Premgi Amaren

Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 26 February 1979), better known as Premgi or Premji (/preɪmdʒi/) is an Indian singer, composer, songwriter, actor and comedian. The son of composer and director Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in his elder brother Venkat Prabhu's films.^[1]

Premgi Amaren
Background information
Birth name	Prem Kumar Gangai Amaren
Also known as	Premgi Amaren, Prem G
Born	(1979-02-26) 26 February 1979 (age 46)
Occupations	Actor, comedian, composer, singer, rapper
Years active	2006–present
Spouse	Indhu (m. 2024)
relative: Venkat Prabhu (brother)

He is also best known for his catchphrases "Enna koduma sir idhu?" (transl. What atrocity is this, sir?) and "Evvalavo pannitom, itha panna mattoma?" (transl. We've done so much, won't we do this also?), the former being a modified version of a famous dialogue used by Prabhu in Chandramukhi (2005).^[2]

Career

In 1997, Premgi planned to enter the film industry as a director with a project titled Wanted starring his elder brother and S. P. B. Charan. The film, which had his younger cousin brother as music composer and his father and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam as comedians, did not complete shoot.^[3]

In 2005, he became an independent music director with Gnabagam Varuthe, starring his brother.^[4]

Primarily interested in composing music, Premgi then started his career as an assistant to film music composer and his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja,^[5] turning a playback singer, singing mostly the rap portions in Yuvan Shankar Raja's compositions,^[4] before working with other music composers as well. Working with Yuvan Shankar Raja, he also remixed some of his compositions for the soundtrack albums, the first being "Loosu Penne" from the film Vallavan (2006).^[4]

In 2006, however, he made his acting debut in Silambarasan's Vallavan as the heroine's friend, following which he starred in his brother Venkat Prabhu's directorial debut Chennai 600028 (2007), in which he played Seenu. The movie went on to become the year's biggest summer blockbuster, establishing Premgi as a comedy actor.^[6]

After that, he composed for Agathiyan's Nenjathai Killathe (2008) and for Thozha (2008), in which he played one of the leading roles as well. Apart from film music, he composed music for an episode titled Planet Galatta II – Adra Sakkae on Singapore's satellite channel, "Mediacorp Vasantham".^[4] He joined with his brother for his next film Saroja (2008), which fetched him accolades for his performance as Ganesh Kumar.

He appeared as a lead character in his elder brother's Goa (2010), before going on to make further appearances in Mankatha (2011) and Settai (2013). He made his Malayalam debut in North 24 Kaatham (2013).^[1] In the upcoming Maanga, he plays the lead character and also works as the music composer.^[5] He has acted in Chennai 600028 II (2016) which is a sequel of the super-hit movie Chennai 600028.^[7]

Amaren composed a song with singer Suresh Peters called "The One Anthem", and it was made as a tribute to the legend Michael Jackson.^[8]

Personal life

Premgi is the son of musician Gangai Amaran, and the younger brother of film director and actor Venkat Prabhu. Film composer Ilaiyaraaja is his uncle, while Yuvan Shankar Raja, Karthik Raja and Bhavatharini are his cousins. He married Indu on 9 June 2024 at Thiruthani Murugan Temple.^[9]

His stage name, Premgi, is actually a spelling error, as it is meant to be "Prem G.", the G standing for his father.^[10]

