Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He composes soundtracks predominantly for

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

films, while also having composed for a few films in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and two films in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

. He has been honoured with

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Life Time Achievement Award from

Konijeti Rosaiah Konijeti Rosaiah (4 July 1933 – 4 December 2021) was an Indian politician who served as the List of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 15th chief minister of United Andhra Pradesh from 2009 to 2010. He also served as the Governor of Karnataka ...

, the

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by t ...

. Since 2001, he has won 6

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

and has received 20

nominations. He has also won 6

Mirchi Music Awards ''Mirchi Music Awards'' are presented annually by ''Radio Mirchi'' to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film music industry of India. The awards, given in seventeen different categories, were in ...

, 5

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held in ...

, 4

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, 3

International Tamil Film Awards The International Tamil Film Awards (ITFA) is an awards ceremony that honours excellence in Tamil language films around the world since 2003. History The awards began in 2003 and the awards honour films from the previous calendar year. Award ...

and Big FM Awards. In 2019, he was bestowed with the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute Honorary Doctorate of Letters for his significant contributions to Tamil cinema music.

Early life

Harris Jayaraj was born and brought up in

in a pious

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

family. His father hails from a

Christian family and his mother from a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Naidu Naidu (Nayudu/Nayadu/Naidoo/Nayakudu) is a title used by some South Indian Telugu communities, Telugu people such as the Balija, Golla, Kamma, Kapu, Telaga, Turupu Kapu,Ekila Kapu(Pala Ekari), Velama, Boyaand Yadava Naidu. Notable people Peopl ...

family. He studied at Krishnaswamy Matric School. At age six, Harris began his formal training in

carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

. His father, S. M. Jayakumar, was a noted film guitarist and have frequently colabrated with

T. M. Soundararajan Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1923 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 fi ...

A. L. Raghavan A. L. Raghavan (1933 – 19 June 2020) was an Indian playback singer, who sang many songs in Tamil-language films. Biography Raghavan was born to a Saurashtra Brahmin family in Ayyampettai near Thanjavur to Lakshmana Bhagavathar, Raghavan ...

M.S.Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

Soolamangalam Sisters Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters ( ta, � ...

, K. J. Yesudas,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

Shankar Ganesh Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer *L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar * Sankar ...

, S.P.Balasubramaniam, K. V. Mahadevan,

Malaysia Vasudevan Vasudevan (15 June 1944 – 20 February 2011), known as Malaysia Vasudevan, was a Malaysian-Indian playback singer and actor in Tamil cinema. Early life Malaysia Vasudevan's parents were from Palakkad. Chattu Nair of Ottappalam and Ammalu ...

L. R. Eswari Lourde-Mary Rajeswari, better known as L. R. Eswari, is an Indian playback singer who has sung several songs in Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi language, Hindi, Tulu language, Tulu, and English. She wa ...

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese languag ...

K. Jamuna Rani K. Jamuna Rani (born 17 May 1938 in Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam lnguages. Life and career Rani was born to K. Varadarajulu and violinist ...

, P.Susheela and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

music director

Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include: ;Shyam *Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor *Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala * Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...

. Following two distressing bomb blast incidents he became more religiously inclined and young Harris had to take over the family responsibility. His father wanted him to become a guitarist and made him learn

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

from Mr. A. Abdul Sattar. Harris scored the highest mark in Asia on his 4th grade exam of

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He started his music career as a guitarist in 1987 at age twelve under M. S. Viswanathan's assistant Joseph Krishna. Harris could pursue his academics only up to High School, by then he always had problem with his attendance due to his recording sessions. Having been trained in

, Harris completed Grade VIII exams conducted by the Trinity College, London. Later he started playing

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and developed interest over

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. For this there was no tutor. He then started programming with his Roland MC-500 and went on to work as a

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

under more than twenty five music directors in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi,

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, Punjabi and Oriya working in more than 600 projects till the year 2000. Between 1987 to 2000, he worked under noted composers including

Raj–Koti Thotakura Somaraju and Saluri Koteswara Rao, popularly known as Raj–Koti were Indian film music composers, singer-songwriters, record producers, musicians and multi-instrumentalists duo in Telugu cinema, In a notable career spanning a decade ...

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach (born 24 March 1966) known by his screen name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian musician, actor, comedian, film director and producer, and an occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his care ...

