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Ilaiyaraaja is a Actor, Lyricist, Director of Photography, Editor, Art Direction, Sound and Cinematography Indian born on 3 june 1943
Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanadesikan) is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in the South Indian cinema since the late 1970s. Regarded as one of the finest music composers in India, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 5000 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 films, particularly being acclaimed for his background scoring.
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 four Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and one 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, people from 155 countries voted his composition Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu from the 1991 film Thalapathi as 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.
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. 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%.
Source : Wikidata
Ilaiyaraaja
Birth name Gnanathesigan
Nationality Inde
Birth 3 june 1943 (81 years)
Awards Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, National Film Award for Best Music Direction, Filmfare Awards South, Nandi Awards
Nationality Inde
Birth 3 june 1943 (81 years)
Awards Padma Bhushan, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, National Film Award for Best Music Direction, Filmfare Awards South, Nandi Awards
Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanadesikan) is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in the South Indian cinema since the late 1970s. Regarded as one of the finest music composers in India, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 5000 songs and provided film scores for more than 1000 films, particularly being acclaimed for his background scoring.
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 four Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and one 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, people from 155 countries voted his composition Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu from the 1991 film Thalapathi as 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.
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. 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%.
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Filmography of Ilaiyaraaja (803 films)
Actor
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Touring Talkies (2015)
, 2h16Directed by S.A.Chandrasekhar
Genres Drama
Actors Manobala, S.A.Chandrasekhar, Robo Shankar, V. I. S. Jayapalan, Jiiva, Ameer Sultan
Rating39%
Amaidhi Padai (1994)
, 2h40Directed by S. Manivannan
Genres Drama, Comedy, Crime
Themes Political films
Actors Sathyaraj, S. Manivannan, Ranjitha, Sujatha, Kasthuri, Ilaiyaraaja
Rating76%
Amavasai (Sathyaraj),homeless but egoistic, gets acquainted to politician Manimaran, then MLA of palladam constituency, near tirupur (Manivannan). Amavasai helps Mani with some petty tasks during election campaign and meetings. Amavasai grows into a well acclaimed helper and first associate for Mani. Meanwhile Amavasai falls in love with thayamma(Kasthuri) and one day gives her some drug making her groggy and then deflowers her. Mani instructs Amavasai to stand for MLA election as independent candidate in the coming general election with his support as mani was not given his party ticket. Amavasai wins by huge margin and becomes the MLA. He forgets his relationship with Kasthuri and rejects her pregnancy and child. Kasthuri and her parents move out of that village to avoid humiliation. Soon kasthuri gives birth to a boy and dies. Amavasai forgets Mani's help and forces him in role under him. He changes his name to Nagaraja Cholan for gaining social status. He marries the only daughter of the rich local landlord, Sivakami (Sujatha) and even cheats him of his Palace. Over years Amavasai grows into highly influential and corrupt politician with high criminal affluence. He builds a strong political empire through shortcuts. His ego and pride to remain in power make him kill many. He wins and remains as MLA of palladam in all the general elections for next 20 years.
Villu Pattukaran (1991)
, 2h10Directed by Gangai Amaran
Actors Ramarajan, Rani, Chandrasekhar (Tamil actor), M. N. Nambiar, Goundamani, Senthil
Rating56%
Kalimuthu (Ramarajan) is the lead singer of a group performing Villu Paatu. The village head (Shanmugasundaram) decides to reconstruct the tumbledown village temple and gives Kalimuthu responsibility for funding money. Finally, the music director Ilaiyaraaja helps them financially. Then, Kalimuthu approaches a reputed sculptor (M. N. Nambiar) from another village. The sculptor and his daughter Abhirami (Rani) come to their village. Later, Kalimuthu and Abhirami fall in love with each other. Abhirami's father wants to marry Abhirami to his nephew Rajasekharan (Chandrasekhar) while the village head's son Chelladurai (Vikas Rishi), a womanizer, has an eye for Abhirami. What transpires later forms the crux of the story.
Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal (1989)
Directed by Kailasam Balachander
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Rashin Rahman, Sithara, Geetha, Jayachitra, Janagaraj, Sowcar Janaki
Roles himself in kalayanamalai song
Rating69%
This refreshing tale from K. Balachander focuses on the fairly realistic tale of a famous singer Bharathi (Rahman with singing by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam) and his extremely possessive wife named Gowri (Geetha). Tricked into marriage by his convincing mother-in-law, what really irks Bharathi is his wife’s inability to deal with his rabid female fans. Tensions escalate until Bharathi flees from home and ends up encountering someone else named Jyothi (Sithara) who’s also escaping from her life as a dancer because her husband made her dance forcefully and tried forcing her to be a prostitute.
Bloodstone (1988)
, 1h27Directed by Dwight H. Little
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action, Adventure
Themes Transport films, Road movies, Chase films
Actors Rajinikanth, Charlie Brill, Jack Kehler, Christopher Neame, Ilaiyaraaja, Bob Christo
Rating46%
In 12th Century India, a huge ruby was bestowed with the power of good and the curse of evil by the spilt blood of Princess Lafla. In the 18th Century, the British stole it. In today's India, small-time crook Paul Lorre steals the stone back, but while attempting delivery to international fence Ludwig Van Hoeven, realizes the authorities are onto him and slips the priceless gem into the baggage of the unsuspecting Sandy and Stephanie McVey, Lorre manages to indicate the American couple and their streetwise taxi driver Shyam Sabu (Rajinikanth) to Van Hoeven's thugs. Sabu realizes that he is being followed, but he does not see the huge ruby fall into a crevice inside his trunk while dropping Sandy and Stephanie at their hotel. Soon Sandy and Sabu are both in action; Sandy in a brutal fight with two thieves ransacking his room and Sabu in a life-or-death car chase and shootout.
Rettai Vaal Kuruvi (1987)
Directed by Balu Mahendra
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Actors Mohan, Raadhika Sarathkumar, Archana, V K Ramasamy, Thengai Srinivasan, Ilaiyaraaja
Roles Himself
Rating70%
Gopi (Mohan) works in a TV station under V K Ramasamy. His wife is Tulasi(Archana) whom he knew since their early days. He meets Radhika, a singer. Love develops between them into marriage.
Nizhalgal (1980)
, 1h57Directed by P. Bharathiraja
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Nizhalgal Ravi, Chandrasekhar (Tamil actor), Raadhu, S. Manivannan, Janagaraj, Charuhasan
Roles Special Appearance
Rating73%
Gopi and Hari, two unemployed graduates, share a room and live together in Madras. While Gopi is looking for a job, Hari aspires to become a music composer in the film industry. They both manage to make ends meet with the help of their friends. Their neighbour is Prabhu, a college-going student who spends all the time in smoking, painting and singing. A new family relocates to their apartment. The couple have a daughter Maha. Prabhu and Maha both study in the same college and become good friends. Prabhu decided to apprentice under a Veena expert. Much to his disappointment, the expert dies before he joins the class.
Scriptwriter
Nandalala (2010)
, 2h5Directed by Mysskin
Genres Drama
Themes Transport films, Road movies
Actors Snigdha Akolkar, Mysskin, Rohini, Nassar, Kalaiyarasan
Roles Lyricist
Rating76%
Virumaandi (2004)
, 2h45Directed by Kamal Haasan
Genres Drama, Action
Themes Films about capital punishment
Actors Kamal Haasan, Abhirami, Nassar, Pasupathy, Rohini, Sennalkudi Narayana Thevar Lakshmi
Roles Lyricist
Rating83%
The film starts with Angela Kathamuthu (Rohini) and her cameraman in Central Jail interviewing prisoners serving life imprisonment and awaiting the death sentence. She meets Kothala Thevar (Pasupathy) who is serving a life sentence. He tells his version of the story that led to his conviction. According to him the root cause of the problem is Virumaandi (Kamal Haasan) - the happy go lucky rogue. His support to Kothala Thevar in his clash against Nallama Naicker (Napoleon) brings about a bonding between the two. Annalakshmi (Abhirami), the niece of Thevar falls for Virumaandi. Thevar with an eye on the fertile land owned by Virumaandi does not object to the romance. According to Thevar, Annalakshmi was abducted by Virumaandi and raped. A clash between Virumaandi and Thevar takes places in which 24 innocent people are killed.
