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Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor,
orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in
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, nati ...
films. Reputed to be one of the most prolific
Indian composers 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 ...
, in a career spanning over forty-five years, he has composed over 7,000 songs and provided film scores for over 1,000 films, apart from performing in over 20,000 concerts. Ilaiyaraaja received several awards for his works throughout his career. In 2012, for his creative and experimental works in the field of music, he received the
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...
, the highest Indian recognition given to people in the field of
performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in India; and was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2018, the second-highest civilian award by the government of India. He is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Indian upper house, Rajya Sabha, since July 2022.


Early life

Ilaiyaraaja was born as Gnanathesigan in a Dalit family belonging to
Pannaipuram Pannaipuram is a panchayat town in Theni district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located hill foot of "Western Ghats" sharing its border with Kerala State and has very good literacy. Pannaipuram Town pa ...
, in present-day Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India, on 3 June 1943. In his later years, Ilaiyaraaja started to celebrate his birthday on 2 June instead, so that people of Tamil Nadu can celebrate only that of
Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...
on 3 June, as both their birthdays fall on the same date. It was done out of respect for the late politician who bestowed him the title "Isaignani". At the time of joining school, his father changed his name from Gnanathesigan to "Rajaiya", and the people in his village called him "Raasayya". When he joined Dhanraj Master as a student to learn musical instruments, the master changed his name to "Raaja". While working for his first film ''
Annakili ''Annakili'' is a 1976 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed by Devaraj–Mohan and written by Panchu Arunachalam from a story by R. Selvaraj (screenwriter), R. Selvaraj. The film stars Sivakumar and Sujatha (actre ...
'', Tamil film producer Panchu Arunachalam added the prefix "Ilaiya" (Ilaiya meaning younger in Tamil language) to the name Raaja, and renamed him as "Ilaiyaraaja", as in the 1970s there was another popular music director with the same suffix, namely A. M. Rajah.


Initial exposure to music

Ilaiyaraaja grew up in a rural area and was exposed to a range of Tamil folk music in his formative years.Mohan, A. 1994. Ilaiyaraja: composer as phenomenon in Tamil film culture. M.A. thesis, Wesleyan University (pp. 106–107). At the age of 14, he joined a travelling musical troupe named as "Pavalar Brothers", headed by his elder brother
Pavalar Varadharajan Pavalar Varadharajan was a singer, lyric writer, composer, musician, drama writer who mainly did music programs for the Communist Party of India during election campaigns. Early life Varadharajan was born in Pannaipuram village (now a town in T ...
, and spent the next decade performing throughout Southern India. While working with the troupe, he penned his first composition, a musical adaptation of an elegy written by the Tamil poet laureate, Kannadasan for India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.Rangarajan, M. ''The Hindu''. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2006. In 1968, Ilaiyaraaja began a music course with Professor
Dhanraj Dhanaraj may refer to: People *Dhanraj (actor), Telugu actor and comedian * Dhanraj Bhagat (1917–1988), Indian sculptor *Dhanraj Giri (1811–1901), Indian abbot of Kailash Ashram * Dhanraj Pillay (born 1968), Indian field hockey player * Dhan ...
in Madras (now Chennai), the course included an overview of Western classical music, compositional training in techniques such as
counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
, and study in instrumental performance. Ilaiyaraaja was a gold medalist in classical guitar after completing the course through distance learning channel from
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.Author unknown. ''The Hindu''. 19 June 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2007. He learnt carnatic music from
T.V.Gopalakrishnan Tripunithura Viswanathan Gopalakrishnan (born 11 June 1932 in Tripunithura, Kerala), known as TVG, is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Cochin, Kerala, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2014. Earl ...
.


Career


Session musician and orchestrator

During 1970s in Chennai, Ilaiyaraaja played guitar in a band-for-hire, and worked as a
session guitarist Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
, keyboardist, and organist for film music composers and directors such as Salil Chowdhury from West Bengal.Gautam, S. ''The Hindu''. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2006.Chennai, S
"Looking back: flawless harmony in his music".
''The Hindu''. 20 November 2005. Retrieved 15 November 2006.
Choudhury, R. 2005
The films of Salil Chowdhury: Introduction
. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
Chowdhury once said that Ilaiyaraaja is going to become the best composer in India. After being hired as the musical assistant to Kannada film composer G. K. Venkatesh, he worked on 200 film projects, mostly in Kannada cinema.Vijayakar, R
"The prince in Mumbai".
''Screen''. 21 July 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
As G. K. Venkatesh's assistant, Ilaiyaraaja would orchestrate the melodic outlines developed by Venkatesh. This is the time when Ilaiyaraaja learned the most about composing under the guidance of G. K. Venkatesh. During this period, Ilaiyaraaja also began writing his own scores. To listen to his compositions, he used to persuade Venkatesh's
session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s to play excerpts from his scores during their leisure times.


