Indian playback singer Sanjith Hegde was born in Bangalore, Karnataka on October 3, 1997 and rose to prominence after appearing in Season 13 of the Kannada singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, judged by Rajesh Krishnan, Vijay Prakash and Arjun Janya and broadcast on Zee Kannada. Recording and releasing music in multiple Indian languages, including Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, Sanjith Hegde stepped out with his debut recording for the Kannada film industry – the song "Gunu Gunuguva" from the film Dalapathi and composed by Charan Raj Sanjith – in 2017 and achieved chart success. The following year he was nominated for the SIIMA Award for Best Playback Singer (Male) for his song "Kush Kush" from the 2017 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film Chamak, while also winning the Gaana Mirchi Music Award for Best Upcoming Male Vocalist. Sanjith Hedge's musical offerings span a variety of genres and styles, including high-octane Tamil dance-pop like 2018's "Thaarumaaru" (from Kalakalappu 2), softer acoustic balladry like "Aleyu Maathaadidhe" from the soundtrack to 19 – also released in 2018 – and 2019's razor-sharp bhangra-tipped "Ondu Maathali" from Indian Kannada language action-drama Padde Huli. In 2019, Sanjith Hegde won the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer (Male) - Kannada - for the song "Shaakuntle Sikkalu" from Kannada romantic drama film Naduve Antaravirali.