Regarded as one among the greatest music composers ever to born in the country, ‘Isaignani’
Ilaiyaraaja is a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, orchestrator, conductor-arranger and a lyricist. The
maestro
of Indian regional cinema who melded musical styles, introduced new sounds and carved a niche for himself, holds a special place among the past, present and future generations to come. In recent times with new forms of music ruling the roost, Ilaiyaraaja’s songs itself became a genre in the Indian music circuit. Fondly called as the musical genius of the millennium, the Tamil Nadu-born musician is turning 77 on June 2.
In an illustrious career spanning for four decades, the legendary personality composed close to 8000 songs and worked as the music director for a whopping 1000+ films with a massive number of chartbusters than anyone else in the showbiz business. Hailing from a humble background and rural hinterlands, he took ordinary elements of day-to-day life, brought them to cassettes, CDs and eventually the silver screen, and wove magic in the world of music.
After acquiring a gold medal in classical guitar from the Trinity College of Music (London) in 1993, Ilaiyaraaja became the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London's Walthamstow Town Hall. In an online poll conducted by a leading news agency celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema, he was voted as the all-time greatest music director of India. According to Taste of Cinema, he holds a place among legends like Nino Rota, Bernard Herreman and Ennio Morricone, as one of the world’s top 25 accomplished film music composers.
He was also one among the earliest Indian composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in his films. Over the last forty years, the maestro had composed songs that amalgamated elements of genres such as Afro-tribal, Bossa nova, dance music (e.g., disco), doo-wop, flamenco, acoustic guitar-propelled Western folk, funk, Indian classical, Indian folk/traditional, jazz, march, pathos, pop, psychedelic and rock & roll.
Before his meteoric rise as a composer, Ilaiyaraaja worked with famous music directors like M.S. Viswanathan, Salil Choudhury and G.K. Venkatesh, while simultaneously trying to compose his own tunes. Along with songs, one of his greatest strengths and contributions to films is his BGM scores.
With four national awards in his kitty, Ilaiyaraaja was honoured with the
Padma Vibhushan
in 2018, the second-highest civilian award in the Republic of India. Surprisingly, among the four national trophies, two came for Telugu films ‘Rudraveena’ (1989) and ‘Sagara Sangamam’ (1984). On the occasion of his 77th birthday, check out some soothing
Telugu songs
sung by the legend himself.
‘Kalaya Nijama’ from Coolie No. 1 (1991) ‘Laayi Laayi’ from Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu (2012) ‘Gayam Thagili’ from Dhoni (2014) Title Song from Mana Oori Ramayanam (2016) Title song from Gundello Godari (2013)