Mani Sharma Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

Karthik Raja Karthik Raja is an India composer based in Chennai, India. He made his debut as film composer in the Tamil film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films. Personal life Karthik ...

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

Sirpi Narayanan, known by his stage name Sirpy ( ta, சிற்பி; born 25 May 1962), is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films apart from working in Telugu and Malayalam films. He has als ...

, Suresh Peters, Chandrabose,

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film ...

Adithyan Aadithyan (birth name Titus; 9 April 1954 – 5 December 2017) was an Indian film score and soundtrack composer. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films apart from working in Telugu and Malayalam films. He sang several songs for his o ...

and Vidyasagar. In his early years as a musician, Harris have worked in movie

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s of various popular movies including

Mudhalvan ''Mudhalvan'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film produced by R. Madhesh and S. Shankar, written and directed by Shankar. The film stars Arjun, Manisha Koirala and Raghuvaran while Vadivelu and Manivannan appear in ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

Jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and paten ...

Kandukondain Kandukondain ''Kandukondain Kandukondain'' (also released internationally under the translated title ''I Have Found It'') is a 2000 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film directed and co-written by Rajiv Menon. Based on Jane Austen's 181 ...

, Ullasam, Poovellam Kettuppar, Muthu,

Padayappa ''Padayappa'' is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It stars Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya with Abbas, Lakshmi, Radha Ravi and Nassar playing supporting roles. The ...

Ratchagan ''Ratchagan'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced by K. T. Kunjumon, and directed by Praveen Gandhi. It stars Nagarjuna and Sushmita Sen, alongside Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vadivelu and Gir ...

Aravindhan ''Aravindhan'' is a 1997 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language film written and directed by newcomer T. Nagarajan, starring Sarath Kumar, R. Parthiban, Parthiban, Nagma, Urvashi (actress), Oorvasi, Prakash Raj and Visu in lead and pivotal roles. ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Seevalaperi Pandi ''Seevalaperi Pandi'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language biographical crime action film directed by Pratap Pothen and written by K. Rajeshwar. It is based on the life of the Indian criminal of the same name. The film was released on 24 June 1994, ...

and Asuran. While working as an additional programmer under A. R. Rahman, he composed music for various television commercials including a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

commercial featuring actor Vijay. In his early years, he admired music composers M. S. Viswanathan,

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

, A. R. Rahman,

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

, and

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

Film career

Harris debuted as a composer with

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...

's ''

Minnale ''Minnale'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen (in her Tamil debut), Vivek and Nagesh. The film tells the ...

''. The album was well received, particularly the song ''Vaseegara'' was exceptionally popular. He received the

Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given to film composers by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films. A. R. Rahman is the most frequent winner with sixteen wins, which al ...

for his work in ''Minnale'', breaking the 9 years continuous record of A. R. Rahman. The following soundtrack albums '' 12B'' and ''

Majunu ''Majunu'' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed by Ravichandran and produced by Sunanda Murali Manohar. The film stars Prashanth and Rinke Khanna with Sonu Sood, Raghuvaran, Rati Agnihotri and Vivek appearing in othe ...

'' met with high acclaim and praise. He also composed for the

remake of ''

'' titled '' Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein'', also directed by Gautham Menon. Most of the tunes from the Tamil version were retained in the Hindi version too, and only two fresh tunes were composed. He then worked in ''

Lesa Lesa ''Lesa Lesa...'' (), also referred to as ''Laysa Laysa'', is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Vikram Singh, who previously produced '' 12B''. The film stars Shaam and Trisha, while Vivek, Radharav ...

'' directed by

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

. The title track of ''

'' was the first song in India to be released as a single prior to a film soundtrack album release. Harris made his debut in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

with ''

Vasu The Vasus () refers to a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light. They are described to be the attendant deities of Indra, and later Vishnu. Generally numbering eight and classified as the Ashtavasu, they are described in the R ...

''. He received the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil,

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Tamil Movie Industry) feature films. Both Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman have won this award fo ...

and ITFA Best Music Director Award for ''

Kaakha Kaakha ''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured mus ...

'', starring

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known by his stage name Suriya, is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter and a philanthropist. He primarily works in Tamil cinema where he is one of the highest paid actors. He received numerou ...

and

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

. This film directed by

was a huge commercial success and the songs met with great critical acclaim. In its Telugu remake ''

Gharshana ''Gharshana'' () is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film produced by G. Sivaraju, C. Venkatraju, and Kalaipuli S. Thanu. It is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, in his Telugu debut. It is the remake of the 2003 Tamil blockbuste ...

