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Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraaja

Sound

Biography

Ilaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer who works in the South Indian cinema predominantly in Tamil since mid 1970s. Widely regarded as one of the the greatest Indian music composers of all time, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 6500 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 films, also being acclaimed for his exceptional background scores. Singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra and S. Janaki have sung more of his songs than any other singers. He integrated folk—in Tamil—and introduced western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream. Ilaiyaraja is also known for creating music by fusing symphonic orchestration with traditional Indian instrumentation, often performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra. In 1993 he organised a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and thus became the First Indian to compose a full symphony, with Ravi Shankar being the only other Indian to do so. He is also the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won five Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score. In 2010 he has received Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India. In the 2000s, he composed a variety of non-film music, including religious and devotional songs, an oratorio, and world music. He is usually referred to by the title Isaignani (English: Musical Genius), or as The Maestro. Ilaiyaraja is a gold medalist in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London. 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 the fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time. He was also nominated in the Best Indian album Music Awards category at US based Just Plain Folks Music Organization, which is the largest grassroots music organization in the world, and stood third for his "Music Journey: Live in Italy". In 2012 he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his creative and experimental works in music field. In 2014 he has been chosen for his outstanding contribution to the Indian film music and was awarded the SIES Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence award. In 2015, he was also honoured with the Centenary Award for lifetime achievement at the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Panaji, Goa. On December 31, 2015, he was nominated by the Kerala Government for Nishagandi Puraskaram, the top award conferred by the Kerala Government's Tourism Ministry, for his artistic excellence and contributions to the Indian film industry. Popular world cinema portal Taste of Cinema placed Ilaiyaraja at the 9th position in its list of 25 greatest film composers in the cinema history thus becoming the only Indian to feature in that list. In a poll conducted by CNN-IBN celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013, Ilaiyaraaja was voted as the greatest music composer of India with a maximum of 49%.

Known For

Magalir Mattum
7.1

In a male-dominated world, three women from different walks of life unite against their predatory manager, challenging his atrocities and pushing back with a bold feminist agenda.

Magalir Mattum

1994
Modern Love Chennai
6.1

An eclectic bouquet of love stories – funny, quirky, deep and puzzling. While the stories converse with your heart, you also catch a glimpse into the soul of Chennai with its unique terrains and diverse inhabitants.

Modern Love Chennai

2023
Psycho
5.1

Based on the Buddhist tale of Angulimala, a dreaded serial killer, Psycho tells the story of a blind man who gets involved in a murder mystery. trying to save his lover from a psychopath who has kidnapped her.

Psycho

2020
Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary
N/A

A story of a film director and his experience in film industry.

Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary

2017
Ki & Ka
5.5

An unconventional woman, gains immense success in her professional life but things take a turn when she meets a guy, who wants to be a house husband.

Ki & Ka

2016
Kokilam
8.0

Siddhartha, a typical young man, falls in love with Kokila. She too eventually falls for him and both get married. At first they live happily, however later on Siddhartha loses his eyes in an accident, which is when trouble starts for them.

Kokilam

1990
Kadhal Kadhai
N/A

Three women become victims of lust and lose out on morality as they comply with the sexual urges of their lovers and get involved in extra-marital affairs.

Kadhal Kadhai

2009
April 1st Vidudala
8.0

Young Divakaram, a habitual liar, takes up the challenge of transforming himself into an honest man in order to win the heart of his lover, Bhuvaneshwari.

April 1st Vidudala

1991
60 Vayadhu Maaniram
N/A

An ambitious son sets out to find his missing father, who suffers from memory loss, with the help of two people

60 Vayadhu Maaniram

2018
Tamilarasan
3.1

Frustrated with a greedy hospital, an honest cop takes its heart surgeon hostage to save his son. Can he succeed, especially with his corrupt superior Rana Pratap Singh already has a bone to pick with him, trying to put him down?

Tamilarasan

2023
Thalapathi
8.0

Surya, a courageous man who was raised in the slums, fights for the rights of the poor and befriends Deva, who hires him as his commander and changes his life completely.

Thalapathi

1991
Sankarlal
9.0

A criminal, Chelladurai, frames the innocent Dharmalingam for a crime which leads to the latter being jailed. Years later, Dharmalingam returns to take revenge and establish contact with his family.

Sankarlal

1981
No image
10.0

Ravi Varma (Sivakumar), who sentenced to life prison for murdering his wife Kala (Radha), tell his story to his wife's Sister Sujatha (Jayashree), a news reporter, about the true story of what happened. The film was a remake of Malayalam film Nirakkoottu

Manithanin Marupakkam

1986
Johnny
5.3

Johnny loves Archana, a popular singer, but their lives are disrupted when Johnny's lookalike kills his lover and tries to pin the blame on Johnny.

Johnny

1980
Custody
5.0

Siva, a police officer, has to escort a witness to the court. He learns that all the police service wants to kill the witness. An escape begins.

Custody

2023
Ore Oru Gramathiley
7.0

Shankara fakes a lower-caste certificate for his daughter Gayathri, as he worries that she might not get entrance to university otherwise. Trouble begins when people discover her real identity.

Ore Oru Gramathiley

1987
Paa
6.4

Auro suffers from a progeria like syndrome. Mentally he is 13 but physically he looks 5 times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya, who is a gynaecologist. Amol is young, progressive politician. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol's son. Paa is a 'rare' story about a father-son, son-father relationship.

Paa

2009
Tadka
6.6

A middle-aged Tukaram is passionate about food and archaeology but it’s a misplaced call from Madhura that adds the tadka to his life. While love simmers, Nicole and Sidharth’s story spices up too.

Tadka

2022
Sri Raghavendrar
6.7

The story of the great Indian saint Raghavendra Swami. Born as Venkatanatha, he proved to be a very brilliant scholar from a very young age. After enduring a series of profound life challenges, he embraced sannyasa following his master and the divine.

Sri Raghavendrar

1985
Hero
6.3

A fraudster gets to fulfill his childhood dream of being a superhero when he takes on a ruthless businessman whose business strategy is to crush the dreams of children.

Hero

2019