Sai Abhyankkar

Biography

Sai Abhyankkar is an Indian musician, composer and singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He gained recognition with his single "Katchi Sera×Katchi Sera22 January 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Katchi Sera3:02". The song released as part of Think Music's independent music initiative, marked his debut as a solo artist. Abhyankkar's other singles include "Aasa Kooda×Aasa Kooda13 June 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Aasa Kooda3:36", "Sithira Puthiri×Sithira Puthiri31 January 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sithira Puthiri3:46", "Vizhi Veekura×Vizhi Veekura7 July 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Vizhi Veekura3:40", "Pavazha Malli×Pavazha Malli5 March 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Pavazha Malli4:13", "Radhimaa×Radhimaa24 August 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Radhimaa4:20", all composed for Think Indie Collective.
Abhyankkar made his film debut as an original music composer with the Malayalam-Tamil bilingual film Balti. He was first signed to compose music for the film Benz, which was intended to be his debut until production got delayed. He has since signed on many other projects including the Telugu film Raaka.

Early life

Sai Abhyankkar was born in a Tamil family in Virugambakkam, Chennai to playback singers Tippu and Harini. He was introduced to music at a young age. His sister, Sai Smriti, is also a singer. A multi-instrumentalist, Abhyankkar learned to play the tabla, mridangam, piano, drums and guitar, and began composing music during his early teens. He trained in vocals under singers Sriram Parthasarathy, A.T. Ramamoorthy, and Henry Kuruvilla. Though he described himself as not very academically inclined, unlike his sister, he shifted to online schooling after completing 10th standard, allowing him more time to focus on music. According to Smriti, he began composing original music at the age of 13, and he has described his melodic arrangements as often leaning toward jazz and blues sensibilities.

2022–2024: Debut and early success

Sai Abhyankkar made his playback singing debut in 2022 with the song "Valam Varavendum", which he wrote himself and was composed by Sriram Parthasarathy. During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, he developed a routine of composing musical grooves daily. One of these compositions stood out to both Abhyankkar and his friend Adesh Krishna, who later wrote the lyrics for it. In March 2023, Abhyankkar approached Think Indie with the track, which was immediately approved and later developed into "Katchi Sera×Katchi Sera22 January 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Katchi Sera3:02".
Released on 21 January 2024, the music video featured Abhyankkar alongside Samyuktha Viswanathan and gained widespread popularity. As of 31 January 2026, the video has garnered over 250 million views on YouTube.
Following the success of his debut, Abhyankkar released his second independent single, "Aasa Kooda×Aasa Kooda13 June 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Aasa Kooda3:36", on 12 June 2024. The track featured his sister, Sai Smriti, who sang alongside him. The music video included Preity Mukhundhan and received a highly positive response, significantly expanding his fanbase. As of 31 January 2026, the video had surpassed 350 million views on YouTube.
On the same day "Aasa Kooda" was released, Abhyankkar signed his first feature film, Benz, directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan and presented by Lokesh Kanagaraj, starring Raghava Lawrence. His involvement was officially announced on his birthday, 4 November 2024. Later, on 9 December, it was announced that Abhyankkar had replaced A. R. Rahman as the composer for RJ Balaji's directorial venture Karuppu (2026), starring Suriya.

2025–present

In February 2025, Abhyankkar entered discussions to compose for Atlee's Telugu debut, starring Allu Arjun and produced by Sun Pictures, titled Raaka. His involvement was confirmed in April.
On Puthandu (14 April 2025), Silambarasan confirmed that Abhyankkar would compose music for his 49th film, directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan. He was also confirmed to compose the score for Pradeep Ranganathan's Dude (2025).
In July, Abhyankkar confirmed his involvement in his first film, the Malayalam film Balti (2025), starring Shane Nigam, and was announced as the composer for Karthi's Marshal on 10 July.
He was also announced as the composer for Sivakarthikeyan’s 24th film. Abhyankkar faced trolling on social media for signing numerous projects before his first film's release, to which he responded by crediting his success to "genuine networking" with experienced filmmakers.
"Sithira Puthiri×Sithira Puthiri31 January 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sithira Puthiri3:46", his third single, was released on 31 January 2025 and featured Meenakshi Chaudhary. Despite crossing 800,000 views within hours, it received a mixed response. On 5 July, at an Amazon Music event in Chennai, Abhyankkar announced his fourth single, "Vizhi Veekura×Vizhi Veekura7 July 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Vizhi Veekura3:40", released on 7 July initially without a music video. He said the composition began with a simple piano motif, layering instruments such as the noori and mandolin. A music video was later released on 4 September 2025, featuring Saanve Megghana.
Abhyankkar's fifth single, "Pavazha Malli×Pavazha Malli5 March 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Pavazha Malli4:13", which released on 4 March 2026, marking his first release of the year. While the music video premiered on 5 March 2026, the track was released early a day prior.
On 17 Aug 2026, Abhyankkar released the first look at his sixth indie, "Radhimaa×Radhimaa24 August 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Radhimaa4:20", while his previous indie, "Pavazha Malli", was still charting #1 across various platforms. The song was released on 24 Aug 2026, with daily teasers and sneak peaks into the song and its making process.