'' two new songs apart from the Tamil version were added to suit the taste of Telugu audience. The song ''Uyirin Uyire'' reused as ''Cheliya Cheliya'' in Telugu and ''Khwabon Khwabon'' in Hindi had effective use of gibberish words which later became a signature element in Harris songs. Harris once again paired up with director Jeeva on ''

Ullam Ketkumae ''Ullam Ketkumae...'' () is a 2005 Tamil-language romantic drama film directed and co-written by Jeeva, with dialogues by Sujatha. The film stars Shaam, Arya, Laila, Asin and Pooja as five college students. The film's score and soundtrack a ...

'' after ''12B''. The music was appreciated for its excellency and synergy with the atmosphere in and out of the movie. Director

S. Shankar Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited as S. Shankar or his mononym Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the most prolific and highest paid film directors in India. His films typicall ...

, noted leading director of Tamil cinema, paired up with Harris in his magnum opus ''

Anniyan ''Anniyan'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The plot centres on a disillusioned everyman whose frustration at what he see ...

''. It was the first time Shankar did not team up with A. R. Rahman. Shankar later mentioned that working with Harris was an experience. The

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

received several awards including

and Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil. The next film he scored was '' Ghajini'' directed by AR Murugadoss, for which he received

. Critics noted that the album had "scintillating, party-hopping numbers", which resulted in a huge commercial success in audio sales; the track "Sutum Vizhi" crossed 20 million downloads and turned out to be phenomenally successful. Harris crafted a necessary classiness into Gautham Menon's blockbuster crime thriller ''

Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jyothika, and Kamalinee Mukherjee in prominent roles, while Prakash Raj, D ...

'' starring

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

. Gautham revealed that he shares the entire script with Harris and provides input's from his side.

"Harris and I, when we work together, we put in a lot of effort. I give him the entire script. I give him inputs. When we sat down for ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'', I told him to do away with the traditional
pallavi A pallavi has multiple connotations in carnatic music. It is the first part of any formal composition (Krithi) which has three segments - Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usually also an abbreviation of R ...
-
charanam Charanam (meaning ''foot'') in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music) is usually the end section of a composition which is sung after the anupallavi. There may be multiple ''charanams'' in a composition which make up different stanzas, bu ...
format in the ''Manjal veyyil'' song."

Harris once again ventured into Telugu films with a successful album ''

Sainikudu ''Sainikudu'' () is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language political action drama film written and directed by Gunasekhar, with music composed by Harris Jayaraj. It stars Mahesh Babu and Trisha. Irrfan Khan, in his only South Indian film, plays the ant ...

''. The music album of the film was released simultaneously in 10 chosen venues from five different countries. Gautham Menon who considers the music and background score of Harris as a major asset of his films, once again teamed up with Harris on a romantic-thriller ''

Pachaikili Muthucharam ''Pachaikili Muthucharam'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It is based on the 2005 British-American thriller film '' Derailed''. The film stars Sarathkumar and Jyothika, while Andrea J ...

''. The soundtracks of Pachaikili Muthucharam are appraised as melancholic, lilting, mysterious, and alternatively catchy. Harris' collaboration with Jeeva continued with ''

Unnale Unnale ''Unnale Unnale'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film.The movie is directed and co-written by Jeeva and produced by Oscar Ravichandran. It stars Vinay, Sadha and Tanisha Mukherjee in lead roles; Srinath, Raju Sundaram and S ...

''. The music album oozing with energy all through proved to be a cut above the rest. His next Telugu venture '' Munna'' had a good commercial reception, and the song ''Manasa'' fetched a Filmfare Best Singer Female award to

Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil language films. She is a recipient of the National Film Award and Filmfare Awa ...

. With the following album '' Bheema'', Harris continued his mettle with all the six songs. The track ''Siru Parvaiyalae'' used

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

words in interludes. The album was praised for bringing up visual recapitulation from audio. Harris used a live orchestra of 84 members for the action cop film '' Sathyam''. In 2009, Harris Jayaraj was signed in for

Vikram Kumar Vikram K. Kumar is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. In 1998, he directed his breakthrough non-feature film, ''Silent Scream'', for which he won the National Film Award For Best Instructional Film. ...

's ''24'', which was to star Vikram. He was also signed in for the

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...

