significantly expanding his fanbase. [13] As of 13 July 2025, the video had surpassed 293 million views on YouTube. [14] [15]
On the same day "Aasa Kooda" was released, Abhyankkar signed his first feature film, Benz, directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan and presented by Lokesh Kanagaraj, starring Raghava Lawrence. [14] His involvement was officially announced on his birthday, 4 November 2024. [16] Later, on 9 December, it was announced that Abhyankkar had replaced A. R. Rahman as the composer for RJ Balaji's directorial venture Karuppu (2025), starring Suriya. [17]
In February 2025, Abhyankkar entered discussions to compose for Atlee's Telugu debut, starring Allu Arjun and produced by Sun Pictures, titled AA22xA6. [18] His involvement was confirmed in April. [19]
On Puthandu (14 April 2025), Silambarasan confirmed that Abhyankkar would compose music for his 49th film, directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan. [20] [21] He was also confirmed to compose the score for Pradeep Ranganathan's Dude (2025). [22]
In July, Abhyankkar confirmed his involvement in his first film, the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual Balti (2025), starring Shane Nigam, [23] and was announced as the composer for Karthi's Marshal on 10 July. [24]
He was also announced as the composer for Sivakarthikeyan’s 24th film. [25] Abhyankkar faced trolling on social media for signing numerous projects before his first film's release, [26] to which he responded by crediting his success to “genuine networking” with experienced filmmakers. [27]
"Sithira Puthiri", his third single, was released on 31 January 2025 and featured Meenakshi Chaudhary. Despite crossing 800,000 views within hours, it received a mixed response. [5] [8] On 5 July, at an Amazon Music event in Chennai, Abhyankkar announced his fourth single, "Vizhi Veekura", released on 7 July without a music video. [28] [13] He said the composition began with a simple piano motif, layering instruments such as the noori and mandolin. [29]
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Director | Language | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Balti † | Unni Sivalingam | Malayalam Tamil | [30] |
| Dude † | Keerthiswaran | Tamil | [31] | |
| Karuppu † | RJ Balaji | [32] | ||
| 2026 | Benz † | Bakkiyaraj Kannan | [33] | |
| STR 49 † | Ramkumar Balakrishnan | [34] | ||
| 2028 | AA22×A6 † | Atlee | Telugu | [35] |
| TBA | Marshal † | Tamizh | Tamil |
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Song | Film | Language | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | "Oorum Blood" | Dude † | Tamil | Sai Abhyankkar, Deepthi Suresh, Paal Dabba, Bhumi |
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Song | Language | Composer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Madharaasi † | "Salambala" | Tamil | Anirudh Ravichander | Debut as playback singer; Tamil Debut |
| Balti † | "Jaalakaari" | Malayalam Tamil | Himself | Malayalam Debut | |
| Dude † | "Oorum Blood" | Tamil | |||
| "Boom Boom" | Telugu | ||||
| "Nallaru Po" | Tamil | Co-Singer(s): Tippu and Mohit Chauhan |
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Music Director | Language | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Cobra | A.R. Rahman | Tamil | |
| 2023 | Pathu Thala | |||
| 2024 | Indian 2 | Anirudh Ravichander | [36] | |
| Devara: Part 1 | Telugu | [37] | ||
| 2025 | Coolie | Tamil | [38] |
| Year | Song | Notes | Lyrics | Co-Singer | Co-Actress | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | "Valam Varavendum" | Composed by Sriram Parthasarathy | Himself | - | - | [39] |
| 2024 | "Katchi Sera" | Single – Think Music India | Adesh Krishna | Sai Smriti | Samyuktha Viswanathan | [1] |
| "Aasa Kooda" | Sathyan Ilanko | Preity Mukhundhan | [40] | |||
| 2025 | "Sithira Puthiri" | Vivek | - | Meenakshi Chaudhary | [41] | |
| "Vizhi Veekura" | Adesh Krishna | Sai Smriti | Saanve Megghana | [42] |
Additional Keyboard Programmed by Arish, Sai Abhyankkar, Ashwin Krishna