Ilayaraja is a music composer extraordinaire and among the pantheon of greats, his name finds a place easily enough. Although he has composed songs in all the south Indian languages, it is his contribution to the Tamil film industry that has made him a cult figure with his name inspiring awe in Tamil homes. For he single handedly transformed the music scene, mixing up folk with a bit of Western and a touch of Carnatic. To him goes the credit of releasing Carnatic and Western classical music from its ivory towers and making it available to the hoi polloi. He effortlessly combined the different genres of music to produce lilting melodies, which seem as fresh today, as they were when newly composed. As his name suggests, he is truly a Prince, nay a king among the musical directors, while his subjects are but his vast legion of fans. 

HISTORY

Ilayaraja was born as Rasayya into a poor rural family in Pannaipuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India on June 2, 1943. He was the third son of Daniel Ramaswamy and Chinnathayammal. His rural background exposed him to the folk songs, sung by villagers whilst at work in the fields. As his village did not have a school, he had to walk to Kombai, the nearest town, just to get an education. Family troubles forced him to give up studies after class eight and instead sing for his elder step brother, Pavalar Varadarajan, whose services were hired by the Communist Party of India to popularize and further their cause. Ilayaraja accompanied his brother for about ten years staging concerts in Pannaipuram and the surrounding villages and towns, enjoying the tag of `the musical Palavar brothers’. He first tried his hand at composing music during this period: he set to music an elegy written by the Tamil poet laureate Kannadasan for Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister.

In 1968, at the age of twenty-five, Rasayya left his village for Chennai to seek his fortune in films. As aspiring musicians were expected to read western musical notations, he started lessons with the late Master Dhanraj, who introduced him to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and other western classical composers, influences which he adroitly wove into his compositions. Ilaiyaraaja's classical music training culminated in him completing a course with a gold medal in classical guitar (higher local) with the Trinity College of Music, London. 

In Chennai, Ilaiyaraaja worked in a music band that put up many stage shows and on many other occasions as well. Ilaiyaraaja also worked as a session guitarist and keyboardist/organist for film music composers and directors such as Salil Chowdhury from West Bengal, who often recorded music in Madras. Later, he was hired as an assistant to the Kannada film composer, G K Venkatesh, an event that marked his entry into film music composition and direction. He assisted the latter in 200 film projects, mostly in Kannada. During his stint here, he learned the practical methods of orchestration. Also, it was here that he got an opportunity to create tunes which he could persuade the session musicians to play for him. 

Around this time, Tamil film producer Panju Arunachalam was looking for a new music director for his film `Annakili’ (The Parrot). Panju Arunachlam not only hired him to compose tunes for the film but also gave him an exciting new name Ilayaraja which means Youthful Prince. And Ilayaraja did not disappoint. The maestro composed tunes that had a healthy dose of Tamil folk poetry and music which quickly became very popular along with many other similarly composed tunes. The fact that Ilayaraja came on the scene at a time when the industry was starved for good music, helped him greatly. As demand mounted for his 'new' sound, Ilaiyaraaja emerged by the mid-1980s as the leading film composer and music director in the South Indian film industry. Besides Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films, he has scored music for many Hindi film productions such as Sadma (1983), Lajja (2001) and Cheeni Kum (2007). He has also worked with noted Indian poets and lyricists such as Gulzar, Kannadasan, Vairamuthu and T.S. Rangarajan (Vaali), and film directors such as Mani Ratnam, K. Balachander, K. Vishwanath and Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. After more than three decades of composing music, his tally reads something like this music composed for 800 films in five Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. 

Ilayaraja not only infused fresh blood into the film music industry but also was responsible for many new developments like increased efficiency in the film scoring process with greater control resting in the hands of the musical director. Reveals film director Mani Ratnam, "Ilayaraja 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 for their instrument and go to their places. When the orchestra played out the notes, they would be perfect, not just in harmony but also in timing - the background score would commence exactly where it should and end at the exact place required... A [film] director can be taken by surprise at the speed of events."

It is obvious that Illaiyaraja’s music is multi-layered with folk, western and Carnatic intermingling beautifully to create a rich tapestry of sorts. And the master composer that he is, Ilayaraja has the remarkable ability to separate and unify these genres at will. He has left his indelible stamp on film music which is at once recognizable for the well-structured orchestral interludes between charanams (stanzas); exquisite over dubbing of voices; extended use of chorus seconds; and the seamless blend of Carnatic and western classical styles.

According to musicologist P. Greene, Ilaiyaraaja's "deep understanding of so many different styles of music allowed him to create synthetic pieces of music combining very different musical idioms in unified, coherent musical statements".

He was as adept at creating a large set of varied songs based on a single popular Carnatic raaga (scale), as he was of using an uncommon raaga. His songs stand out for the simple reason that they are able to convey beautifully the mood and the ambience of that particular moment.

His film compositions sought to harmoniously blend pop, acoustic guitar-driven Western folk, jazz, rock and roll, disco, funk, doo-wop, march, bossa nova, flamenco, pathos, native folk, Afro-tribal and Indian classical. Fusion was his forte and hence his music appealed as much to the rural dweller as to the urbanite or the classical music enthusiast.