''Yoddha 2'', starring

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

. But both films were subsequently shelved. In ''

Anegan ''Anegan'' (; ) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language period action romance thriller film directed by K. V. Anand, and produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram, S. Ganesh, S. Suresh under the banner AGS Entertainment. The film features an ensemble cast starr ...

'', Harris's "Danga Maari Oodhari", featuring lyrics in

North Madras North Chennai is a geographic term used to refer to the northern part of Chennai city. Though its definition has varied with time and context, it is generally accepted among historians that North Chennai is used for the part of Chennai city sit ...

slang become an instant chart-buster. After a hiatus of 6 years, Harris collaborated with

for the action cop film ''

Yennai Arindhaal ''Yennai Arindhaal'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film co-written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, and produced by A. M. Rathnam. The film stars Ajith Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Anushka Shetty and Arun Vijay and re ...

''. The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics and according to Behindwoods, it was the most played album of 2015 in Chennai radio stations.

Live in concert

In 2011, Harris announced his first musical world tour titled "Harris on the Edge". The tour featured live performance of Harris all over the world accompanied by a troupe of Tamil playback singers, including Karthik,

Haricharan Haricharan Seshadri, known mononymously as Haricharan (born 20 March 1987), is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, playback singer, and musician who predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu music and cinema. He sung 2000 songs in films, albu ...

, Chinmayi, Tippu,

Harini Harini may refer to: * Harini (singer), South Indian film playback singer * Harini (Kannada actress) Harini is a former actress in the Kannada cinema. She was active during the 1950s and 1960s, retiring at the peak of her career. As of 2006 sh ...

, Naresh Iyer,

Harish Raghavendra Harish Raghavendra (born 7 December 1976) is an Indian Tamil vocalist and actor from Chennai, India. He is the son of photographer P.V Raghavendran. Harish is best known for his songs like ''Hey Azhagiya Theeyee'' from Minnale, ''Nirpadhuve N ...

, Krish,

Aalap Raju Aalaap Raju (born 6 June 1979) is a playback singer and a bass player from Chennai, India. His rendition of Enamo Aedho from the movie '' Ko'' composed by Harris Jayaraj topped the music charts for several months in 2011 and won him the Filmfar ...

, KK,

Benny Dayal Benny Dayal (born 13 May 1984) is an Indian playback singer. He is a prominent singer in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi and more languages films. He has sung more than 3500 songs in 19+ Indian languages. ...

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

, Suvi Suresh,

Sunitha Sarathy Sunitha Sarathy is an Indian vocalist and performer in both Indian contemporary and Western classical music genres. She is also a gospel singer who performs in various church choirs. After having won the "Virgin Voice Choice" contest – a joi ...

Srilekha Parthasarathy Srilekha Parthasarathy ( ta, ஸ்ரீலேகா பார்த்தசாரதிis a Tamil singer. She is commonly referred to by her first name Srilekha. She began her professional career in 2000, when she recorded the jingle for th ...

and

Shweta Mohan Shweta Mohan (born 19 November 1985) is an Indian playback singer. She has received four Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer, one Kerala State Film Award and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. She has recorded more than 700 so ...

and international musicians and dancers. The event was coordinated by ''Techfront'' and was directed by

A. L. Vijay A. L. Vijay, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. An assistant director with Priyadarshan, he debuted as director with films such as '' Kireedam'' and the critically acclaimed ''Madr ...

. The tour kick started in Chennai on 8 October 2011, and later continued in Coimbatore on 23 December 2011 and in Dubai on 4 February 2012. The whole tour was covered by Jaya TV.

Studio H

Harris opened a new studio on 8 January 2017, called "Studio H". The studio consists of the latest audio recording systems and technology. The first song to be composed in the studio was Halena from

Iru Mugan ''Iru Mugan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language science-fiction spy action thriller written and directed by Anand Shankar. Produced by Thameens Films, the film stars Vikram in double role alongside Nayanthara, Nithya Menen, Nassar, Thambi Ram ...

. The S3 soundtrack was the first project entirely composed here.

Guest appearances

* 2011 '' Ko'' - in song 'Aga Naga Naga'

Discography

Notes: * • Indicates languages of original release. * ♦ Indicates a film remade in another language with a different cast, retaining Harris as the composer. * # indicates the soundtrack album has one or more bonus songs composed by a different composer. * The movie ''Force'' has four songs composed by Harris. Film scoring is done by ''Sameer Phatarpekar'' with some themes having some of their melodies borrowed from the songs.

