Shankar Mahadevan is an accomplished musician in Tamil cinema. He is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that provides music to Bollywood and other international films. Though having earlier worked with the Oracle Corporation, Shankar's interest in music made him venture into the field of music. He achieved his first award as a playback singer in a Tamil movie, collaborating with A. R. Rahman and winning a National Film Award for his song in Kandukondain Kandukondain.  A prominent star in the Kodambakkam film industry, he later gained more recognition by releasing his first music album called 'Breathless' in 1998, in which he Expectedly sings through the whole song in a single breath so as said but the song is sung with tricks in voice software application. He has provided vocals for numerous compositions of artists such as Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas and Selvaganesh Vinayakram. Shankar Mahadevan's award list is endless, however, some of them are: 2000 – Best Background Music nomination for Mission Kashmir 2000 – National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer: Yenna Solla Pogirai, Kandukondain Kandukondain 2001 – Best Music Direction win for Dil Chahta Hai 2004 – National Film Award for Best Music Direction: Kal Ho Naa Ho (as part of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) 2005 – Best Music Direction win for Bunty aur Babli 2007 – Yesudas Award for his outstanding contribution to Indian film music 2008 – National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer: song Maa, Taare Zameen Par 2009 – Best Music Direction win for Rock On 2009 – Best Male Playback-Puthiya Mukham 2009 – Annual Malayalam Movie Awards (Dubai) – Best Male Singer for Pichavecha Naal