The melodic structure of his songs demand considerable vocal virtuosity and many respected singers such as K.J. Yesudas, S.P. Balasubramaniam, S. Janaki, P. Susheela, K.S. Chithra, Malaysia Vasudevan, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar remain indebted to him for being given an opportunity to sing songs which are now touted as classics. That apart, the maestro has also sung songs that have been composed by him in his by now easily recognizable nasal voice.

His compositions have endeared him to all music aficionados but to the Tamil speaking populace, he occupies a very special place indeed. He took them along on a musical odyssey which gladdened their hearts and soothed their minds. Through his efforts, along with carnatic music he brought Bach, Beethoven and Mozart within the reach of the common man. Some of the lyrics he penned himself which highlighted their traditional values and moved them deeply. For example thaai paasam (a mother’s love) is a recurrent theme in his songs. They wept with him as he sang Enna peththa aaththa (from the film Ennai vittu poogaathe, 1988). The love that his fans bore him is also reciprocated by the singer. A song written and sung by him for the 1989 hit film Karakaatakaaran, sums it all up:

My true bosses are my fans.

As long as they want it, I will serve up my musical feast.

Although the bulk of his work has been in films, Ilaiyaraaja has several independent albums. They include anthologies of devotional songs, the latest being Guru Ramana Geetam (2004); two collections of instrumental music showing a remarkable fusion of western and Indian classical styles How To Name It (1984) and Nothing But Wind (1987); a Carnatic classical collection played by Mandolin Srinivas (1994); a compilation of ancient Tamil poems transcribed partially in English by American lyricist Stephen Schwartz and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra; and finally a compilation of the background music scored for a documentary entitled India 24 Hours (1996). He has also composed music for events such as the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant that was held in Bangalore, India. His recent release is titled The Music Messiah (2006).

The cover of the Ilaiyaraaja album Thiruvasagam in Symphony (2005) and Ilaiyaraaja's composition `Rakkama Kaiya Thattu’ from the movie `Thalapathi’ (1991) was amongst the songs listed in a BBC World Top Ten music poll. `Nayakan’ (1987), an Indian film was ranked by TIME Magazine as one of the all-time 100 best movies, the music for which was composed by Ilayaraja. A number of India's official entries for the Oscars, such as `Anjali’ (1990) and `Hey Ram’ (2000), and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's prize-winning `Nizhalkkuthu’ ('Shadow Kill') (2002) were movies which again had his compositions. 

He does not perform live considering how over committed he is. 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 October 16, 2005. The show was widely televised both in India and abroad. 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. He had done a few shows on a smaller scale 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. A television retrospective titled Idhu Ilayaraja ('This is Ilayaraja') was produced, chronicling his career.

Ilayaraja is married to Jeeva, and the couple have three children. Their two sons Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja are both composers, and their daughter Bhavatharini is a singer and composer. His brother, Gangai Amaran (Amarsingh, by birth), is also a composer and a songwriter.

Ilayaraja loves writing poetry and has written lyrics for songs in both languages - Tamil and Hindi. He is keen on photography and also loves to paint. A deeply spiritual person, he has composed several devotional songs inspired by the Hindu mystic Ramana Maharishi. 

Sangeetha Kanavugal (Musical Dreams - about his European tour) 

Vettaveli thanil kotti kidakkuthu (Poems) 

Vazhithunai 

Gnagna Ganga 

Paal Nila Paathai 

Unmaikku Thirai Yethu? 

Yaarukku Yaar Ezhuthuvathu? 

En Narambu Veenai

Awards have poured in from various quarters for Illaiyaraja.

National Film Awards (India) 

1984 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Saagara Sangamam 

1986 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Sindhu Bhairavi 

1989 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Rudra Veena 

WorldFest Houston (USA) 

2005 - Won - Gold Remi Award - Best Music Score - Vishwa Thulasi 

The Kalaimamani Award, an annual award for excellence in the field of arts. Presented by the Government of the State of Tamil Nadu, India. 

Award of Government of the State of Andhra Pradesh, India, for excellence in music. 

Conferred the title Isaignani (genius of music) in the year 1988, at Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India. 

Conferred the Degree of Doctor of Letter (Honoris causa) in March, 1994, by the Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India. 

Conferred the Cultural Doctorate in Philosophy of Music, in April, 1994, by the World University Round Table, Arizona, U.S.A. 

Award of Appreciation, in 1994, from the Foundation and Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America. 

Bestowed with an honorary citizenship and presented with the key to the Teanech township, by Mr. John Abraham, Mayor of the township of Teanech, New Jersey, U.S.A., in June, 1994. 

Presented with the Award of Government of the State of Kerala, India, in 1995 for excellence in music. 

Conferred the Degree of Doctor of Letters, in 1996, by the Madurai Kamarajar University, Tamil Nadu, India. 

The Lata Mangeshkar Award For Excellence in Music, conferred by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, India in 1998.