Lyricist

* 2011 - ''

Engeyum Kadhal ''Engeyum Kadhal'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language romance comedy film written and directed by Prabhu Deva that stars Jayam Ravi and Hansika Motwani. Featuring music by Harris Jayaraj, it was produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram and released on 6 ...

'' - Kulu Kulu Venpani * 2017 - '' Singam 3 '' - Hey Wi Wi Wifi

Ad jingles

He composed music for various television commercials including a

commercial featuring Vijay. In 2008, he composed for '' Herova? Zerova?'' ad campaign which Suriya initiated under the Agaram Foundation, working to help children who drop out of school early in

. With the Ministry of Education in Tamil Nadu, he created a short commercial video outlining child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled Herova? Zerova?. The film was written and produced by

Sivakumar Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar (born 27 October 1941), is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles onscreen in Tamil cinema and television. He made his actin ...

and also starred

, Vijay,

R. Madhavan Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Madhavan has won four Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Madhava ...

and

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

Personal life

Harris is married to Suma Jayaraj, the couple have a son named Samuel Nicholas Harris and a daughter named Karen Nikitha Harris, born in 2006. Nikitha is a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

who made her debut through the song ''Vinnil Vinmeen'' for the movie ''

Kaappaan ''Kaappaan'' () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by K. V. Anand and written by Pattukkottai Prabakar. It was produced by Lyca Productions and stars Suriya, Mohanlal and Arya with Sayyeshaa, Samuthirakani, Poorn ...

'', and won a V4U Media award in 2020."MGR - SIVAJI Cinema Awards 2020 , Best Debut Singer"

Vasanth TV Vasanth TV is a Tamil entertainment satellite channel which is owned by MP Vijay Vasanth of Vasanth & Co Group. The company has tied up with Tata Communications for providing the uplinking facilities. List of shows *''Aalaya Darisanam'' *'' ...

. 22 Feb 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

Awards and nominations

;Special Honours *2009:

Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu *2015: Life Time Achievement Award from

, the

*2015: Maestro Award from the Ritz Style Awards 2015 *2019: Behindwoods Gold MIC Award for Icon of Inspiration - Setting New Precedents in Film Music *2019: Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute Honorary Doctorate of Letters ;

*2001: Won – Best Music Director - ''Minnale'' *2003: Won – Best Music Director - ''Kaakha Kaakha'' *2005: Won – Best Music Director - ''Anniyan'' *2005: Won –

Filmfare Special Award – South The Filmfare Special Jury Award is given by the ''Filmfare Magazine'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for South Indian films. It was decided on 17th Annual Filmfare Awards and started from 20th Annual Filmfare Awards held in 1973. It ...

- ''Ghajini'' *2008: Won – Best Music Director - ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2009: Won – Best Music Director - ''Ayan'' *2002: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Vasu'' *2003: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Saamy'' *2004: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Gharshana'' *2005: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Ghajini'' *2006: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' *2007: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Munna'' *2007: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Unnale Unnale'' *2009: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Aadhavan'' *2010: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Orange'' *2011: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Ko'' *2011: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''7aum Arivu'' *2012: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Thuppakki'' *2015: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Yennai Arindhaal'' *2016: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Iru Mugan'' ;

*2003: Won – Best Music Director – ''Kaakha Kaakha'' *2005: Won – Best Music Director – ''Anniyan'' & ''Ghajini'' *2009: Won – Best Music Director –

Kalaimamani Award The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

*2011: Won – Best Music Director – ''Ko'' ;

*2008: Won - Best Music Director - ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2009: Won - Best Music Director - ''Aadhavan'' *2008: Won - Favorite Song of the Year - "Ava Enna" from ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2011: Won - Favorite Song of the Year - "

Enamo Aedho Enamo Aedho () is a song from the 2011 Tamil film '' Ko'', composed by Harris Jayaraj. The song was performed by Aalap Raju, Prashanthini, Sricharan, Emcee Jesz, with lyrics written by Madhan Karky, Sricharan, Emcee Jesz. The song was released ...

