Ilaiyaraaja facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ilaiyaraaja |
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Ilaiyaraaja in 2017
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gnanathesikan Ramasamy |
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| Born | 3 June 1943 Pannaipuram, Madras Presidency, British India |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
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Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanathesikan) is a famous Indian musician and composer. He is known for creating music for many films, especially in Tamil. He has also worked on films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi languages. People call him "Isaignani," which means "the musical sage." He is also known as "Maestro," a special title given to him by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
Ilaiyaraaja has had an amazing career for over 49 years. He has composed more than 8,600 songs and created music for about 1,523 movies. He has also performed in over 20,000 concerts! He was one of the first Indian composers to use Western classical music styles in Indian films. He was also the first Indian and Asian to compose and perform a full Western classical symphony. In 1986, he was the first Indian composer to use a computer to record a film soundtrack for the movie Vikram.
In 2013, a poll by CNN-IBN named him India's greatest music composer. He received 49% of the votes! In 2014, an American website called "Taste of Cinema" put him at number 9 on their list of the 25 greatest film composers ever. He was the only Indian on that list, alongside famous composers like John Williams. Ilaiyaraaja has received many awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 2010 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2018. These are two of India's highest civilian honors. Since July 2022, he has been a nominated Member of Parliament in India's upper house, the Rajya Sabha.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Ilaiyaraaja was born on June 3, 1943, in a village called Pannaipuram in Tamil Nadu, India. His birth name was R. Gnanathesikan. When he started school, his father changed his name to "Rajaiya." Later, when he began learning music from Master Dhanraj, his teacher changed his name to "Raja." For his first film, Annakili (1976), a film producer added "Ilaiya" (meaning 'younger') to his name, making him "Ilaiyaraaja." This was because another popular music director at the time had a similar name.
Discovering Music
Ilaiyaraaja grew up in a village and heard a lot of Tamil folk music. When he was 14, he joined a traveling music group with his older brother. He spent ten years performing all over South India. During this time, he wrote his first song, which was based on a poem for India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He later moved to Madras (now Chennai) with his brother to learn more about music.
In Chennai, he studied with Master Dhanraj, who helped him develop his musical talent. Ilaiyaraaja said that his teacher's room was filled with the music of famous classical composers like Bach and Mozart. He became a top student and won a gold medal in classical guitar from the Trinity College of Music in London. He also learned Carnatic music, which is a classical music style from South India.
A Career in Music
Working as a Session Musician
In the 1970s, before becoming a famous composer, Ilaiyaraaja worked as a session musician. This means he played instruments like guitar, keyboard, and organ for other film composers. One famous composer, Salil Chowdhury, even said that Ilaiyaraaja would become "the best composer in India." Ilaiyaraaja also worked as a musical assistant for the Kannada film composer G. K. Venkatesh. He helped Venkatesh with over 200 film projects, learning a lot about composing and arranging music.
Becoming a Film Composer
At first, Ilaiyaraaja's musical ideas were very different from the film music popular at the time. But in 1975, a film producer heard him sing a song and was so impressed that he asked Ilaiyaraaja to compose music for the Tamil film Annakili (1976). For this film, Ilaiyaraaja mixed modern film music styles with traditional Tamil folk songs. This blend of Western and Tamil sounds was a huge hit when the movie came out in 1976. After that, he started exploring new kinds of music for films.
Ilaiyaraaja's use of Tamil folk music brought new energy to Indian film music. By the mid-1980s, he became a very important composer and music director in the South Indian film industry. He worked with many famous poets and lyricists. Most of his songs were sung by popular singers like S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and S. Janaki.
Other Musical Works
Besides film music, Ilaiyaraaja also created other types of music. His first two non-film albums, How to Name It? (1986) and Nothing But Wind (1988), mixed Indian and Western classical music. He also composed religious songs. His Thiruvasakam: A crossover (2005) was an oratorio (a large musical work for orchestra and voices) based on ancient Tamil poems. In 2025, he composed his first English classical symphony called “Valiant,” which was performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
In May 2020, he composed a song called Bharath Bhoomi to honor people working during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also launched his 'Isai OTT' app, which includes his songs and stories about how they were made.