LIST OF FILM ALBUMS

Tamil

Year Album

1978 Sigappu Rojakkal 

1981 Tick! Tick! Tick! 

1983 Moondram Pirai 

1985 Muthal Mariyathai 

1985 Sindhu Bhairavi 

1986 Mouna Raagam 

1986 Punnagai Mannan 

1987 Nayakan 

1989 Karakattakaran 

1990 Mannan 

1991 Thalapathi 

1992 Guna 

1997 Kadhalukku Mariyadhai 

1999 Sethu 

2002 Azhagi 

2007 Ajantha 

Malayalam

Year Album 

1982 Olangal 

1983 Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu 

1984 My Dear Kuttichathan 

1985 Yatra 

1986 Poomukhapadiyil Ninneyum Kathu 

1988 Moonnam Pakkam 

1989 Adharvam 

1991 Ente Sooryaputhikku 

1992 Pappayude Swantham Appoos 

1996 Kaalapani 

1997 Guru 

2000 Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal 

2001 Friends

2003 Manasina kkare 

2005 Achuvinte Amma 

2006 Rasathantram 

Telugu

Year Album 

1983 Mantrigari Viyyankudu 

1983 Sitaara 

1983 Saagara Sangamam 

1985 Swathi Muthyam 

1987 Anweshana 

1988 Rudraveena 

1988 Swarna Kamalam 

1990 Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari 

1992 Abhinandana 

2007 Anumanaspadam 

Kannada

Year Album

1978 Maathu Tappada Maga

1981 Geeta 

1981 Nee Nanna Gellalaare 

1981 Janma Janmada Anubandha 

1981 Shikaari 

1981 Bharjari Bete 

1983 Accident 

1984 Pallavi Anupallavi 

1995 Shivasainya 

1996 Gulabi 

1996 Nammoora Mandara Hoove

1997 Bhoomigeeta 

1998 Hoomale 

2003 Usire 

2004 Namma Preetiya Ramu

2007 Ajantha 

SOME OF HIS SUCCESSFUL TAMIL FILM ALBUMS

16 Vayathinilae (contains National Award-winning song Sendhoora Poove, sung by S. Janaki) 

Agni Natchatram (directed by Mani Ratnam) 

Alaigal Oivathillai 

Anjali (500th film, directed by Mani Ratnam) 

Azhagi (contains National Award winning-song Paattu Solli Pada Solli, sung by Sadhana Sargam) 

Bharathi (contains National Award-winning song Mayil Pola, sung by Bhavatharini Ilayaraja) 

Chinna Thambi 

Dalapathi (a Mani Ratnam film) 

Devar Magan (600th film - contains National Award-winning song Inji Idupazhaga, sung by S. Janaki and Kamal Hassan) 

Ejamaan 

Enga Ooru Paatukaran (contains the popular song Shenbagamae, sung by Asha Bhosle) 

Guna (contains the popular song Kanmani Anbodu, a duet by Kamal Hassan and S. Janaki) 

Hey Ram (contains Aparna's Theme (or Nee Partha) and Janmon Ki Jwala, sung by Asha Bhosle) 

Karakaatakaran 

Idhayam 

Idhaya Koil (a Mani Ratnam film) 

Johnny 

Kadolara Kavithaikal 

Mannan 

Mella Thiranthathu Kathavu (co-scored with M.S.Vishwanathan) 

Moondram Pirai (the Award-winning film by Balu Mahendra) 

Mouna Ragam (a Mani Ratnam film) 

Mudhal Mariyathai (contains the National Award-winning song Poongkatru Thirumbuma, the lyrics of which was penned by Vairamuthu) 

Mumbai Xpress 

Nallavanukku Nallavan 

Nayakan (400th film -- directed by Mani Ratnam) 

Nineivellam Nithya 

Nizhalgal 

Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal 

Punnagai Mannan 

Salangai Oli (contains the National Award-winning song Thagida Thathimi, sung by S.P. Balasubramaniam) 

Sigappu Rojakkal 

Sindhu Bhairavi (a film by K. Balachander; awarded the National Award for best musical direction) 

Siraichaalai 

Siva 

Tic..Tic..Tic.. 

Udhaya Geetham 

Velaikaaran 

Virumandi (Sandiyar) 

Note: For a more extensive list, go to [].

SELECTED MALAYALAM HITS

Olangal (1982) 

Sandhyakku Virinja Poovu (1983) 

Aalolam (1983) 

Pin Nilavu (1983) 

Aa Rathri (1983) 

Onnanu Nammal (1984) 

My Dear Kuttichathan (1984) 

Yatra (1985) 

Poomukhapadiyil Ninneyum Kathu (1986) 

Adharvam (1989) 

Ente Sooryaputhikku (1991) 

Pappayude Swantham Appoos (1992) 

Kaalapani (1996) 

Guru (1997) 

Kaliyoonjal (1997) 

Oru Yathramozhi (1997) 

Moonnam Pakkam (1988) 

Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (2000) 

Friends (2001) 

Manasinakkare' (2003) 

Ponmudipuzhayorathu (2005) 

Achuvinte Amma (2005) 

Rasathantram (2006) 

Pachakuthira (2006) 

Ilayaraja has always maintained that his music is a gift from the gods. No wonder then that his music sounds divine!