| Ilaiyaraaja இளையராஜா |
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Ilaiyaraaja at his studio in Chennai |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gnanadesikan |
| Also known as | Ilaiyaraaja, Raja |
| Born | 3 June 1943 [1] |
| Origin | Pannaipuram, Theni, Madras Presidency |
| Genres | Film score, World music |
| Occupations | Film score composer, lyricist, music director, songwriter, singer, conductor, instrumentalist and Film producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, (playback singing), guitar, keyboard, harmonium, piano |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Website | www.raaja.com |
Ilaiyaraaja (Tamil: இளையராஜா) (born Gnanadesikan[2] on 3 June 1943) is an Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist mainly in the Tamil film Industry.[3][4] He is regarded as one of the finest music composers in India.[5][6][7][8][9] Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, and a songwriter. To date, he has composed over 4500 songs and provided film scores for more than 950 Indian films in various languages in a career spanning more than 30 years,[10][11][12][13] particularly being acclaimed for his background scoring for Indian films. His songs and background score played a very crucial role in the success of many films.[4][14][15][16] He remains one of the most popular composers ever in the South Indian film industry,[17] and also in the list of world's top selling music artists.[18]
Ilaiyaraaja has been a prominent composer of film music in South Indian cinema since the late 1970s.[19] His works are mainly in Tamil, but has also scored music for Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi[20] and Hindi film industries. He integrated folk lyricism (in Tamil) and introduced broader Western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream. A gold medalist in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London, in 1993 he became the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London's Walthamstow Town Hall.[21][22][23][24] In 2003, according to a BBC international poll, people from 155 countries voted his composition "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from the 1991 film Thalapathi fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time.[25] He was also nominated in the Best Indian album Music Awards category[26] at US based Just Plain Folks Music Organization, which is the largest grassroots music organization in the world,[27] and stood third for his "Music Journey: Live in Italy".[26][28]
In the 2000s, he composed a variety of non-film music, including religious and devotional songs, an oratorio, and world music, while shifting his focus to Malayalam films. He is usually referred to by the title Isaignani (Tamil: இசைஞானி; English: A man with great knowledge in music), or as The Maestro. He has won four Indian National Film Awards; three for Best Music Direction and one for Best Background Score[29] and is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award from the Government of India.
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Ilaiyaraaja was born as Gnanadesikan in Pannaipuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu,[30] India, but when he was joined in the school his father changed his name as "Rajaiya" but his village people used to call him as "Raasayya". Ilaiyaraaja joined Dhanraj Master as a student to learn musical instruments and the master renamed and called him as just "Raaja".[31] In his first movie Annakili Tamil film producer Panchu Arunachalam added "Ilaiya" (Ilaiya means younger in Tamil language) as prefix in his name Raaja and he named as "Ilaiyaraaja" because in 1970's there was one more music director A. M. Rajah who was a popular one.
Ilaiyaraaja is married to Jeeva and the couple have three children—Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Bhavatharini—all film composers and singers.[32][33] His wife Jeeva passed away on 31 October 2011.[34]
Ilaiyaraaja was growing up in a rural area, he was exposed to a range of Tamil folk music.[35] At the age of 14, he joined a travelling musical troupe headed by his elder stepbrother, Pavalar Varadarajan, and spent the next decade performing throughout South India.[36][37] While working with the troupe, he penned his first composition, a musical adaptation of an elegy written by the Tamil poet laureate Kannadasan for Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.[38] In 1968, Ilaiyaraaja began a music course with Professor Dhanraj in Madras (now Chennai),[31] which included an overview of Western classical music, compositional training in techniques such as counterpoint, and study in instrumental performance.[39] Ilaiyaraaja specialized in classical guitar and had taken a course in it at the Trinity College of Music, London.[40]
In the 1970s in Chennai, Ilaiyaraaja played guitar in a band-for-hire, and worked as a session guitarist, keyboardist, and organist for film music composers and directors such as Salil Chowdhury from West Bengal.[41][42][43] After being hired as the musical assistant to Kannada film composer G. K. Venkatesh, he worked on 200 film projects, mostly in the Kannada language.[44] As G. K. Venkatesh's assistant, Ilaiyaraaja would orchestrate the melodic outlines developed by Venkatesh. During this period, Ilaiyaraaja also began writing his own scores. To hear his compositions, he would persuade Venkatesh's session musicians to play excerpts from his scores during their break times.[36] Ilaiyaraaja would hire instruments from composer R. K. Shekhar, father of composer A. R. Rahman, who later joined Ilaiyaraaja's orchestra as a keyboardist.
