Shankar Mahadevan is perhaps the only musician to win a National Award both as singer and composer. Apart from his notable work in the film industry, Mahadevan has also established himself as a Carnatic classical singer with memorable, sold-out, shows with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. He learned to play the veena from Lalitha Venkatraman, Carnatic vocals from his guru T.R.Balamani, and bhajans, abhangs and bhavgeet from Shrinivas Khale and Tara Devi. In 2011, he started the online music school, Shankar Mahadevan Academy, to offer tutorials and vocal courses in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music.