Hey Ram (2000)
, 3h22Directed by Kamal Haasan
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Historical, Crime
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Bollywood
Actors Kamal Haasan, Shahrukh Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Hema Malini, Rani Mukherjee, Abbas
Roles Lyricist
Rating78%
The film is about a protagonist's journey from religious hatred to love with the theme of the partition of Bengal in the background. Its relevance in the present Indian environment clouded by religious extremism was widely unrecognised. This is the story of Saket Ram, as narrated by his grandson. The film takes place as Ram, a retired archaeologist, lies on the deathbed, on 6 December 1999, the 7th anniversary of the destruction of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
Nadodi Thendral (1992)
, 2h20Directed by P. Bharathiraja
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Actors Karthik, Ranjitha, Pandiyan, Kavitha, Janagaraj
Roles Lyricist
Rating68%
The story reveals around a triangular love between Karthik, Ranjitha and an English lady (District collector's daughter) during the British occupation in India. Karthik is a goldsmith's son, so he is too and Ranjitha is a gypsy woman has a poultry. At the start they both collide and very soon both falls for each other. At the same time, the braveness of Karthik is impressing the District Collector's sister's heart as well. The rest of the movie deals with how the lovers getting united with the help of the English lady
En Jeevan Paaduthu (1988)
, 1h50Directed by R. Sundarrajan
Genres Drama, Horror, Romance
Actors Karthik, Saranya, Aachi Manorama, Kapil Dev, Chinni Jayanth, Captain Raju
Roles Lyricist
Rating64%
Nayakan (1987)
, 2h25Directed by Mani Ratnam
Origin Inde
Genres Drama, Action, Crime
Themes Mafia films, Films about music and musicians, Politique, Musical films, Political films, Gangster films
Actors Kamal Haasan, Saranya, Karthika, Nassar, Janagaraj, Delhi Ganesh
Roles Lyricist
Rating86%
Sakthivelu alias "Velu" Nayakan is the son of an anti-government union leader (Kitty). The child, Velu, is tricked by the police into locating his father, and then witnesses his father's death in a police shootout; he later kills the person who was the cause of his father's death and escapes to Bombay.
Cameraman
Mudhal Mariyathai (1985)
, 2h40Directed by P. Bharathiraja
Genres Drama
Actors Sivaji Ganesan, Radha, Sathyaraj, Vadivukkarasi, Ranjini, Janagaraj
Roles Director of Photography
Rating77%
The film commences with friends and family of an ailing village head, Malaichami (Sivaji Ganesan), gathered around him on his death bed. The plot then moves along in a series of flashbacks, featuring significant episodes of the dying man's life. These include the presence of a boatman's young daughter Kuyil (Radha) in his village. The protagonist is unhappily married to a shrewish wife by the name of Ponnatha (Vadivukkarasi), and seeks comfort and solace in a friendship with Kuyil. The friendship raises eyebrows, and is socially awkward and complicated for both Malaichami and Kuyil.
Editor
Aan Paavam (1985)
Directed by Pandiarajan
Genres Comedy
Actors Pandiarajan, Revathi, Pandiyan, V K Ramasamy, Janagaraj, Seetha
Roles Editor
Rating79%
Pandian and Pandiarajan are two notorious sons of the village cinema owner V. K. Ramasamy. Pandian goes to a neighbouring village to see a girl as arranged by his father towards his marriage and ends up in the wrong house. Cinematically, those in the wrong house were also expecting a lad to see their daughter on the same-time and the same-day. Contrary to real time arranged marriages pandian goes to see the girl totally un-aided by parents, relatives & friends. Nevertheless, he takes a liking to the girl, Seetha and decides to marry her. Seetha likes the lad and decides to accept the proposal. Meanwhile, Seetha's marriage broker shows up and clarifies that Pandian was supposed to have gone to see some other girl but ended up in the wrong house. Hearing this, Pandian, Seetha as well as Seetha's parents seem disappointed. While Pandian's father fixes dates for Pandian's marriage to the girl originally chosen for him - Revathi, a school teacher's daughter. Pandian's adamance to marry Seetha causes a strange turn of events. Pandiyarajan, the younger brother, finally marries Revathi while Pandian ties the knot with this love Seetha.