Rajesh Krishnan

Playback singing

Rajesh began singing under the direction of composers Rajan-Nagendra and Hamsalekha in the late 1980s, where he recorded tracks in his voice upon which other professional singers would cover with their voices. In 1991, Rajesh's voice was retained and released in the final soundtrack album of Gowri Ganesha. The song "Mathinalle Gellaballe", composed by Rajan-Nagendra was the first official release song. This was quickly followed by songs from the films, Hoovu Hannu (1993) and Bevu Bella (1993), both composed by Hamsalekha, which raised his popularity among Kannada audience.

For his rendition in films such as Bannada Hejje (1999), Ekangi (2002) and Dumbee (2003), Rajesh won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.^[8][9][10]

Following these initial breakthrough films, Rajesh was one of the most sought-after singers in Kannada cinema. He went on to sing for numerous other composers such as V. Manohar, L. N. Shastry, Sadhu Kokila, S. A. Rajkumar and Rajesh Ramanath in the 1990's and 2000's. Later in 2010s and 2020s, composers such as V. Harikrishna, Arjun Janya, B. Ajaneesh Loknath, Manikanth Kadri, Ravi Basrur and Charan Raj chose Rajesh's voice for their songs. He went on to sing more than 3000 songs in Kannada cinema making him the first ever singer from Karnataka to sing those many songs in films.

Rajesh expanded to Telugu cinema through Sandeep Chowta's musical Ninne Pelladatha in 1996. The song "Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu" reached popularity immediately after release and earned him the Nandi Award for Best Male Playback Singer.^[11] Following this, he was offered many other Telugu songs in films including Raja (1999), Prema Katha (1999), Nee Kosam (1999), Nuvvu Vasthavani (2000), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Ninne Premistha (2001), Santosham (2002) and Lakshmi (2006). In Tamil, his song "Megamai Vandhu Pogiren" for the film Thullatha Manamum Thullum (1999) was received with wide appreciation.

Acting

Rajesh made his first onscreen appearance with a Telugu film, Ori Nee Prema Bangaram Kaanu in 2003. He played the lead character which was not well received by critics who criticized his acting skills.^[12]. This was followed by yet another failed appearance in the Kannada film, Santhosha in 2005.

Later in 2008, Rajesh was roped in to play one of the lead characters in Yogaraj Bhat's multi-starrer Kannada film, Gaalipata.^[13]. He played the role Kitty, an engineer and one of the three main friends alongside Ganesh and Diganth. The film met with positive reviews from critics and also appreciation for all the lead actors. Rajesh was nominated at the Filmfare Awards South under Best Supporting Actor category.^[14] After Gaalipata, Rajesh took a break from acting and focussed on his singing career. However, upon insistance of his friend and fellow singer, L. N. Shastri, he took up the lead role offer in the 2015 musical film, Melody. The film met with mixed reviews and underperformed at the box-office.

As actor

Dubbing artist

Kannada songs

Telugu songs

Tamil songs

Hindi songs