Film score composer

At the start of his career, the music sensibility of Ilaiyaraaja was very different to the film music being composed in those days, so he spent a lot of his time in learning, but "wasn’t able to grasp how music was being made for films." However in 1975, film producer Panchu Arunachalam, impressed by a song casually sung by Ilaiyaraaja, commissioned him to compose the songs and film score for a Tamil film titled
Annakili ''Annakili'' is a 1976 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed by Devaraj–Mohan and written by Panchu Arunachalam from a story by R. Selvaraj (screenwriter), R. Selvaraj. The film stars Sivakumar and Sujatha (actre ...
(The Parrot). For the soundtrack, Ilaiyaraaja applied the techniques of modern popular film music orchestration to Tamil folk poetry and folk song melodies, which resulted in creation of a fusion of Western and Tamil idioms. Initially he was little apprehensive about how his work would be received, and thought that musicians in the industry may write him off. Eventually, when Annakili released in 1976, the music became a huge hit. For his next following 12 films, Ilaiyaraaja based his compositions on the contemporary film music of the time, later when a new wave of films started to come, they opened the space for the kind of music he wanted to explore. Ilaiyaraaja's use of Tamil folk music in his film scores injected new life in the Indian film score milieu.Baskaran, S.T. ''The Hindu''. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2006. By the mid-1980s, Ilaiyaraaja started gaining increasing stature as a composer and music director in the South Indian film industries.Greene, P.D. 1997. Film music: Southern area. Pp. 542–546 in B. Nettl, R.M. Stone, J. Porter and T. Rice (eds.). ''The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Volume V: South Asia—The Indian Subcontinent''. New York: Garland Pub. (p. 544). He has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Kannadasan, Vaali, Vairamuthu,
O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...
, Sreekumaran Thampi, Veturi,
Aacharya Aatreya Acharya Aatreya (born Kilambi Venkata Narasimhacharyulu ) (7 May 1921 – 13 September 1989) was an Indian poet, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He received the state Nandi Award f ...
,
Sirivennela Sitaramasastri Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...
,
Chi. Udaya Shankar Chitnahalli Udayashankar (18 February 1934 – 2 July 1993; born in Gubbi, Chitnahalli) was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional son ...
and Gulzar, and became well known for his association with filmmakers such as Bharathiraja,
S. P. Muthuraman S. P. Muthuraman, also referred to as SPM, is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed 72 films in Tamil. He was one of the most successful commercial directors in Tamil cinema. Initially he worked mainly wi ...
, Mahendran, Balu Mahendra,
K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...
, Mani Ratnam, Sathyan Anthikkad, Priyadarshan, Fazil, Vamsy,
K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...
, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao,
Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...
, Shankar Nag, and
R. Balki R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki, (born 16 April 1964) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and former Group Chairman of the advertising agency Lowe Lintas (India). He is best known for directing ''Cheeni Kum'' (2007), '' Paa'' (200 ...
.


