Chandrabose (lyricist)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Chandrabose

• Chandrabose is an Indian lyricist and playback singer who mainly works in the Telugu film industry. He gained immense popularity for writing the song “Naatu Naatu” from the Telugu period action film RRR (2022), which earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award in 2023.

• He inclined towards music at a very early age, listening to the devotional songs from a Shiva temple near his house in Challagariga. Every day, the temple used to play the songs on the speaker at 4 o’clock in the morning. He was also inspired by folk music and radio. A voracious reader, Chandrabose regularly visited the library near his house to browse different books after school, a habit which fueled his passion for literature. He started writing songs when was 11. In an interview, while talking about the factors that contributed to his songwriting in childhood, he said,
  

  I grew up in a village in Warangal district amid the folk music as well as Potana’s Bhgavatam and Annamayya kritis. I was a voracious reader of children’s magazines then which widened my imaginations. I derived my sense of music from oral traditions such as hari katha , burra katha , yakshaganas and Chindu Bhagavatam . I would write, sing and perfect it further.”

• After completing high school in Warangal, he moved to Hyderabad for further studies. There, he unsuccessfully attempted to work as a singer for the Doordarshan channel. It was his friend Srinathanna who suggested that he focus on writing rather than singing.

• He debuted in the Telugu film industry with director Muppalaneni Shiva’s film Taj Mahal (1995). It was Muppalaneni Shiva who suggested that Chandrabose only use his last name for the screen instead of his full name.

  

• Chandrabose and Suchitra made acquaintance on a flight while travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad in 1998. The two had a hard time convincing their parents for marriage as Suchitra is older than Chandrabose and they belong to different castes. Suchitra hails from a Brahmin family, and Chandrabose belongs to a backward-class family.

• In 2004, he worked with the music composer A. R. Rahman on the popular Telugu song Pedave Palikina from the science-fiction romantic comedy film Naani.

  

• Other prominent songs which he has penned include Mounamgane Edagamani from Autograph (2004), Namasthe Namasthe Neeku Namasthe from Samba (2004), Panchadhara Bomma Bomma from Magadheera (2009), Sai Ante Thalli from Shiridi Sai (2012), and Kani Penchina Ma Ammake from Manam (2014).

• He garnered massive popularity for the 2018 soundtrack Rangasthalam of the Telugu film of the same name, which included the hit songs Jigelu Rani, Entha Sakkagunnave, and Ee Sethithone.

• He is the lyricist of the popular Telugu songs Ooh antava and Srivalli from Pushpa – The rise (2021).
  

• The song Naatu Naatu from RRR (2022) earned him international recognition and numerous accolades, including the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. The song competed with the nominees Carolina by Taylor Swift, Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga, BloodPop and Benjamin Rice, and Lift Me Up by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson to bag the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 2023.
  

  

  On 12 March 2023, Naatu Naatu won an Oscar beating the nominees Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Applause from Tell It Like A Woman.

• In his career, which spans over 25 years, he has penned nearly 3600 songs for more than 850 films.

• While talking about his bad habits in an interview, he revealed that earlier he used to smoke and eat Pan Parag, but later, he stopped consuming both. ^[3]Sakshi