Ilaiyaraaja

He was born into a Dalit family in Pannaipuram, in what is now Theni district, Tamil Nadu, and grew up surrounded by village folk music. At 14 he joined the Pavalar Brothers, a travelling troupe led by his elder brother Pavalar Varadarajan, and spent a decade performing across South India. He later moved to Madras with very little money, studied Western music with Master Dhanraj, took a classical guitar qualification from Trinity College of Music, London, and learnt Carnatic music from T. V. Gopalakrishnan. Through the early 1970s he worked as a session guitarist and keyboardist, and as assistant to the Kannada composer G. K. Venkatesh on roughly 200 films.

Film career

Producer Panchu Arunachalam heard him sing a tune casually and gave him Annakili (1976). He also added the prefix Ilaiya (younger) to the name Raaja, because another composer, A. M. Rajah, was already well known. The folk-rooted songs of Annakili were a sensation, and by the 1980s Ilaiyaraaja dominated Tamil cinema while working heavily in Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. His long partnerships with directors such as Bharathiraja, Mahendran, Balu Mahendra, Mani Ratnam and K. Viswanath, and with singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S Janaki and K. S. Chithra, produced soundtracks including Mullum Malarum, Moondram Pirai, Sagara Sangamam, Mouna Ragam, Nayakan, Thalapathi and Thevar Magan. He was an early adopter of synthesisers and computer sequencing in Indian film music, and his background scores are studied as closely as his songs. He composes melodies on the same harmonium he has used throughout his career and is known for remarkable speed.

He remains active in his eighties. Recent work includes Vetrimaaran's Viduthalai films, the Sri Lankan Tamil drama Anthony (2026), and Karthik Subbaraj's Dorothy (2026), billed as his 1,540th film. Dorothy had its world premiere in the Centrepiece section of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation and became the first Tamil feature to premiere at TIFF in a decade. At Ilaiyaraaja's suggestion, its soundtrack was released as an album, on vinyl, ahead of the film.

Beyond film

His non-film work began with How to Name It? (1986), a fusion of Carnatic forms with Bach-style counterpoint dedicated to Tyagaraja and J. S. Bach, followed by Nothing But Wind (1988) with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. Thiruvasagam (2005) set ancient Tamil devotional poetry as an oratorio with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, with English lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. He has also written Carnatic kritis, recorded by U. Srinivas on mandolin, and many devotional albums.

Symphony No. 1, Valiant, was reportedly written in about 34 days, recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Mikel Toms, and released in January 2025. Its live premiere took place at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, on 8 March 2025 with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, followed by performances in Dubai and Chennai. In early 2026 he announced that his second symphony was almost fully written, alongside a new orchestral piece titled Symphonic Dancers.

Recognition

Five National Film Awards: three for Best Music Direction (Sagara Sangamam, Sindhu Bhairavi, Rudraveena) and two for Best Background Score (Pazhassi Raja, Tharai Thappattai)Padma Bhushan (2010) and Padma Vibhushan (2018)Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2012)Nominated to the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house, in July 2022

His music has travelled well beyond India: The Black Eyed Peas sampled him on The Elephunk Theme, and M.I.A. used a Thalapathi track on Bamboo Banga. He has also been forceful about composers' rights over his catalogue, taking film producers and performers to court over unlicensed use.

Fifty years

2026 marks fifty years since Annakili. He was the first cover star of Billboard India, toured anniversary concerts through India, the UK, North America and Australia, and was honoured with a commemorative stamp at a ceremony with the Victorian state government in Australia. Two of his recent scores reached major international platforms that year: Dorothy premiered at TIFF, and the Marathi film Gondhal was selected as India's official entry for the 99th Academy Awards.

Family

He was married to Jeeva, who died in 2011. Their children Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja and Bhavatharini all became composers and singers; Bhavatharini died in January 2024. His brother Gangai Amaran is also a composer and lyricist. He lives and works in Chennai.