Kailas Menon is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an 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, ''Elippathayam' ...

and

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. After working as a composer for television commercials for more than a decade, he debuted as a composer in feature films with director Jayaraj's ''Pakarnnatam''. His first mainstream release happened much later with ''

Theevandi ''Theevandi'' () is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Fellini T. P. and written by Vini Vishwa Lal. The film stars Tovino Thomas, Samyuktha Menon, Sudheesh, Surabhi Lakshmi, Rajesh Sharma, Suraj Venjaram ...

'', for which he earned his first

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

Early life

Kailas was born in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

on 30 May 1986. He learned

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 ...

for eight years and was a self-trained

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 ...

player. He completed his schooling from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thrissur. He graduated in Visual Communications from

SRM Institute of Science and Technology SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), formerly SRM University, is a private higher education institute deemed to be university, located in Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu (near Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1985 as SRM Engin ...

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 ...

, and pursued a course in sound engineering from

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including license ...

, Chennai.

Career

Menon had his first release, the music album ''Snehathode'', at the age of 16. His professional career began much later, when he joined as an assistant to Malayalam film composer

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 ...

and subsequently became a sound engineer for Gopi Sunder. This was followed by a decade-long stint as a composer of

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

, having scored for over 1000 commercials for brands like

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

, and

Bhima Jewellers Bhima Jewellers is a jewellery retail company based in India. It was established by Bhima Bhattar in the year 1925. Currently the group has 116 jewellery shops across South India and with a work-force greater than 2000 people. Bhima Jewellers we ...

. He debuted as a film composer with Jayaraj's off-beat film ''Pakarnnattam''. This was followed by ''

Starring Pournami ''Starring Pournami'' is an unreleased Malayalam road movie directed by Albey, starring Sunny Wayne Tovino Thomas and Aju Varghese in the lead roles. The film was shot in seven states of India. The first schedule started in New Delhi ...

'' , which was shelved midway. His first mainstream release happened much later, with ''

''. The song "Jeevamshamayi", rendered by

Shreya Goshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

and K. S. Harisankar, earned him a

. In 2019, he launched his own music label, Kailas Menon Productions, and the first film album released from the label was ''

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

''.

Personal life

Menon married Annapoorna Lekha Pillai, a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

at the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

, on 8 December 2014. Their son, Samanyu Rudra, was born on 17 August 2020.

Film discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Kailas Menon at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Kailas Indian film score composers Living people Film musicians from Kerala Musicians from Thrissur People from Thrissur district 1986 births