Some of Ilaiyaraaja's songs have even been used in international events and films. His song 'Naanthaan Ungappanda' was part of the playlist for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. His music has also been sampled (used as a small part of a new song) by famous artists like The Black Eyed Peas and M.I.A..
Live Performances
Ilaiyaraaja does not perform live very often. His first big live concert since he started his career was in Chennai in 2005. He also performed in Italy in 2004. In 2012, he performed a live concert in Chennai with the Hungarian National Philharmonic orchestra. He also performed in North America for the first time in 2013, with shows in Toronto, New Jersey, and San Jose. Later that year, he performed at The O2 Arena in London.
Ilaiyaraaja's Musical Style
Ilaiyaraaja believes his music comes from his "life experiences and learning." He sees music as a way to connect with people's hearts and reach new levels of understanding. He uses the same harmonium (a type of keyboard instrument) for all his work, which he bought for a small amount of money when he was young.
His music style is a mix of Indian folk music and Western classical music. He uses both traditional Indian instruments like the veena and tabla, and Western instruments like synthesizers, electric guitars, and flutes. He is very good at blending different musical styles to create unique sounds.
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Ilaiyaraaja has often said that composer M. S. Viswanathan greatly influenced his music. He learned a lot by watching and listening to Viswanathan's techniques. He also considers other composers like Naushad and Lata Mangeshkar as "great masters."
Music expert Paul Greene said that Ilaiyaraaja's deep understanding of many music styles allowed him to combine different sounds into "unified, coherent musical statements." His music appeals to people from villages because of its folk rhythms, to classical music lovers because of its use of Carnatic ragas, and to city people because of its modern, Western sound. He is known for making music that perfectly matches the story and emotions of a movie.
Awards and Achievements
Ilaiyaraaja has received many honors for his work. In 2010, he was given the Padma Bhushan, and in 2018, the Padma Vibhushan. These are the third and second highest civilian awards in India. On July 6, 2022, the President of India nominated him to the Rajya Sabha, making him a Member of Parliament. In November 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him an honorary doctorate.
He has won five National Film Awards for Best Music Direction and Best Background Score. In 2012, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, which is India's highest award for performing artists. He also earned a gold medal in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London. In a 2013 poll, he was voted India's greatest music composer.
Ilaiyaraaja is known as one of the most productive composers in the world. He has composed over 8,600 songs and created music for about 1,523 movies in nine languages. He has also performed in over 20,000 concerts. He was one of the first Indian composers to use Western classical music styles in Tamil films.
He composed the music for My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), which was the first 3D film made in India. In 1986, he was the first Indian composer to use a computer for a film soundtrack for Vikram. He also composed the music for Nayakan (1987), a film that Time magazine listed as one of the 100 best movies of all time. Director R. K. Selvamani said that for his film Chembaruthi (1992), Ilaiyaraaja composed nine songs in just 45 minutes! Actor Rajnikanth once said that Ilaiyaraaja could finish the background music for three films in a single day.
On March 9, 2025, Ilaiyaraaja became the first Indian and Asian film composer to compose, record, and perform a full Western classical symphony live in London. He wrote the entire symphony in just 34 days. He also composed Thiruvasakam in Symphony (2006), which was the first Indian oratorio. His work has had a huge impact on the culture of Southern India.
His soundtrack for the 1991 film Thalapathi was included in The Guardian newspaper's "100 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list. In 2003, a global poll by BBC voted his song "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" from Thalapathi as the fourth most popular song of all time.
Personal Life
Ilaiyaraaja was married to Jeeva, who passed away in 2011. They had three children: Karthik Raja, Bhavatharini, and Yuvan Shankar Raja. All of his children are also film composers and singers. Sadly, his only daughter Bhavatharini passed away on January 25, 2024. His brother, Gangai Amaran, is also a music director and lyricist. Ilaiyaraaja considers the Tamil Hindu sage Ramana Maharshi as his spiritual teacher.
Discography
| Ilaiyaraaja 1970s | Ilaiyaraaja 1980s | Ilaiyaraaja 1990s | Ilaiyaraaja 2000s | Ilaiyaraaja 2010s | Ilaiyaraaja 2020s | New / Non-Film |
See also
In Spanish: Ilaiyaraaja para niños
- List of songs recorded by Ilaiyaraaja
