Leslee Lewis is an Indian singer and composer known for his work with Hariharan as the duo ''

Colonial Cousins Colonial Cousins is an Indian duo, formed by singer Hariharan and singer-composer Lesle Lewis, who also have successful solo careers. Their eponymous first album hit platinum in sales in India alone and consistently headed the Indian music ch ...

''.Leslee Lewis composes for his first Bollywood flick
IBN Live; 13 November 2007 They won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then the U.S. Billboard Viewer's Choice Award for 'Colonial Cousins', their debut album. He conceived and created all the music for Coke Studio, MTV India debut season. Popularly known as 'Lezz' in the industry, Leslee Lewis is one of the first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to Rock and Pop music. Leslee's creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, P L Raj, noted choreographer from the film industry. With an aim to give the audiences a taste of varied music flavors, he has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.

Early life

Leslee Lewis is the son of P. L. Raj, a prolific film choreographer.Lesle Lewis - Biography
; 17 June 2011 He was educated at St. Mary's High School, Mt. Abu in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

. As a child, Leslee was greatly influenced by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

and with further working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors. He played guitar at the Cafe Royal, Oberoi Towers,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

and recorded with Kalyanji–Anandji, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman and Louis Banks.

Biography

Jingles

From 1987, he composed advertising jingles and was nominated for awards from the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA). In 1989 received an award for his work. He went on to make some famous jingles such as Doodh-Doodh-Doodh (Piyo full glass), Mango Fruity fresh and juicy, Thumbs up taste the thunder, Santoor Santoor, etc.

Mainstream music

Lewis remixed

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in th ...

's album ''Rahul and I'' and composed songs for ''Janam samjha karo, O mere sona, Piya Tu- ab toh aaja''. He also composed and produced the music for ''Paree Hu Main'' by Suneeta Rao, ''Bombay Girl'' by

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the 'Q ...

and for KK's album '' Pal''. He composed songs such as "Bombay Girl" and "De De- Mujh Ko" for Alisha Chinai. He also launched Indipop boy band A Band of Boys and gave music for their hit songs such as "Meri Neendh", "Gori" and "Aa Jaa Meri Jaan". In 1998, Lewis recorded his first solo album, ''Haseena''. He composed the score for the Hindi films '' Mela'' and ''Jahd'' and the

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, na ...

films '' Modhi Vilayadu'' and '' Chikku Bukku''.

Colonial Cousins

Leslie Lewis's at Launch of his album 'Tanha Sa Hoon' (2)

Lewis first worked with

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

singer Hariharan in 1992, creating a jingle. They formed ''Colonial Cousins'' in 1996 and recorded an album, ''

''. They were the first Indian act to be featured on ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

''. It won the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group."Artist biography: Hariharan"
. Indianmusicinfo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2011 They released the albums '' The Way We Do It'' (1998) and '' Aatma'' (2001) and composed the soundtrack for the Tamil films '' Modhi Vilayadu'' and '' Chikku Bukku''.

Discography

As composer

;Albums * '' Bombay Girl'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Haseena'' (1998) * '' The Way We Do It'' (1998) * '' Pal'' (1999) * '' Aatma'' (2001) * '' Meri Neend'' (2002) * '' Gori'' (2002) * '' Elements'' (2002) * '' Ye Bhi Woh Bhi'' (2002) * '' Once More'' (2012) ;Films * ''

Dhuan ''Dhuan'' ( hi, Smoke) is a 1981 Hindi-language thriller film, produced by Gautham Guha under the Sri Sai Chitra banner and directed by Dulal Guha. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Ranjeeta, Raakhee, Amjad Khan and Jeetendra in a guest appearance ...

'' (1991) * '' Mela'' (2000) * '' Apna Asmaan'' (2007) * '' Modhi Vilayadu'' (2009) * '' Chikku Bukku'' (2010) * '' Poshter Boyz'' (2014-Marathi) * '' Online Binline'' (2015 - Marathi)

As singer

* "Kannum Kannum Nokia" - '' Anniyan'' (2005 - Tamil) * "Vellaikaari", "Sikki Mukki" - '' Modhi Vilayadu'' (2009 - Tamil) * "Hosahore" - ''

Darling (2010 film) ''Darling'' is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by A. Karunakaran. It is produced by B. V. S. N. Prasad under his studio Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra. The film stars Prabhas and Kajal Aggarwal. The music is compos ...

'' (2010 - Telugu) * "Hey Amigo" - '' Kaappaan'' (2019 - Tamil)

Awards and achievements

* 1997: MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award for ''

'' in Radio City Hall - New York * US Billboard Viewer's Choice Award - Las Vegas * Awarded 'Indian of the Year 2017

References

External links

Official Website@LesleLewis on TwitterLesle Lewis (official fan page) on facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leslee Living people Indian male pop singers Tamil film score composers Indian pop composers 1960 births Jingle composers Indian male film score composers