2022–2024: Debut and early success
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]
2025–present: Continued success
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 Malayalam film, 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]