" from ''Ko'' *2012: Won - Favorite Song of the Year - "Google Google" from ''Thuppakki'' *2007: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Unnale Unnale'' *2011: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Engeyum Kaadhal'' *2012: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Nanban'' *2011: Nominated - Best Background Score - ''Ko'' *2008: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Mundhinam" from ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2008: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Nenjukkul" from ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2009: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Hasili Fisili" from ''Aadhavan'' *2009: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Vizhi Moodi" from ''Ayan'' *2012: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Venaam Machan" from ''Oru Kal Oru Kannadi'' *2014: Nominated - Favourite Song of the Year - "Aathangara Orathil" from ''Yaan'' ;

Vijay Music Awards A Vijay Music Award is an accolade given by Vijay TV to recognize outstanding achievement in the Tamil music industry. The annual awards ceremony made its debut in 2011 for the previous calendar year. It launched its official website in partnershi ...

*2011: Won - Best Music Director - ''Engeyum Kaadhal'' *2011: Won - Popular Song of the Year - "

" from ''Ko'' *2011: Won - Best Western Song - "Nangaai" from ''Engeyum Kaadhal'' ;

(ITFA) *2003: Won - Best Music Director – ''Kaakha Kaakha'' *2005: Won - Best Music Director – ''Ghajini'' *2008: Won - Best Music Director – ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' ;

Mirchi Music Awards South Mirchi Music Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Mirchi Music Awards, presented by Radio Mirchi to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the South Indian music industry. The awards are separately giv ...

*2009: Won – Best Album of the Year – ''Ayan'' *2009: Won – Mirchi Listeners' Choice for Best Album – ''Ayan'' *2010: Won – Best Album of the Year – ''Orange'' *2010: Won – Mirchi Listeners' Choice for Best Album – ''Orange'' *2010: Won – Mirchi Listeners' Choice for Best Song – "Nenu Nuvvantu" from ''Orange'' Mirchi Music Awards South#Jury awards *2011: Won – Best Song of the Year – "Enamo Aedho" from ''Ko'' ;

Edison Awards Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an i ...

*2009: Won – Best Music Director – ''Ayan'' *2011: Won – Best Music Director – ''Ko'' *2015: Won - Favourite Song of the Year - "Danga Maari" from ''Anegan'' *2015: Nominated - Best Music Director - ''Anegan'' ;

South Indian International Movie Awards South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appreci ...

(SIIMA) *2012: Won - Best Music Director – ''

Thuppakki ''Thuppakki'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. Produced by Kalaippuli S. Thanu under his studio V Creations, and distributed by Gemini Film Circuit, the film stars Vijay and Kajal ...

'' *2015: Nominated - Best Music Director – ''

'' *2016: Nominated - Best Music Director – ''

'' ;MGR Sivaji Cinema Awards *2019 - Best Music Director - ''Kaappaan'' *2019 - Mellisai Mannar M.S.Viswanathan Award ;Isaiaruvi Tamil Music Awards *2007 - Best Youthful Album of the Year- ''Unnale Unnale'' *2007 - Most Listened Song of the Year- "June Ponal" from ''Unnale Unnale'' *2008 - Best Romantic Song of the Year- "Anbe En Anbe" from ''Dhaam Dhoom'' *2008 - Best Album of the Year - ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2008 - Best Music Director - ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' *2009 - Best Romantic Song of the Year - "Vizhi Moodi Yosithal" from ''Ayan'' *2009 - Best Album of the Year - ''Aadhavan'' *2009 - Best Music Director of the Year - ''Aadhavan'' ;Big FM Awards *2010 – Best Music Director – ''Orange'' ; Big Tamil Melody Awards *2011 - Best Music Director - ''Engeyum Kaadhal'' *2011 - Best Album of the Year - ''Engeyum Kaadhal'' *2012 - Best Music Director - ''Nanban'' ;Chennai Times Film Awards *2011 - Best Music Director – ''Ko'' ;South Scope Awards *2008 – Most Stylish Music Director – ''Dhaam Dhoom'' *2009 – Best Music Director – ''Ayan'' ;

Stardust Awards The Stardust Awards was an award ceremony for Hindi movies, which was sponsored by '' Stardust'' magazine. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. The first ceremony was held in 2004 for films released in 2003. The ...

*2011: Nominated - Standout Performance by a Music Director - ''Force''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jayaraj, Harris 1975 births Living people Tamil film score composers Alumni of Trinity College of Music Tamil musicians Telugu film score composers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award Musicians from Chennai Indian Tamil people Indian Christians People from Tamil Nadu Jingle composers Indian male film score composers 21st-century Indian composers