In 1976, film producer Panchu Arunachalam commissioned him to compose the songs and film score for a Tamil-language film called Annakkili ('The Parrot').[45] For the soundtrack, Ilaiyaraaja applied the techniques of modern popular film music orchestration to Tamil folk poetry and folk song melodies, which created a fusion of Western and Tamil idioms.[46][47] Ilaiyaraaja's use of Tamil music in his film scores injected new influence into the Indian film score milieu.[48] By the mid-1980s Ilaiyaraaja was gaining increasing stature as a film composer and music director in the South Indian film industry.[19] He has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Gulzar, Kannadasan, Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Sirivennela Sitaramasastri, Vairamuthu and T. S. Rangarajan (Vaali),[49] and film directors such as Bharathiraja, K. Balachander, K. Vishwanath, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Vamsy,Balu Mahendra, Ram Gopal Varma, Mani Ratnam and R. Balki.[50]
Ilaiyaraaja was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music.[51] This allowed him to craft a rich tapestry of sounds for films, and his themes[52] and background score gained notice and appreciation among Indian film audiences.[53] 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.[51]
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".[19] Ilaiyaraaja has composed Indian film songs that amalgamated elements of genres such as Afro-tribal,[54] bossa nova,[55] dance music (e.g., disco),[56] doo-wop,[57] flamenco,[58] acoustic guitar-propelled Western folk,[59] funk,[60] Indian classical,[61] Indian folk/traditional,[62] jazz,[63] march,[64] pathos,[65] pop,[66] psychedelia,[67] and rock and roll.
By virtue of this variety and his interfusion 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 ragams,[68] and the urbanite for its modern, Western-music sound.[69] Ilaiyaraaja's sense of visualization for composing music is always to match up with the storyline of the running movie and possibly by doing so, he creates the best experience for the audience to feel the emotions flavored 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.[17]
Although Ilaiyaraaja uses a range of complex compositional techniques, he often sketches out the basic melodic ideas for films in a very spontaneous fashion.[19][35] The Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam illustrates:
Ilayaraja [sic] would look at the [film] scene once, and immediately start giving notes to his assistants, as a bunch of musicians, hovering around him, would collect the notes [musical parts] for their instrument[s] and go to their places... A [film] director can be taken by surprise at the speed of events.[70]
Ilaiyaraaja's music is characterised by the use of an orchestration technique that is a synthesis of Western and Indian instruments and musical modes. He uses electronic music technology that integrates synthesisers, electric guitars and keyboards, drum machines, rhythm boxes and MIDI with large orchestras that feature traditional instruments such as the veena, venu, nadaswaram, dholak, mridangam and tabla as well as Western lead instruments such as saxophones and flutes.[19][71]
He uses catchy melodies fleshed out with a variety of chord progressions, beats and timbres.[72][73][74] Ilaiyaraaja's songs typically have a musical form where vocal stanzas and choruses are interspersed with orchestral preludes and interludes.[75] They often contain polyphonic melodies, where the lead vocals are interwoven with supporting melody lines sung by another voice or played by instruments.[76]
The basslines in his songs tend to be melodically dynamic, rising and falling in a dramatic fashion.[73] 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 S. P. Balasubramaniam, K. J. Yesudas, S. Janaki, K. S. Chitra, Swarnalatha, S. P. Sailaja, T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela, Sujatha, Malaysia Vasudevan, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Sadhana Sargam and the latest sensation Shreya Ghoshal.[77] Ilaiyaraaja has sung over 400 of his own compositions for films,[78][79] and is recognisable by his stark, nasal voice. He has penned the lyrics for some of his songs in Tamil and other languages.[80][81][82] Ilaiyaraaja's film scores are known both for the dramatic and evocative melodies, and for the more subtle background music that he uses to provide texture or mood for scenes in films such as Johnny (1980), Mouna Raagam (1986), Geethanjali (1989) and Guna (1991).
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),[83] is dedicated to the Carnatic master Tyāgarāja and to J. S. Bach. It features a fusion of the Carnatic form and ragas with Bach partitas, fugues and Baroque musical textures.[84] The second, Nothing But Wind (1988), was performed by flutist 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 (e.g., the wind, breeze, tempest etc.).[85]
He has composed a set of Carnatic kritis that was recorded by electric mandolinist U. Srinivas for the album Ilayaraaja's Classicals on the Mandolin (1994).[86] 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 Maharishi,[87] and his Thiruvasakam: A crossover (2005) is an oratorio of ancient Tamil poems transcribed partially in English by American lyricist Stephen Schwartz and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.[88][89] Ilaiyaraaja's most recent release is a world music-oriented album called The Music Messiah (2006).[90] Its musical concept is based against a mythological narrative.[75][91] His recent release in November 2008, is Manikantan Geet Mala released by India Tales with 9 songs praising Lord Ayyappa in almost all south Indian languages.