Non-cinematic output

Ilaiyaraaja's first two non-film albums were explorations in the fusion of Indian and Western classical music. The first, '' How to Name It?'' (1986), is dedicated to the Carnatic master
Tyāgarāja Thyagaraja (Telugu language, Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. T ...
and to J. S. Bach. It features a fusion of the Carnatic form and ''ragas'' with Bach partitas,
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
s and
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
musical textures. The second, ''Nothing But Wind'' (1988), was performed by flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia and a 50-piece orchestra and takes the conceptual approach suggested in the title—that music is a "natural phenomenon akin to various forms of air currents".Oriental Records. Undated
Nothing But Wind
. Retrieved 19 November 2006.
He has composed a set of Carnatic ''
kritis ''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...
'' which were recorded by electric mandolinist
U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. Because he was a child prodigy, he was sometimes called the Mozart of classical Indian music. He was awarded the ...
for the album ''Ilayaraaja's Classicals on the Mandolin'' (1994). Ilaiyaraaja has also composed albums of religious/ devotional songs. His ''Guru Ramana Geetam'' (2004) is a cycle of prayer songs inspired by the Hindu mystic
Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...
, and his '' Thiruvasakam: A crossover'' (2005) is an oratorio of ancient Tamil poems transcribed partially in English by American lyricist
Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...
and performed by the
Budapest Symphony Orchestra The Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known earlier as Budapest Symphony Orchestra) ( hu, Magyar Rádió Szimfonikus Zenekara; MRZE) is a Hungarian radio orchestra. It is part of the Hungarian Television and Broadcasting Organisation, Magya ...
.Viswanathan, S. 2005. . ''Frontline'' 22 (15), 16–29 July. Retrieved 13 October 2006.Parthasarathy, D. 2004. . The Hindu, Friday, 26 November. Retrieved 1 March 2007. Ilaiyaraaja's most recent release is a world music-oriented album called ''The Music Messiah'' (2006).Soman, S. 2006
'The Music Messiah'
. The Hindu, Saturday, 30 December. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
He has announced on his birthday that his ‘Isai OTT’ application will be launched soon and promised the app will contain much more than just his songs, like behind-the-scenes trivia about how each of his songs were conceived, produced, delivered and collaborations with other musicians.


Musical style and sensibility

Ilaiyaraaja, once reflecting over his works ahead of turning seventy-five, said his "life experiences and learning" have been the fount from which his musical output poured, but sometimes felt that some of his compositions transcended them as if they were, "the reflection of the efforts of past lives — mine, or those of other musical exponents." When enquired if it was anyway similar to the case of mathematical genius,
Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis ...
, who insisted he received math formula in dreams from a goddess, Ilaiyaraaja said that unlike Ramanujan who felt a supernatural being guiding him, he always felt a moment of clarity when a composition came to his mind, "It is as if I am the subject and the object of art at the same time when that happens," he said. Ilaiyaraaja's musical style is characterised by an orchestration which is a synthesis of Indian folk music and Western classical music, with traditional
Indian instruments Indian musical instruments can be broadly classified according to the Hornbostel–Sachs system into four categories: chordophones (string instruments), aerophones (wind instruments), membranophones (drums) and idiophones (non-drum percussion in ...
and modes. He uses electronic music technology that integrates synthesizers, electric guitars and
keyboards 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 ...
, drum machines, rhythm boxes and MIDI with large orchestras that feature traditional instruments such as the '' veena'', '' venu'', '' nadaswaram'', ''
dholak The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The instrument is about 45 cm in length and 27 cm in breadth and is widely used in ''qawwali'', '' kirtan'', '' lavani'' and '' bhangra''. The drum has two differ ...
'', ''
mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...
'' and '' tabla'' as well as Western lead instruments such as saxophones and flutes. The
bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
s in his songs tend to be melodically dynamic, rising and falling in a dramatic fashion. Polyrhythms are also apparent, particularly in songs with Indian folk or Carnatic influences. The melodic structure of his songs demand considerable vocal virtuosity, and have found expressive platform amongst some of India's respected vocalists and playback singers, such as
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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,
K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...
,
K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various In ...
, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam,
M. G. Sreekumar Malabar Gopalan Sreekumar (born 25 May 1957), better known as M.G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He has sung more than 2000 ...
, Rajkumar, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Jayachandran, Uma Ramanan,
S. P. Sailaja Sripathi Panditaradhyula Sailaja is an Indian singer and actress who has sung in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. Early life She was born in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Her father, S. P. Sambamurthy, was an exponent of Har ...
, Jency,
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,
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, Sujatha, Malaysia Vasudevan,
Kavita Krishnamurthy Sharada Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Kavita Krishnamurthy or Kavita Subramaniam, is an Indian playback and classical singer. She has recorded 50,000 songs in 45 various Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Rajasthani, Bhojp ...
, Hariharan,
Suresh Wadkar Suresh Ishwar Wadkar (born 7 August 1955) is an Indian playback singer. He performs in both Hindi and Marathi films. He has sung songs in some Bhojpuri films, Odia albums and bhajans and in Konkani films. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Aka ...
, Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam and Shreya Ghoshal. Ilaiyaraaja has sung more than 400 of his own compositions for films, and is recognisable by his stark, deep voice. He has penned the lyrics for some of his songs in Tamil.Rangarajan, M
"From Texas to tinsel town".
''The Hindu'', 15 October 2004. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
Ashok Kumar, S.R. ''The Hindu''. 9 January 2004. Retrieved 1 February 2007. It is widely believed that he is the only composer in the world to have composed a song only in the ascending notes. He considers
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 ...
as an overwhelming influence on his music. Ilaiyaraaja is nicknamed "Isaignani" (the musical genius), a title conferred by Kalaignar Karunanidhi. He is often referred to as "maestro", the title conferred by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
, London. He was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music. This allowed him to craft a rich tapestry of sounds for films, and his themes and background score gained notice and appreciation among Indian film audiences. The range of expressive possibilities in Indian film music was broadened by Ilaiyaraaja's methodical approach to arranging, recording technique, and his drawing of ideas from a diversity of musical styles. He is reputed to be the world's most prolific composer having composed more than 7,000 songs, provided film scores for more than 1,000 movies and performed in more than 20,000 concerts. In 1993, he became the first Indian to compose a full symphony, performed by the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
, London
and is also known to have written the entire symphony in less than a month. Composed by Ilaiyaraaja, the critically acclaimed ''Thiruvasakam in Symphony">Thiruvasagam in Symphony ''Thiruvasakam in Symphony'' (2005) is an oratorio composed and orchestrated by Ilaiyaraaja. Thiruvasagam is a collection of ancient Tamil poems written by Manikkavacakar. They wertranscribed partiallyin English by American lyricist Stephen Schwart ...
'' (2006) is the first Indian oratorio. According to musicologist P. Greene, Ilaiyaraaja's "deep understanding of so many different styles of music allowed him to create syncretic pieces of music combining very different musical idioms in unified, coherent musical statements". Ilaiyaraaja has composed Indian film songs that amalgamated elements of genres such as Afro-tribal, bossa nova, dance music (e.g., disco), doo-wop, flamenco, steel-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar-propelled Contemporary folk music, Western folk, funk, Indian classical music, Indian classical, Indian folk music, Indian folk/traditional, jazz, march,
pathos Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...
, pop, psychedelia and rock and roll. By virtue of this variety and his intermingling of Western, Indian folk and Carnatic elements, Ilaiyaraaja's compositions appeal to the Indian rural dweller for its rhythmic folk qualities, the Indian classical music enthusiast for the employment of Carnatic ''
Raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
s'', and the urbanite for its modern, Western-music sound. Ilaiyaraaja's sense of visualisation for composing music is always to match up with the story line of the running movie and possibly by doing so, he creates the best experience for the audience to feel the emotions flavoured through his musical score. He mastered this art of blending music to the narration, which very few others managed to adapt themselves over a longer time.S. Theodore Baskara
"Jnana To Gana: Consistent eclecticism has kept Tamil film music virile"
. Outlookindia.com, 26 June 2006.
Although Ilaiyaraaja uses a range of complex compositional techniques, he often sketches out the basic melodic ideas for films in a very spontaneous fashion.


