In 2004, a 17-year-old Haricharan Seshadri found himself in front of his musical idol A.R. Rahman, who invited the teenager to sing for an upcoming film soundtrack. It was a dream come true, but the young singer turned down his big chance—he had a chemistry exam just hours later and his nerves got the better of him. While he aced the exam, the regret of walking away from that rare opportunity lingered. Luckily for the mononymous Haricharan, opportunity knocked twice: A few months later, the vocalist made his playback singing debut with three numbers on the soundtrack for 2004 Tamil film Kaadhal. One of the songs, “Unakkena Iruppen”, was nominated in the 2005 National Film Awards, largely on the back of the artist’s soulful, incandescent vocals. That opened the door for a highly successful career in South Indian film music, with Haricharan working for composers in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. His smooth, dulcet tones light up hits like 2010’s “Thuli Thuli” and the epic Rahman-composed, Rajinikanth-featuring anthem “Maattram Ondrudhaan Maaraadhadhu”, from 2014 film Kochadaiiyaan: The Legend. When he’s not lending his voice to some of the biggest stars in South Indian cinema, Haricharan continues to perform Carnatic music—which he has pursued since the age of seven—and has even made forays into the independent music space, such as on “Yarum Illai”, a 2020 collaboration with contemporary classical duo Shadow and Light.