Yatharth Ratnum India’s Young Artist On The Rise!
In my search for some of the best talent in the world my search has carried me to Asia. I was especially delighted to find fifteen year old Yatharth Ratnum, who was born in Varanasi, India, and has been singing since the young age of five, where he appeared in his first singing competition.
Yatharth attended the Sunbeam Bhagwanpur School, which is a school that teaches both in English and Hindi, and specializes in Science, Math and English studies. With approximately 4,000 students, Sunbeam vigorously supports theater arts and music and was responsible for Yatharth’s early nurturing in music. A favorite teacher at the school was his English teacher, Moushmi Dhar. An avid learner, Yatharth speaks not only English, but five Hindi dialects.
As a very young child, Yatharth always loved to sing, make Karaoke music tracks, and surf the internet. At that time he was an avid fan of the Bee Gees and can still recite all the lyrics to most of the Bee Gee’s biggest hits. Because of this interest in music his parents sent Yatharth to be professionally trained in Indian Classical Music. His favorite singers are Shafqat Amanat, Ali Khan, Shreya Ghoshal, and Ms. Lata Mangeshkar. His biggest personal influence is Michael Jackson and he currently listens to Bruno Mars and is a fan of American Classic Rock like Santana.
One of Yatharth’s favorite things to do is cook and he is an expert on the use of Indian spices and flavorings. Just ask him and he will educate you on Indian cuisine and happily cook you up some dahi vada, chickpeas, rice and curry potatoes. Yes, Yatharth is a vegetarian. His favorite food to eat, when he is in America, is a bean burrito and Mexican rice.
Yatharth performs “Pehil Baar Mohabbat” on L’il Champs
An honor student, Yatharth has always been at the top of his class, his favorite subject is still English grammar, but currently he is home schooled due to his busy professional schedule. He spends most of his time in Mumbai with his two older sisters. Education is highly valued in his family. One of his sisters has a degree in Biology; the other is currently a student at the University studying Accounting. Yatharth expects to attend the University also after High School. Every year in April,
Yatharth must go through a week-and-a-half of exams to advance on to the next grade. Each day’s exam is focused on one subject.
Yatharth performs “Desi Girl” on L’il Champs
A few weeks ago he just completed all his exams and is now a High School Student. His toughest exam day was Math, and his recent Twitter post says it all,
“The judgment day … Math exam today …”
The biggest break of his life came in June, 2009, when he was a major part of India’s biggest musical television show: “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” (L’il Champs). For six months he competed with other kid singers in front of professional judges from the music industry and from Bollywood. The show became a huge hit in India, with a large following around the world on the internet. The kids from the show gathered large crowds on international tours that included not only his own country, but the Caribbean. Unfortunately the tour didn’t bring them to America, to Yatharth’s disappointment. But the show caught the eye of the Young Artist Awards in California and Yatharth was awarded “Outstanding International Vocalist” in 2010, and a chance to visit Hollywood. His contract with “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” didn’t allow him to sing at the award show, but Yatharth got to visit Disneyland and the Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard, where he spent hours testing guitars before buying one. It was also an opportunity for Yatharth to sign with the The Osbrink Agency in Los Angeles.
With his new guitar, Yatharth ventured into songwriting for his upcoming CD release in May, titled: “Yatharth”. He recorded his debut album at Thunder Underground Studios in Palm Springs, California – with record producer and mixing engineer, Harper Hug (The Indigo Girls, Brian Wilson).
Yatharth performs ““Soniya”” on L’il Champs
Yatharth has co-written with Matt Harris (The Posies) two songs for his album – “Tonight” and “Cosmic”. All other songs on the upcoming CD are originals written by Yatharth. Tracks were mastered by record producer, Eric Valentine at Barefoot Recording, Los Angeles. CD distributed by Sanya Entertainment. His Manager is Simon Barron, and his music will be available everywhere on May 22nd.
Yatharth is currently busy acting and singing in his first feature film (the title and his co-stars are currently under wraps), but we can reveal that it’s about a country boy who makes it big in Bollywood. On April 26th, just a few days after his exams, Yatharth was in the studio recording with India superstar Sadhna Sargam for the film. He sent his friends this message, “It’s gonna be a long night …
Shooting tonight 7pm to 7am next morning, in film city Mumbai.. ” It’s going to be so much fun, M so excited”.
Yatharth’s childhood dream is to become a playback singer (India’s biggest pop stars) and now his career can include in front of the camera and he is fast becoming a teen star with a large following.
I find Yatharth’s new music to be blockbusting! It’s catchy tunes makes you get up an want to dance! His vocals are outstanding and the arrangements of his songs are extraordinary! This is truly a young artist that is on the rise and one to get behind!
To learn more about Yatharth and to hear his latest music please visit:
- Yatharth on CD Baby
- Yatharth’s Domain site
- Yatharth on Twitter
- Yatharth on Facebook
- Yatharth on ReverbNation