Honours and legacy

Ilaiyaraaja has been awarded five
National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
—three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score.Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. 2006. . Archived fro
the original
on 18 April 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2006.
In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in India and the Padma Vibhushan in 2018, the second-highest civilian award by the government of India. In 2012, he received the
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...
, the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists, for his creative and experimental works in the music field. He is a gold medalist in classical guitar from
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, Distance Learning Channel. In 2003, according to an international poll conducted by BBC of more than half-a million people from 165 countries, his composition " Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from the 1991 film '' Thalapathi'' was voted fourth in the top 10 most popular songs of all time. In 2013, when the Indian news channel CNN-IBN conducted a poll commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema, Ilaiyaraaja, secured 49% of the people's vote and was adjudged as the country's greatest music composer,
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 ...
, stood second with 29% vote. In 1986, he became the first Indian composer to record a soundtrack with computer for the film '' Vikram''. He was also one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Tamil film music,Venkatraman, S. 1995. "Film music: the new intercultural idiom of 20th century Indian music". pp. 107–112 in A. Euba and C.T. Kimberlin (eds.). ''Intercultural Music Vol. I''. Bayreuth: Breitinger (p. 110). and the first South Asian to compose a full symphony. He also composed ''
Thiruvasagam in Symphony ''Thiruvasakam in Symphony'' (2005) is an oratorio composed and orchestrated by Ilaiyaraaja. Thiruvasagam is a collection of ancient Tamil poems written by Manikkavacakar. They wertranscribed partiallyin English by American lyricist Stephen Schwart ...
'' (2006), the first Indian oratorio. According to Achille Forler, board member of the Indian Performing Right Society, the kind of stellar body of work that Ilaiyaraaja has created in the last 40 years should have placed him among the world's top 10 richest composers, somewhere between
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
($1.2 billion) and Mick Jagger (over $300 million). On 6 July 2022, he has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha as Member of parliament by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.