| Year | Album | Year | Album | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | How to Name It | 1988 | Nothing but Wind | 2000 | Raajavin Ramanamalai, Guru Ramana Geetam |
| 2001 | Geethanjali | 2002 | Amma Paamalai | 2003 | India 24 Hours |
| 2005 | Thiruvasagam | 2007 | The Music Messiah | 2008 | Manikantan Geet Mala |
| 2009 | Namratha Ke Sagar | 2010 | Ramana Saranam Saranam, Baba Pugazh Maalai | 2011 | Amma - Short film |
Ilaiyaraaja's composition "Rakkama Kaiya Thattu", sung by SPB and Swarnalatha in the movie Thalapathi (1991), was among the songs listed in a BBC World Top Ten music poll.[92] He composed the music for Nayagan (1987), an Indian film ranked by TIME Magazine as one of the all-time 100 best movies,[93] a number of India's official entries to the Oscars, such as Anjali (1990)[94] and Hey Ram (2000),[95] and for Indian art films such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan's FIPRESCI Prize-winning Nizhalkkuthu ('The Dance of Shadows') (2002).[96] Ilaiyaraaja has composed music for events such as the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant that was held in Bangalore, India, and for a documentary called India 24 Hours (1996).[97][98] The pop/hip-hop band The Black Eyed Peas sampled an Ilaiyaraaja composition called "Unakkum Ennakum", from the film Sri Raghavendra (1985), for their tune "The Elephunk Theme" from their breakout album, Elephunk (2003).[99] The alternative artist M.I.A. sampled his composition "Kaatukuyilu" from the film Thalapathi (1991) for her song "Bamboo Banga" on the album Kala (2007).[100] His music compositions for the Hindi movie Paa (3 December 2009) has won critical acclaim in several media reviews.
Ilaiyaraaja rarely performs his music live, which may be due to the time he devotes to his composing activities.[101] His last major live performance, the first in 25 years, was a four-hour concert held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, India on 16 October 2005.[102] The show was widely televised both in India and abroad, in which he played a song with just three notes (sa re ga).[103] Less well-known was his live 2004 performance 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.[104][105] He had done a few small-scale shows early in his career in Sri Lanka and Malaysia and was involved in a charity concert to raise funds for the construction of a Hindu temple in India.[101] A television retrospective titled Ithu Ilaiyaraja ('This is Ilaiyaraja') was produced, chronicling his career.[106]
| Year | Film | Language | Category | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Pithamagan | Tamil | Best Tamil Music Director | Nominated |
| 2003 | Manassinakkare | Malayalam | Best Malayalam Music Director | Won |
| 2005 | Achuvinte Amma | Malayalam | Best Malayalam Music Director | Won |
| 2009 | Naan Kadavul | Tamil | Best Tamil Lyricist | Nominated |
| Year | Film | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Sammohanam | Best Background Music |
| 1995 | Kalapani | Best Music Director |
| 1998 | Kallu Kondorru Pennu | Best Background Music |
| Year | Film | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Seethakoka Chiluka | Best Music Director |
| 1988 | Rudraveena | Best Music Director |
| 1990 | Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari | Best Music Director |
| Year | Name of the film | Category | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Saagara Sangamam | Best Music Direction | Telugu |
| 1986 | Sindhu Bhairavi | Best Music Direction | Tamil |
| 1989 | Rudra Veena | Best Music Direction | Telugu |
| 2009 | Pazhassi Raja | Best Background Score | Malayalam |
| Year | Film | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 16 Vayathinile | Best Music Director |
| 1980 | Nizhalgal | Best Music Director |
| 1981 | Alaigal Oivathillai | Best Music Director |
| 1988 | Agni Natchathiram | Best Music Director |
| 1989 | Varusham Padhinaaru, Karagattakaran | Best Music Director |
| 2009 | Ajantha | Best Music Director |
Ilaiyaraaja has won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi (1986) and the Telugu films Rudraveena (1989) and Saagara Sangamam (1984).[107] He also won the National Film Award for Best Background Score for Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja (2010).[108] He won the Gold Remi Award for Best Music Score jointly with film composer M. S. Viswanathan at the WorldFest-Houston Film Festival for the film Vishwa Thulasi (2005).
