Ilaiyaraaja Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ilaiyaraaja

• Does Ilaiyaraaja smoke?: Not Known

• Does Ilaiyaraaja drink alcohol?: Not Known

• He is one of the most famous music composers in South Indian cinema whose compositions have been used mostly in Tamil and Telugu films.

• He belongs to a poor rural Dalit family.

• Since his childhood, he has a great interest in Tamil folk music.

• In his teenage, he joined and spent time with the theatre artists as well as music group headed by his elder step-brother Pavalar Varadarajan. 

• At the age of 25, he moved to the Southern Movie Capital in Chennai. 

• His first composition was an adaptation of an elegy created by a famous Tamil poet Kannadasan for Jawaharlal Nehru (first prime minister of India).

• He got the training of playing instruments and learned different forms of music from his Guru Dhanraj Master who gave him the name Raaja.

• He learned the classical guitar at Trinity College of Music, London. 

• In 1968, accompanying Professor Dhanraj in Chennai, he started a music course that comprised western classical music, instrumental performance, and compositional training, etc.

• During the 1970s, he worked as a keyboardist, session guitarist, and organist for different composers and directors in West Bengal.

• He worked as an assistant music director with G. K. Venkatesh, a Kannada film composer and involved in 200 film projects.

• He used to orchestrate the melodic outlines created by Venkatesh and also wrote his own scores.

• In order to listen to his compositions, he used to hire instruments from R. K. Shekhar, a famous composer, and father of A. R. Rahman (a prominent composer) who later worked with him as a keyboardist.

• In 1976, he got an offer to compose the songs of a Tamil film, Annakili, produced by Panchu Arunachalam. For this film, he used the technique of modern music orchestration and Tamil folk song melodies. The most popular song in this film is “Machchana Partheengala” sung by S. Janaki. 

• Richard King, a sound engineer and five-time Grammy award winner, called him the ”Musical Face of India.”

• His dramatic and evocative melodies give texture through subtle background music to the different scenes in films.

• In 1993, he got a gold medal for his expertise in classical guitar (from Trinity College of Music, London).

• In 1994, he discovered a new raga named ”Panjamugi .”

• He is the music composer of over 6000 songs and provided background music in more than 840 movies of different languages. 

• He is the first Asian who created a Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) in London in 1993.

• With the help of 200 musicians from India as well as Hungary, he composed an album ”Thiruvasagam – A Symphonic Oratorio” with Symphony Orchestra of Budapest, which is a beautiful synchronization of eastern and western music. He has also blended the music of west with Tamil folk lyricism.

• By 1980s, he won popularity as a reputed film composer and music director in the South Film Industry of India.

• Not just for Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films, he also composed music for the famous Hindi movies like Sadma, Mahadev, Lajja, Cheeni Kum and Paa.

• He has worked with famous lyricists like Kannadasan, Gulzar, Veturi Sundararama Murthy, T. S. Rangarajan (Vaali), Vairamuthu, and Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.

• He has also worked with famous film directors such as Mani Ratnam, Bharathi Raaja, K. Vishwanath, Vamsy, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, K. Balachander, and Balu Mahendra, etc.

• For the movies Saagara Sangamam in 1984, Sindhu Bhairavi in 1986, and Rudraveena in 1989, he won the National Film Award for the Best Music Director, and for Pazhassi Raja (2010), he won the award of the Best Background score.

• The governments of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh honoured him for his great contribution to the music industry.

• In 1988, M. Karunanidhi the former Chief Minister of TamilNadu gave him the title ”Isaignani” (English: Savant of Music) and he also received the Kalaimamani Award for excellence in the field of arts.

• Citizens from 155 countries voted his famous composition “Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu” (1991 film Thalapathi) and ranked it on number four in the top ten list of world’s famous songs.

• In March 1994, Annamalai University, and in 1996, Madurai Kamarajar University of Tamil Nadu, gave him the Degrees of ”Doctor of Letter.”

• ”Just Plain Folks Music Organization” (in the United States), which is one of the largest music organizations in the world, chose him as a nominee in the Best Indian album Music Awards category.

• During the 2000s, he also composed non-film music in different varieties like devotional and oratorio.

• His famous non-film album- ”How To Name It?” (1986) is the fusion of Carnatic form with the Bach partitas and Baroque musical textures. The other one ”Nothing But Wind” (1988)’s music corresponds different forms of air currents. 

• He has given his own voice to over 400 compositions.

• The well-known playback singers such as P. Susheela, S. Janaki, Lata Mangeshkar, S. P. Balasubramaniam, K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chitra, S. P. Sailaja, Swarnalatha, Asha Bhonsle, Shreya Ghoshal, and many other prominent vocalists have lent their voices to his music.

• He has also composed music for the events like 1996 Miss World in Bangalore, India.

• Under his film production company “Pavalar Creations,” he produced a few Tamil movies like Rajathi Raja (1989) and Singaravelan (1992). He has another film production company named ” Ilaiyaraaja Creation’s.”

• In 2004, he performed live at the Teatro Comunale di Modena, Italy, where he played a song with just three notes (sa, re, ga) and was telecasted throughout the world.

• On 16 October 2005, he performed live in a four-hour concert held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. Similarly, he expressed his great talent in different parts of the world.

• At the starting days of his career, he has also done charity concerts and small-scale shows in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

• He, along with film composer M. S. Viswanathan, won the Gold Remi Award for Best Music Score of the film Vishwa Thulasi in 2005.

• He received the ‘Padma Bhushan’ award (2009) from the Former President of India Pratibha Patil for the “Best Background Score” category in the Malayalam film Pazhassi Raja. 

• He has written the story and songs of a popular Tamil language film ”Nadodi Thendral” directed by Bharathiraja in 1992.

• In 2010, Orissa government gave him ”Akshaya Samman,” a musical award.

• John Abraham, Mayor of Teaneck, U.S.A. offered him the honorary citizenship and key to the Teaneck Township, New Jersey.

• In 2012, he got Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his experimental musical works.

• In 2013, a poll conducted by CNN-IBN in which he was voted (49%) the greatest music composer of India.

• He was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Ramana Maharishi of 20th Century and called him his ”Zen master.”

• In 2016, he received Jagjit Singh Memorial Award. 

• In 2018, he has been nominated for Padma Vibhushan (the second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna in India).

• In July 2022, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India.

The creative genius of @ilaiyaraaja Ji has enthralled people across generations. His works beautifully reflect many emotions. What is equally inspiring is his life journey- he rose from a humble background and achieved so much. Glad that he has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha. pic.twitter.com/VH6wedLByC

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2022