Dhee (singer)

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Dhee
Birth nameDheekshitha Venkadeshan
Born (1998-06-26) 26 June 1998 (age 25)
Jaffna, Sri Lanka
OriginSydney, Australia
GenresPop
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2012–present
LabelsMaajja

Dheekshitha Venkadeshan (born 26 June 1998), known professionally as Dhee, is an Australian singer known for her work as a playback singer in Indian Tamil cinema.[1][2][3] Born to a Sri Lankan father and an Indian mother, she was raised in Sydney and has sung songs mostly in her stepfather Santhosh Narayanan's albums. She has once been nominated at the Filmfare Awards for Best Singer,[4][5] and is known for her distinctive alto voice.[6]

Early life and career[edit]

Dheekshitha was born on 26 June 1998 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka[citation needed] to a Sri Lankan Tamil father Venkadesan and an Indian Tamil mother Meenakshi Iyer who is a Carnatic musician.[7][8] She was raised and did her schooling in Sydney, Australia where her mother was based.[9][3][10][11] She has an elder brother Sudheekshanan. Dheekshitha is the stepdaughter of Indian music composer Santhosh Narayanan. She began her playback singing career by performing songs in two of his albums, Pizza II: Villa (2013) and Cuckoo (2014), during breaks from her education.

Since based in Chennai, Dhee made a breakthrough by singing "Naan Nee" from Pa. Ranjith's Madras (2014) alongside Shakthisree Gopalan. Her work on the song saw the pair garner nominations for Best Female Singer at the Filmfare Awards and Vijay Awards.[12]

She received critical acclaim for her work in Sudha Kongara Prasad's sports drama film, Irudhi Suttru (2016).[8] Being used as the lead singer for Ritika Singh's North Madras-based boxer character in the film, Dhee recorded two solo songs titled "Ey Sandakaara" and "Usuru Narumbuley".[13] Behindwoods.com stated that the first song was "another classic Santhosh number that gets your attention in no time", while noting the "pathos song by Dhee is a revelation sorts" about the latter.[14][15][16]

Dhee later worked with her stepfather in critically acclaimed albums including Kaala (2018) and Vada Chennai (2018), before collaborating with Yuvan Shankar Raja for the song "Rowdy Baby" in Maari 2 (2018). Singing alongside Dhanush, the film garnered popularity soon after its release. The song garnered more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube making it the highest viewed Tamil music videos and one of the most-viewed Indian videos of all time.[17]

Dhee made her debut as a pop singer, under the A.R. Rahman-helmed label, Maajja, with "Enjoy Enjaami" featuring Arivu (from The Casteless Collective) on 7 March 2021.[18] The song was produced by her stepfather. The lyrics were penned by Arivu.[19][20] The song was immediately popular, with the music video having gained over 398 million views and more than 4.6 million likes (as of March 2022) since it premiered on YouTube. "Enjoy Enjaami" is the first song to be released under maajja.[20] Dhee's first studio album which is also being produced by maajja.[21] The album is expected to be released by the end of 2021 and will be largely made up of contemporary jazz songs. It will also mark her first English-language release since debuting in the (Indian) music industry.[22] In March 2023 she debuted in Telugu cinema with the song "Chamkeela Angeelesi" from the movie Dasara. She gained popularity from that song among the Telugu audience.

Discography[edit]

Singles[edit]

As lead artist[edit]

Title Year Peak chart
positions 		Album
UK
Asian
[23]
"Enjoy Enjaami"
(feat. Arivu, produced by Santhosh Narayanan) 		2021 5 Non-album single

As playback singer[edit]