Personal life

Ilaiyaraaja was married to Jeeva and the couple has three children—
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 and Bhavatharini—all film composers and singers.Staff reporter
"Ilaiyaraja's daughter gets engaged".
''The Hindu''. 5 August 2005. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
His wife Jeeva died on 31 October 2011. Ilaiyaraaja's brother,
Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...
, is also a music director and lyricist in the Tamil film industry, and both were not in talking terms for 13 years.


Snippets

*Ilaiyaraaja uses his same old harmonium, whether in a studio, or in a concert. He has scored with it throughout his career, curiously in his younger days, he was never allowed to touch it by his brother who thought he would spoil it. However Ilaiyaraaja would play with it whenever he wasn't there, "that’s how I learnt how to play," he says "the harmonium knows that it was made for me. It tells me that there is more music to be made." *One of the earliest admirers of Ilaiyaraaja, Bengali composer Salil Choudhury, under whose tutelage Ilaiyaraaja initially worked as a lead guitarist, once remarked, "Our main guitarist in Madras is the best composer in India". *British Musician
Andy Votel Andrew "Andy Votel" Shallcross (born 4 November 1975 in Marple Bridge, Stockport, England) is an English musician, DJ, record producer, graphic designer and co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissue label Finders Keepers Records. ...
, described Ilaiyaraaja in an essay thus, "Whatever "genre" of music you choose to like/ love/ promote/ protect/ politicise/ over-intellectualize/ despise/ defend or pretend to enjoy, Ilaiyaraaja has done it." *Director
R. K. Selvamani R.K. Selvamani (born 21 October 1965) is an Indian film director. He was known to make films in the police or whodunit genres. Career Born in Chengalpattu, R. K. Selvamani, an assistant of Manivannan, narrated a story line to Vijayakanth who t ...
claimed that for his film
Chembaruthi ''Chembaruthi'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by R. K. Selvamani and produced by Kovai Thambi. The film stars Prashanth and Roja (in her Tamil debut), while Mansoor Ali Khan, Nassar, Radha Ravi, ...
(1992), Ilaiyaraaja had composed nine songs in just 45 minutes, which is a record. *Cinematographer Santosh Sivan said that Ilaiyaraaja finished composing for the entire soundtrack of the movie Thalapathi in less than "half a day". *During the recording for the song "Sundari" from the movie ''Thalapathi'' in Mumbai with
R.D. Burman Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work ...
's orchestra, when Ilaiyaraaja gave them the notes, they were so moved and taken in by the composition that all the musicians put their hands together in awe and gave a standing ovation as a mark of respect for Ilaiyaraaja. *Actor Rajnikanth noted that Ilaiyaraaja used to complete the re-recording of three films in a single day, without any sleep; while present generation composers take 30 days for a single film. *Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna considers no other film composer has displayed the broad range of understanding music like Ilaiyaraaja, and the way he adapts and creates music is unfathomable making him the absolute master. *The score and soundtrack of the 1984 Malayalam-language film My Dear Kuttichathan, the first stereoscopic 3D film made in India, was composed by him. *He composed the soundtrack for the movie '' Nayakan'' (1987), an Indian film ranked by ''Time'' magazine as one of the all-time 100 best movies *The soundtrack of Thalapathi was included in '' The Guardian''s ''100 Albums to Hear Before You Die''. *In 2003, according to an international poll conducted by BBC, more than half-a million people from 165 countries voted his composition '' Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu'' from the 1991 film '' Thalapathi'' as fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time. *Ilaiyaraaja's song 'Naanthaan Ungappanda' from the 1981 film 'Ram Lakshman' was part of the playlist for the opening ceremony of the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. *The Illaiyaraaja compositions ''Paayum Puli Title Music'' and ''Ilamai Itho'' were part of the soundtrack of Ashim Ahluwalia’s 2012 Cannes Film Festival entry, '' Miss Lovely''. * The Lovebirds (2020) incorporates a section of Ilaiyaraaja's "Oru kili" soundtrack composed for the movie
Aanandha Kummi ''Aanandha Kummi'' is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Bala Krishnan and produced by Jeeva Ilaiyaraaja for Ilaiyaraaja Pictures. The songs were recorded in Bombay with R.D.Burman orchestra. The film stars Ashwini and a newcomer Bal ...
(1983) as background music in its official trailer. * In May 2020, he composed a song titled ''Bharath Bhoomi'', as tribute to the people working amid COVID-19 pandemic. The song was crooned by S. P Balasubrahmanyam and the video of the song was unveiled by Ilaiyaraaja on his YouTube channel on 30 May 2020, in Tamil and Hindi. * The Black Eyed Peas sampled the Ilaiyaraaja composition "Unakkum Ennakum" from ''Sri Raghavendra'' (1985), for the song " The Elephunk Theme" in '' Elephunk'' (2003).Mehar, R. 2007
Hip-hopping around the world
. The Hindu, 17 October. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
*Popular American rapper Meek Mill sampled one of Ilaiyaraaja's hit songs for ''Indian Bounce''. *His song "Mella Mella Ennaithottu" from Vaazhkai was sampled by Rabbit Mac in the song ''Sempoi''. *The alternative artist M.I.A. sampled "Kaatukuyilu" from the film ''Thalapathi'' (1991) for her song "Bamboo Banga" on the album ''
Kala Kala or Kalah may refer to: Religion Hinduism *Kāla, a Sanskrit word meaning ''time'' *Kāla, a Hindu deity of time, destiny, death and destruction closely related to Yama and Shiva. *Kalā, a Sanskrit word meaning ''performing arts'' * Kala Bo, ...
'' (2007). *Alphant sampled Ilaiyaraaja's music for his song ''An Indian Dream''. * Gonjasufi sampled Ilaiyaraaja's "Yeh Hawa Yeh Fiza" from the movie ''
Sadma ''Sadma'' () is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Balu Mahendra. It stars Kamal Haasan, Sridevi in the lead roles, with the music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film tells the story of Nehalata Malhotra, a ...
''.