He was conferred the title Isaignani (English: Savant of Music) in 1988 by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in a grand public function held in Karaikudi and received the Kalaimamani Award, an annual award for excellence in the field of arts from the Government of the State of Tamil Nadu, India.[109] He also received State Government Awards from the governments of Kerala (1994, 1995, 1998), Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh (The Lata Mangeshkar Award) (1998) for excellence in music.[110] In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.[111] NTR National Award for the year 2004 was conferred on him in 2007.[112] Alongside he also won the Akshaya Samman of the year (2010), a prestigious musical award from Orissa for his outstanding contribution in the field of music.[113][114]
He was awarded honorary doctorates by Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India (Degree of Doctor of Letter (Honoris causa)) (March 1994), the World University Round Table, Arizona, U.S.A. (Cultural Doctorate in Philosophy of Music) (April 1994), and Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu (Degree of Doctor of Letters) (1996).[110] He received an Award of Appreciation from the Foundation and Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (1994), and later that year was presented with an honorary citizenship and key to the Teaneck township by Mr. John Abraham, Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S.A.[110] In a poll conducted by the BBC, his track "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from the 1991 movie Thalapathi rated Number 4 in the World's Top Ten list.[115]
| Year | Album | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 1978 | Vayasu Pilichindi | |
| 1979 | Yugandhar | 1980 | Guru |
| 1981 | Seethakoka Chiluka, Tik Tik Tik | 1982 | Nireekshana, Vasantha Kokila |
| 1983 | Abhilasha, Manthrigari Viyyankudu, Saagara Sangamam, Seethakoka Chiluka, Sitaara | 1984 | Challenge, Merupu Daadi |
| 1985 | Anveshana, Swathi Muthyam | 1986 | Ladies Tailor, Manchi Manasulu, Rakshasudu, Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam |
| 1987 | Aakhari Poratam, Marana Mrudangam, Rudraveena, Swarna Kamalam | 1988 | Abhinandana |
| 1989 | Geethanjali, Kokila, Shiva | 1990 | Bobbili Raja, Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari, Kondaveeti Donga |
| 1991 | Surya IPS, Chaithanya, Nirnayam, Killer, Meera, Aditya 369 | 2007 | Anumanaspadam, Sunny |
| 2008 | Mallepuvvu | 2010 | Om Shanti, Gaayam 2 |
| 2011 | Sri Rama Rajyam | 2012 | Baba Sathya Sai |
| Year | Album | Year | Album | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Vyamoham | 1980 | Dooram Arike | 1981 | Garjanam |
| 1982 | Olangal, Aa Rathri, Aalolam | 1983 | Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu, Oomakkuyil, Pinnilavu | 1984 | My Dear Kuttichathan, Mangalam Nerunnu, Onnanu Nammal, Unaru |
| 1985 | Yathra | 1986 | Poomukhapadiyil Ninneyum Kathu, Kaveri | 1988 | Moonnam Pakkam |
| 1989 | Adharvam, Chaithram, Season | 1991 | Anaswaram, Ente Sooryaputhrikku | 1992 | Pappayude Swantham Appoos, Aparatha |
| 1993 | Jackpot | 1996 | Kaalapani, Man of the Match | 1997 | Guru, Kaliyoonjal, Oru Yathramozhi |
| 1998 | Anuragakottaram, Manjeera Dhwani | 1999 | Friends | 2000 | Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal, Kallu Kondoru Pennu |
| 2003 | Manassinakkare, Nizhalkuthu | 2005 | Ponmudipuzhayorathu, Achuvinte Amma | 2006 | Rasathanthram, Pachakuthira |
| 2007 | Vinodayathra, Sooryan | 2008 | Innathe Chintha Vishayam, S M S | 2009 | Bhagyadevatha, Pazhassi Raja |
| 2010 | Kadha Thudarunnu | 2011 | Snehaveedu, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | 2012 |
| Year | Album | Year | Album | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Sadma | 1987 | Kamagni | 1989 | Mahaadev |
| 1990 | Shiva | 1991 | Anjali, Aadmi Aur Apsara | 1996 | Aur Ek Prem Kahani, Saza-E-Kala Pani, Chhaila |
| 1999 | Hey Ram, Velu Nayakan | 2001 | Lajja | 2005 | Mumbai Xpress, Divorce |
| 2006 | Shiva | 2007 | Cheeni Kum, Desi Pandits | 2009 | Chal Chalein, Paa |
| 2011 | Happi,[116] SRK, Hello Jai Hind! * | 2012 | Hinglish Vinglish | 2013 |
| Year | Album | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Maathu Tappada Maga | 1981 | Geetha, Janma Janmada Anubandha, Nee Nanna Gellalare |
| 1983 | Accident, Pallavi Anu Pallavi | 1984 | Bharjari Bete |
| 1996 | Nammoora Mandara Hoove, Shivasainya | 1998 | Hoomale |
| 2004 | Namma Preetiya Ramu | 2007 | Aa Dinagalu |
| 2009 | Nannavanu, Bhagyadha Balegara, Prem Kahani | 2010 | Suryakaanti |
| 2011 | Hare Rama Hare Krishna |
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