Year Song title Film Music Director Notes
2013 "Disco Woman" Pizza II: Villa Santhosh Narayanan
2014 "Enda Mapla" Cuckoo
"Naan Nee" Madras Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Female Playback Singer
Nominated—Vijay Award for Best Female Playback Singer
2016 "Ey Sandakaara" Irudhi Suttru Nominated—SIIMA Award for Best Female Playback Singer
"Usuru Narumbeley"
"Thoondil Meen" Kabali
"Dushta" Iraivi
2017 "Oo Sakkanoda" Guru Telugu
"Gundelothulalo"
"Rathina Katti" Meyaadha Maan
2018 "Kannamma Kannamma" Kaala
"Maadila Nikkura Maanutty" Vada Chennai
"Rowdy Baby" Maari 2 Yuvan Shankar Raja Won - SIIMA Award for Best Female Playback Singer
2019 "Vaanil Irul" Nerkonda Paarvai
"Idharkuthaan" Bigil A. R. Rahman
2020 "Yedho Maayam" Dagaalty Vijay Narain
"Manamengum Maaya Oonjal" Gypsy Santhosh Narayanan
"Kaattu Payale" Soorarai Pottru G. V. Prakash Kumar Won - SIIMA Award for Best Female Playback Singer
"Kaatuka Kanule" Aakasam Nee Haddu Raa Telugu
"Rakita Rakita Rakita" Jagame Thandhiram Santhosh Narayanan
2021 "Uttradheenga Yeppov" Karnan
2022 "Anbarey" Gulu Gulu
2023 "Chamkeela Angeelesi" Dasara Telugu
"Mainaru Vetti Katti" Tamil version
"Jujubee" Jailer Anirudh Ravichander
"Maamadura" Jigarthanda DoubleX Santhosh Narayanan
2024 "Kombari Vettapuli" Captain Miller G. V. Prakash Kumar
"Viduthal" Anweshippin Kandethum Santhosh Narayanan Malayalam

References[edit]

  1. ^ Laisram, Romal. "22-year-old singer Dhee's first single, Enjoy Enjaami, crosses a 100M views!". Indulge Express. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ Sarwal, Amit (18 March 2021). "Tamil-Australian singer's tribute to the dispossessed tea plantation labourers". The Australia Today.
  3. ^ a b Tagat, Anurag (21 August 2021). "COVER STORY: Back to the Roots". Rolling Stone.
  4. ^ "Singer Dhee, looked cool at the premiere of 'X Men: Apocaplypse' at Sathyam cinemas in Chennai - Times of India". The Times of India.
  5. ^ R, Balajee C. (14 March 2016). "'Dhee' one to watch out for!". Deccan Chronicle.
  6. ^ Laisram, Ronal (10 April 2021). "Cuckoo, cuckoo! A voice of her own". The New Indian Express.
  7. ^ "Meet Meenakshi Santhosh Narayanan". SBS (Australia). Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  8. ^ a b Balaji, CR (14 March 2016). "'Dhee' one to watch out for". Deccan Chronicle.
  9. ^ Lohani Mehtani, Hansika (7 February 2022). "Dhee". Platform.
  10. ^ Das, Ria (23 August 2021). "All You Should Know About Dhee". SheThePeople.
  11. ^ Gupta, Nidhi (26 March 2021). "Enjoyed "Enjoy Enjaami"? You'll love what the musicians of maajja are cooking up next". GQIndia.
  12. ^ "Nominations for the 62nd Britannia Filmfare Awards (South)". Filmfare.com. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Irudhi Suttru Songs Review". Only Kollywood. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Irudhi Suttru (aka) Iruthi Suttru songs review". Behindwoods.com. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Irudhi Suttru- A sparkling album!". Sify. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Irudhi Suttru Music Review". Top10 Cinema. 4 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "Rowdy Baby Becomes The First South Indian Song To Set This Record!". www.vcinema.com. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  18. ^ Kumar, Pradeep (15 March 2021). "Enjoy Enjaami's Dhee: The 'Goli Soda akka' who now dares to dream". The Hindu.
  19. ^ "Santhosh Narayanan, Arivu and Dhee release 'Enjoy Enjaami'". The News Minute. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  20. ^ a b Muralidharan, Kavitha (18 March 2021). "Listen between the lines". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  21. ^ "22-year-old singer Dhee's first single, Enjoy Enjaami, crosses a 100M views! Find out more..." www.indulgexpress.com. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  22. ^ Kumar, Pradeep (9 March 2021). "Enjoy Enjaami's Dhee: The 'Goli Soda akka' who now dares to dream". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  23. ^ Singles on UK Asian Music Chart:

External links[edit]

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