Live performances

Ilaiyaraaja rarely performs his music live. His first major live performance since his debut was a four-hour concert held at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (also known as the Marina Arena) is a multi-purpose stadium in Chennai, India. It has a capacity to seat 40,000 people. It hosts football matches and athletic competitions. The complex also houses a multipurpose indoor st ...
in Chennai, India on 16 October 2005.Rangarajan, M. ''The Hindu''. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 13 October 2006. He performed in 2004 in Italy at the Teatro Comunale di Modena, an event-concert presented for the 14th edition of Angelica, Festival Internazionale Di Musica, co-produced with the L'Altro Suono Festival.Van Ryssen, S
"Ilaiyaraaja's Musical Journey".
''Leonardo Digital Review''. December 2005. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
On 23 October 2005, "A Time For Heroes", sponsored by different agencies including the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, saw Hollywood star Richard Gere, Tamil and Telugu stars converging on the city for an evening of "infotainment"—they spoke in one voice on HIV/AIDS. The event organised at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, on Saturday, 22 October 2005, took off with maestro Ilaiyaraaja's composition rendered by singer Usha Uthup. A television retrospective titled ''Ithu Ilaiyaraja'' ("This is Ilaiyaraja") was produced, chronicling his career.
''The Hindu''. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
He last performed live at the audio release function of the film '' Dhoni'' and before that, he performed a programme that was conducted and telecasted by Jaya TV titled ''Enrendrum Raja'' ("Everlasting Raja") on 28 December 2011, at Jahawarlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai. On 23 September 2012, he performed live in Bangalore at National High School Grounds. On 16 February 2013, Ilayaraja made his first appearance in North America performing at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.Trinity Event

