Senthildass Velayutham

Senthildass Velayutham was the public face of a people's movement at Neduvasal, a village in the delta region with rich groundwater and fertile soil, against the proposed hydrocarbon extraction process in delta region in Tamil Nadu. In 2017, Neduvasal, located about 60 km from Thanjavur, became the centre of global attention, after farmers and residents of more than 60 villages staged widespread protests against a proposed multi-crore hydrocarbon extracting project citing environmental concerns, and the effects it could have on their agricultural lands. Conceived in 2009, this hydrocarbon project covers 667 square km area in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Pudukkottai, Thiruvarur, Tiruchirappalli, Ariyalur, Perambalur and Karaikal districts. Senthildass was one the committee members who made several representations to the state and central governments to withdraw the hydrocarbon extraction project. The protest was called off after three weeks, following an assurance from the governments to suspend the project.

With an ambition to become a playback singer, Senthildass Velayutham recorded his vocals and played to different music directors. It was music composer Srikanth Deva who gave him the first chance to sing the song “Usilampatti Sandhaiyila” in a 2008 Tamil movie Thenavattu, which was a popular folk song. Since then he has sung the songs composed by all leading music directors in the film industry including Ilaiyaraaja, Deva, Harris Jayaraj, D. Imman, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Sundar C Babu, Karthik Raja, Dhina, Mani Sharma, Santhosh Narayanan, Sam C. S., Vijay Antony, Isaac Thomas Kottukapally and Sabesh–Murali. His song “Andipatti Kanava Kathu” in the 2016 Tamil hit movie Dharmadurai, sung with Surmukhi Raman, made him a popular singer.