The name Saravana Kumar Narayanan will probably draw blank stares from many but would you believe, if this relatively unknown person is currently setting the music industry ablaze and is looking to be a force to be reckoned with. Born on the 3rd December 1978 as Saravana Kumar, he is fondly and popularly known as Saran Narayanan in the music circuit and to the public alike. To many, he may simply look like the guy next door with his simple and charming ways but be warned that one cannot simply disregard this unassuming lad as Saran is the current flavor. His music speaks volume and he has one hit after another to his ever-growing credit. Presently, his songs, 'Ne Vendum', 'Paravasam feat. Gayathri Vadivel, ’Tidak Ku Sangka feat. MNMPF’ ‘Kollathey’ and ‘Paarvai’, ‘Unnaley’, ‘Sagiye’ & ‘Navarasa’ are garnering regular airplays in THR Raaga, with ‘Kollaathey’ hitting numero uno on two of its chart shows in 2008. Saran’s height of success was neither achieved overnight nor was it a breeze. It took him a couple of tumbles before he hit the right notes. Saran’s foray into music started in his twenties, when few of his friends cajoled him into joining ‘Bakat Raaga Taala 1999’, a talent show. The talent quest turned out to be a catastrophe, simple because he was too nervous to even hold the microphone properly, what more to sing. The show, although not one of his glorifying moments, was a blessing in disguise, because amongst the crowd, someone spotted the abundance of talent within the man. Before he knew what hit him, he was trying out for audition by rendering the song ‘Kannae Kalai Maanae’ from the movie ‘Mondram Pirai’. His voice mesmerized the talent scouts and it gave him his debut TV performance ‘Fiesta Deepavali’ 1999, which was the much-needed platform to get his music career soaring. He steadily moved on from one singing venture to another but never the one to be content with his disposition, he took a bold move by participating in ASTRO Vaanavil’s ‘Paadalthiran Potti 2003’. He advanced to the final stage and vowed the judges and audience by playing the tabla, keyboard and guitar while singing one of his very own composition ‘Kaathaliyae Saukiyama’, in the talent-time category, displaying a creativity never seen before. His inability to secure the top three placing only encouraged him to come back with a vengeance, and return he did. He released his singles ‘Kaathaliyae Saukiyama’ and ‘Alaipayuthey’, in which he collaborated with sultry vocalist Elvira. Both his singles were well received by the masses and slowly a fan base for his music took shape, there was no stopping him and he was spurred to come with more upbeat tracks. Since then he has gone on to work with many local artistes and his Midas touch, till today leaves many in awe. The self-taught musician considers himself lucky because music flowed in his blood although he considers himself a late bloomer as far as singing is concerned. In his family everyone started singing much earlier. His entire family is musically inclined as they sing the Bhajan, a religious song of praise, while he was the percussionist in the family. This Seremban-born bloke recognized the love for music in his early years, at a tender age of three. Saran played the bongo and was surprisingly good at it, thus he used to accompany his dad’s bhajan and as age caught on, he began varying his musical instruments. From the recorder in his school days to the tabla, a keyboard and the guitar. He learnt playing these instruments simply by observing others and perfected his skills in it through years of practice. The former banker’s flair for music is obvious as he is the epitome of music- he breathes, lives and works on music and his profession as a jingles producer provides him with the perfect cover to be close to his passion. Started working on his first commercial composition under Late Yasmin Ahmad, his many creative ideas are the backbone of numerous multinational advertising giants like Leo Burnett, DraftFCB and brands like ASTRO, Celcom, Telekom Malaysia, Maxis, DIGI Baba’s among others and has won him multiple awards. Being good in his written Tamil, he was offered to write the scripts for Petronas Deepavali advertisement for 2010 & 2011 by Leo Burnett’s renowned commercial director Tan Yew Leong. He has, to his name 5 Kancil Awards, the highest award accorded for local advertisement, which is akin to the Oscars. In 2006 he received a bronze award, also one apiece for best language and merit while 2007 proved to be fruitful for him as he bettered his records and received two awards, a gold and silver respectively. Saran’s recipe for making good music therein lies in his simplicity. He lives his life by this mantra and believes anything done in moderation will be a success and that is what has molded him into the musician he is. And like any other musician he also believes music can touch humans in a way nothing else can. Music to Saran, is a universal language that transcends boundaries, people need not understand the language but to be soothed and calmed by tunes they hear is what makes Saran come back time and again to his passion. An avid traveler and health conscious by nature, Saran feels his innate gift for music is to be shared with people. Although he has the ability to write lyrics, compose and arrange music in addition to singing, he feels that having his own cake and eating it, is not the way it’s meant to be. He prefers engaging talented and aspiring singers to collaborate in producing quality music people are looking for. Unknowing to this Sagittarian, whose preferred genres are R&B and Jazz, his music has gone places and has been heard abroad, in countries like Romania, U.S.A & United Kingdom as such. His famous hit 'Paarvai feat. Balan Kashmir' was featured on BBC Asian Network by London based Asian media persona, Ashanti Omkar. And he is constantly on the look out to better his works and to have his music supersede his previous marks. He believes his working relationship with Kelvin Choy a.k.a Illegal of Platinum Studios, D’Navigator of Starrsound Studio, Dennis See of Real Time Studios will help him boost his ever-expanding talents and musical aspiration. His aims are to enhance every aspect of his lyrical journey and to become a household name to be recognized with. Apart from his music, Saran also dedicates time to encourage youngsters to be actively involved in music, this resulted in him being one of the judges for THR Raaga’s ‘BOH Raaga Swarangal 2008’. His feedback and comments were communed in an encouraging manner. Saran’s active involvement in the national arena also makes him a universal musician, as he is never to be associated in one genre or musical community. He has contributed to the growth of the national music scene by singing the chorus and appearing for the theme song of Malaysia Truly Asia 2007 sung by Juwita Suwito and was called again to render his tabla skills for Yuna's version of Malaysia Truly Asia 2014. He is also well proficient in the Tamil language and as such was given the responsibility of writing the lyrics and performing the Tamil version of the Rakan Muda theme song 2008 & Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015 theme song. Currently he has written, composed & produced a 5 track sophomore album ‘Va’ for Shruthi J. He has also produced a Punjabi English hip hop duo album ‘MeAndMyPunjabiFriend a.k.a MNMPF’, Malaysia's First Tamil Anthem for Autism 'Jananam' and a singles for one of A.R.Rahman’s prominent album singer ‘Sunitha Sarathy’. His current project sees Saran crossing the international mark by doing the bhangra music arrangement of the channel ID for India’s Star World Channel. Kudos to him for bringing fame and putting national musicians like him on the world map of music.