S. P. Charan

Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubrahmanyam Charan is an Indian film playback singer, actor, and producer known for his works primarily in Tamil and Telugu films.

He is the son of late Indian legendary singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. He first worked as a playback singer in Telugu cinema and Tamil. He ventured into acting with the 2003 Kannada film Hudugigagi and is probably best known for his performance in the 2008 film Saroja. He has established a film production company called Capital Film Works, and produced several Tamil films, including the cult hit Chennai 600028 in 2007 and the National Film Award-winning Aaranya Kaandam in 2012.

Early life
Charan was born into a Telugu family to singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and his wife, Savitri. He was born and raised in Chennai. Charan, has 1 elder sister : Pallavi. He Studied in Asan Memorial CBSE School, Chennai in which the popular Tamil actor Ajithkumar also studied with him and was a School friend of him. He received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Pace University in New York, USA in 1994 and completed a two-year course in Film and Television.

Actor
Charan first acted with his father in a film called Maha Yedabidangi, directed by K. S. L. Swamy, but the film was not released. Balachander's son Kailasam approached him to act in the television serial Oonjal, produced by K. Balachander and directed by Sundar K. Vijayan. It was followed by Radan's Annamalai. He also starred in a TV serial named Bommaigal in Tamil and Akka Chellulu in Telugu. His first release was the Kannada film Hudugigagi in 2003, directed by B. Manjunath. In 2008, he played one of the lead roles in Venkat Prabhu's Saroja. On his performance, Sify wrote: "S.P.B Charan as Jagapathy Babu suits the role and is fantastic". He acted in Va, in which he played Shiva's prospective brother-in-law. He acted in two Tamil films Vanavarayan Vallavarayan and Vizhithiru.

Producer
Charan established the film production company Capital Film Works, in 2002. Their first production was the film Unnai Charanadainthen, in which Charan played the lead role, alongside his friend Venkat Prabhu. The film, which notably featured musical score by Charan's father, Balasubrahmanyam, received four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Charan revealed that he decided to produce the film after hearing Samuthirakani's narration. He further produced the Jayam Ravi-starrer Mazhai (2005), a remake of the Telugu film Varsham, which was not well received. His next production was Venkat Prabhu's directorial debut Chennai 600028 (2007), considered a trend-setting film that featured 11 newcomers in the lead and became one of 2007's biggest commercial as well as critical successes. In 2011, his sixth production Aaranya Kaandam, was released to critical acclaim and became noted for getting 52 cuts by the regional Central Board of Film Certification. Although it did not achieve the expected box office success, Charan won a Swarna Kamal at the 59th National Film Awards as a producer of the film. His next production will be Thirudan Police, by another debutant, Caarthick Raju.

Playback singer
Charan began working as a playback singer in 1997 with "Deepangal pesum" from Devathai, under Ilaiyaraaja's direction. About being the son of an icon, he stated: "my voice sounds so much like appa, people might not want to use a similar voice. When SPB himself is rocking, why would composers need his clone?" He has sung for composers M. M. Keeravani, A. R. Rahman and Devi Sri Prasad. Charan's most popular songs include "Nagila Nagila" from Alaipayuthey, "Mellaga" from Varsham, "Nenu Nenuga Lene" from Manmadhudu, "I Love you Shailaja" from Mazhai, "Please Sir" from Boys, "Maaja Maaja" from Jillunu Oru Kadhal, "Oru Nanban Irundhal" from Enakku 20 Unakku 18, "O Shanti" from Vaaranam Aayiram, "Nee Naan" from Mankatha. In 2010, he recorded a song on the Kadhal 2 Kalyanam soundtrack for Yuvan Shankar Raja and recorded with his father for the first time in Tamil for the film Aadukalam, for which they both won the Vijay Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

He is also seen singing in many of the concerts and stage shows.

Personal life
In 1996, he and childhood friends Venkat Prabhu and Premgi Amaren set up a music band called Next Generation, which also had Yugendran and Thaman as members.

His first marriage was with Smitha in 1998 which have got ended divorce in 2002. Then he got married again to Aparna in 2012.

Charan underwent a notable weight loss in late 2010. In response to speculation, he stated it was in response to becoming health-conscious.

On 25 September 2020, his father S.P Balasubrahmanyam died of breathing difficulties due to COVID-19 in MGM hospital in Chennai.

Tamil discography
List of Tamil songs sung by S. P. B. Charan.