Retrieved 24 February 2013.
The Toronto concert was promoted by Trinity Events for Vijay TV in India and produced by Sandy Audio Visual SAV Productions with PA+. Following his show at Toronto, Ilaiyaraaja also performed at the Prudential Center Newark, New Jersey on 23 February 2013, and at the
HP Pavilion at San Jose The SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has ...
on 1March 2013. After his North America tour he made a live performance at The O2 Arena in London on 24 August 2013, along with
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 ...
and his sons Yuvan Shankar Raja and
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 ...
. Ilaiaraaja and his team performed live in North America in 2016. In October 2017, he performed live for the first time in Hyderabad and in November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In March 2018, he performed live again in Houston, Dallas, Chicago, San Jose, Connecticut, Washington D.C. and Toronto. For the first time in his career, Ilaiyaraaja has performed in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
with his orchestra in Hillsong Convention Centre on 11 August 2018. Also, in the same month as to celebrate his 75th birth anniversary, a concert was held in Singapore Star Performing Arts Theatre on 18 August. Ilaiyaraaja organised a concert titled ''Isai Celebrates Isai'' in Chennai as a part of his 76th birthday celebration on 2 June 2019. Usually the maestro's team consists of forty to fifty musicians, but for the first time ever the concert had close to a hundred artists sharing the stage. The four-hour live concert also saw the reunion of noted singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam after their fallout over royalties in 2017. The event was an effort to raise funds for Cine Musicians Association. For the first time, Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja hosted a live concert in Coimbatore on 9 June 2019. Titled Rajathi Raja, the event was held at the Codissia Grounds. Along with Ilaiyaraaja, singers SPB, Mano, Usha Uthup, Haricharan, Madhu Balakrishnan, and Bavatharini also performed at the event, backed by an orchestra from Hungary. Latha Rajinikanth and her daughter Aishwarya were also part of the event. The proceeds from the concert were donated to ''Peace for Children'', an NGO that the former runs.


Legal issues and controversies

In 2017, claiming copyright violations, Ilaiyaraaja sent legal notices to singers, S. P Balasubrahmanyam, his son S. P. Charan and Chithra, prohibiting them from singing his compositions without his consent, and warned they would have to pay huge
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
and face legal action if they do so. Ilaiyaraaja's brother Gangai Amaran criticized him, saying legal notice to SPB is 'foolishness'. In 2018, during a talk show in the US, Ilaiyaraaja expressed his doubts regarding the credibility of the Christian belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and claimed that resurrection happened only in the case of the Hindu saint
Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...
. In protest, a Christian group lodged a complaint with the Police Commissioner of Trichy, demanding an apology or police action against Ilaiyaraaja for raising doubt about the "ultimate belief of Christians". In early 2022, talking about the state of music composers in industry, Ilaiyaraaja said, "There are no composers in the film industry today; there are only programmers." In April 2022, Ilaiyaraaja triggered a controversy by writing a foreword in the book titled, "Ambedkar & Modi — Reformer’s Ideas", in which he praised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and compared him to
B.R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
. When he received some criticism, leaders from BJP came to his support.


Ilaiyaraaja discography


See also

*
List of songs recorded by Ilaiyaraaja This page provides the list of songs sung by Ilaiyaraaja. He has sung over 380 songs of his own tunes as well as done playback singing for other music directors. Songs list Film songs ;1990s Non-film songs References {{DEFAULTSORT:So ...


References


Further reading

*Prem-Ramesh. 1998 ''Ilaiyaraja: Isaiyin Thathuvamum Alagiyalum'' (trans.: Ilaiyaraja: The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Music). Chennai: Sembulam. *Ilaiyaraaja. 1998 ''Vettaveli Thanil Kotti Kidakkuthu'' (trans.: My Spiritual Experiences) (3rd ed.). Chennai: Kalaignan Pathipagam. → A collection of poems by Ilaiyaraaja *Ilaiyaraaja. 1998 ''Vazhithunai''. Chennai: Saral Veliyeedu. *Ilaiyaraaja. 1999 ''Sangeetha Kanavugal'' (trans.: Musical Dreams) (2nd ed.). Chennai: Kalaignan Pathipagam. → An autobiography about Ilaiyaraaja's European tour and other musings. *Ilaiyaraaja. 2000 ''Ilaiyaraajavin Sinthanaigal'' (trans.: Ilaiyaraaja's Thoughts). Chennai: Thiruvasu Puthaka Nilayam. *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilaiyaraaja Best Music Direction National Film Award winners Best Background Score National Film Award winners Living people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Tamil playback singers Tamil film score composers Tamil musicians Telugu film score composers Kannada film score composers Kerala State Film Award winners Malayalam film score composers Alumni of Trinity College of Music 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Indian male singers Musicians from Chennai Indian Tamil people Telugu playback singers Indian composers of Western classical music Kannada playback singers Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Nandi Award winners 1943 births People from Theni district Indian male playback singers Indian male musicians Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Indian male film score composers Pianist from India Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha