Suthasini, who first gained national recognition by winning Vasantham Star — a singing competition hosted by Mediacorp — in 2011, teamed up with her husband Vishnu Balaji and budding artistes Darshna Mahadevan, Pallavi Jyothish and Soorya Anand for the peppy track.

Already a reputed name in the Singapore music circuit, Suthasini Rajenderan added another feather to her cap by becoming the first female artist to compose Medicacorp’s official Deepavali song: Vanthuruchu Deepavali, which premiered at Amarkala Deepavali 2024 event, the Singapore-based company’s Diwali countdown show.

For 13 years, the official Deepavali soundtrack for Mediacorp was composed by some of Singapore’s finest male composers. On the 14th year, it broke the trend and created a milestone, paving way for a female to lead the way!

Suthasini, who first gained national recognition by winning Vasantham Star — a singing competition hosted by Mediacorp — in 2011, teamed up with her husband Vishnu Balaji and budding artistes Darshna Mahadevan, Pallavi Jyothish and Soorya Anand for the peppy track.

The multi-talented artist spoke exclusively to Connected to India ahead of Diwali, which is celebrated widely in Singapore, with several areas in the city-state undergoing a transformation to suit the festive mood.

Asked why it took so long for a gender-equal country like Singapore to have a woman compose the Diwali track, Suthasini says, “I would say we are almost gender equal because we are getting there. (It is) definitely way better than (it was) 10 years or 15 years ago… but it takes a lot of time for a woman to gain the trust, because it’s like many years, decades of male dominated industry.”

“Females are slowly catching up,” she adds.

“It takes a while for them to gain the trust… or rather give them the assurance, that I’m able to pull it off, because I have been doing our singles for many years, actually. So yeah, I think it took time,” she adds.

Talking about the singers, Suthasini says she wanted a mix of mature and fresh voices and hence veteran Vishnu Balaji and the three newcomers were preferred.

Talking about his journey, Soorya Anand, who was the runners up at Yaar Antha Star 2024, says he wasn’t expecting to be a part of the lineup, but grabbed the chance when the composer texted him.

Watch the Spotlight interview below.