Thaman's father was his first teacher, who was also an accomplished drummer who worked with the likes of legendary percussionist Sivamani. Thaman entered Telugu cinema as a supporting drummer at the age of 11 when he accompanied his father for the background score for the film Bhairava Dweepam in 1994.[13] He performed in 7000 stage shows all over the world before becoming a music director. He worked for 64 Indian music directors as a rhythm box player, keyboard programmer and drummer for 900 films before he became a film music director. His debut releases as a music director were Kick in Telugu and Sindhanai Sei in Tamil, both of which released in 2009.[14][15] He made his acting debut with one of India's most celebrated directors Shankar's Boys (2003).
Thaman studied at Boston School in Chennai. He joined a music team consisting of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and G. Anand as a rhythm pads player when he was nine years old,[16] and discontinued studies at the age of 13 when his father died. He was compelled to make his hobby into a profession to overcome the crisis in his family.[17] He then joined Raj–Koti and worked for three years on 60 films under their tutelage. He also worked with M. M. Keeravani for three years on 30 films.[citation needed]
Thaman considers Mani Sharma to be his guru and spent eight years under his tutelage, while working on 94 films with him.[18] On the whole he put in fourteen years of rhythm and keyboard programming with the veterans before branching out on his own.[19]
Career
Thaman made his debut as a composer in through the Telugu feature film Malli Malli (2009), although the soundtrack album was released in 2008. Jeevi of Idlebrain credited Thaman's work in the film is credited as "good".[20] The same year his second soundtrack, of the film Sindhanai Sei, marked his debut in the Tamil cinema.[21] He has also made his playback singing debut by recording "Uchimeedhu" song from the soundtrack. Background score in the Tamil film Eeram (2009) received good reviews from the critics.[22][23] Although he started composing the music of the film in 2007, the soundtrack was released in 2008 and eventually the film was released in 2009. In May 2017, Thaman made his Hindi debut when he was one of the six composers who featured in the soundtrack album of Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again, a comedy franchise in Hindi cinema.[24] In 2018, he composed a theme song for Rohit Shetty's successful venture Simmba.
Personal life
Thaman owns music bands named Band Thamania and Gongura band.[25][26] He is also a Cricket player, part of CCL[27] and owns a team called Thaman Hitters.