Filmography

As actor

Films

List of Premgi Amaren film acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Payanangal Mudivathillai	Himself	Uncredited appearance in the song "Thogai Ilamayil"[11]
2003	Punnagai Poove	Himself	Special appearance
	Whistle	Uncredited
2005	Kanda Naal Mudhal	Himself	Special appearance
2006	Vallavan	Swapna's friend
2007	Chennai 600028	Seenu
	Satham Podathey	Ravichandran's friend
2008	Thozha	Arivazhagan
	Santosh Subramaniam	Sekhar
	Sathyam	Bora
	Saroja	Ganesh Kumar	Nominated—Vijay Award for Best Comedian
	Silambattam	Himself	Special appearance
2010	Goa	Saamikannu (Sam)
2011	Mankatha	Prem	Won—Edison Award for Best Comedian
			Won—ITFA Best Supporting Actor Award
2012	Podaa Podi	Himself	Special appearance
2013	Onbadhule Guru	Charles
	Settai	Cheenu
	North 24 Kaatham	Vyomkesh	Malayalam film
	Biriyani	Parasuram
2014	Vadacurry	Phone Seller	Special appearance
	Salim	Himself	Special appearance
	Theriyama Unna Kadhalichitten	Himself	Special appearance
2015	MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal	Premgi	Guest appearance
	Masss	Jetli
	Maanga	Shiva
	Yatchan	Himself	Guest appearance
2016	Narathan	Narathan
	Ennama Katha Vudranunga	Himself	Cameo
	Chennai 600028 II	Seenu
2017	Mupparimanam	Himself	Cameo
2018	Tamizh Padam 2	Himself	Special appearance
2019	Simba	Simba
	Zombie	Himself	Cameo
2020	RK Nagar	Himself	Guest appearance
2021	Kasada Thapara	Bala	Released on Sony Liv. Segment : Kavasam
	Maanaadu	Eeswara Moorthy
	Tamil Rockers	Jeeva
2022	Manmadha Leelai	Veer	Guest appearance also music composer
	Prince	Bhoopathy
2023	Custody	Prem
	Sathiya Sothanai	Pradeep
2024	The Greatest of All Time	Seenu	[12]
2025	Dinasari	Shakthivel's friend
	Vallamai	Saravanan

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Web series

List of Premgi Amaren web series acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	Live Telecast	Bigil Sathya
2023	Badep		Malaysia Tamil language TV series

As music director

Year	Tamil	Other languages	Notes
2005	Gnabagam Varuthe
2006	Thunichal
2008	Nenjathai Killadhe
	Thozha
		Nannusire (Kannada)
2009	Adhe Neram Adhe Idam
		Kasko (Telugu)
2010	Goa		Additional background score only
2014	Ennamo Nadakkudhu
2015	Maanga
2016	Achamindri
2018	Party		Unreleased
2019	Zombie
	RK Nagar[13]		released on Netflix
2021	Kasada Thapara		Composed one song "Vaa Un Neram"
	Tamil Rockers
2022	Manmadha Leelai

Discography

Year	Film	Song	Notes
1998	Velai	"Kaalathukku Etta Gana"
2001	12B	"Anandam"
2004	Arya (Telugu)	"You Rock My World"
2004	Gudumba Shankar	"Chitti Nadumune"
2004	Vidyardhi	"Andhra Khiladi Vidyardhi"	chorus/rap portions
2004	Thirupaachi	"Kannum Kannum"
2005	Raam	"Boom Boom"
2005	Arinthum Ariyamalum	"Thee Pidikka"
2005	Kanda Naal Mudhal	"Pushing It Hard"
2006	Manathodu Mazhaikalam	"Panivizhum Kaalam"
2006	Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu	"Orampo Naina"
2007	Chennai 600028	"Saroja Saman Nikkalo"
2008	Thozha	"Rendupakkam Singamda"
2008	Thozha	"Oru Nayagan"
2008	Nenjathai Killadhe	"Naanga Beeru Kudichaa"
2008	Sathyam	"Ada Gada Gada"
2008	Nenu Meeku Telusa? (Telugu)	"Yenno Yenno"
2011	Mankatha	"Machi Open The Bottle"
2012	Veyilodu Vilayadu	"Kattukadanga Puyalena"
2007	Chennai 600028	"Jalsa"
2013	Onbadhula Guru	"Theera Theera"
2006	Vallavan	"Loosu Penne" (Club Mix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2006	Pattiyal	"Kannai Vittu Kann Imaigal" (Remix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2007	Chennai 600028	"Jalsa" (Remix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2009	Kasko	"Whistle Kottu"
2010	Goa	"Goa" (Club Mix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2011	Mankatha	"Vilayadu Mankatha" (Extended Dance Mix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2013	Biriyani	"Nahnh Na Nah" (Extended Dance Mix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2015	Masss	"Therikidhu Masss" (Gasa Gasa Mix)	Remixed by Premgi Amaren
2013	Biriyani	"Mississippi
2017	—	"Friendship Anthem"	Independent song[14]
2021	Kodiyil Oruvan	"Slum Anthem"
2020	Plan Panni Pannanum	"Plan Panni"
2023	Badep	"But Andha Dealing Enakku Pudichirukku"	Malaysian Tamil Series
2023	Custody (Telugu)	"Ammo Nee Rukkumini"
2023	Custody	"Ammani Rukkumani"

Awards

International Tamil Film Awards

• Best Supporting Actor – Mankatha