From daily pandemic grooves to hundreds of millions of views
In short: While the world slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian musician Sai Abhyankkar was building a musical empire. By composing daily grooves in isolation, he transformed simple melodies into viral sensations that have now amassed over 600 million views on YouTube.
Born into a musical family in Chennai, Sai Abhyankkar began composing original music at just 13 years old. The son of playback singers Tippu and Harini, he developed into a multi-instrumentalist capable of playing the piano, guitar, drums, tabla, and mridangam. His early musical style often incorporates jazz and blues sensibilities into his melodic arrangements. His vocal training was guided by several instructors, including Sriram Parthasarathy, A.T. Ramamoorthy, and Henry Kuruvilla. To prioritize his musical development, he transitioned to an online schooling model after finishing his 10th standard studies.
Abhyankkar's rise to prominence was fueled by the Think Indie Collective initiative. During the pandemic, he established a routine of composing musical grooves every day. This discipline led to the creation of 'Katchi Sera', which was released in January 2024. The track became a massive hit, surpassing 250 million YouTube views by early 2026. He followed this success with 'Aasa Kooda' in June 2024, a collaboration with his sister, singer Sai Smriti, which also reached over 350 million views. His independent discography also includes tracks like 'Sithira Puthiri', 'Vizhi Veekura', and 'Pavazha Malli'. The latter was released in early March 2026.
As his independent career flourished, Abhylar's transition into film scoring brought both opportunity and scrutiny. He was announced as the composer for several major projects, including the film 'Benz' and the Telugu film 'Raaka'. His appointment to replace A. R. Rahman for the film 'Karuppu' drew significant attention. While some social media critics questioned his rapid accumulation of film projects before his debut release, Abhyankkar attributed his momentum to effective networking within the industry. His film debut as a composer arrived with the bilingual production Balti. He also secured a role scoring the film Dude, slated for 2025.
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