Ilaiyaraaja Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family, Education, Height, Weight, Movies List, Career, Profession, Net Worth

IlaiyaraajaWiki and Biography: Ilaiyaraaja was born on June 2, 1943, in the village of Kambam, Theni district, Madras Presidency, Southern Tamil Nadu, India. His original name, Gnanathesikan, was changed to the more modern Ilaiyaraaja. Karthik Raja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, and Bhavatharini are the musically gifted children he and Jeeva raised. While Ilaiyaraaja was growing up in the countryside, he was exposed to various styles of Tamil folk music.

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Ilaiyaraaja Wiki: Biography, Age, Girl Friend, Family, Education, Height, Weight, Wife, Movies List, Career, Profession, Net Worth

Real Name	Gnanathesikan, Daniel Rajayya
Nick Name	Ilaiyaraaja
Profession	Music Director, Singer
Famous For	Music
Wife Name	Jeeva
Physical Status
Age	79 years
Height	5”4
Weight	62Kgs
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Gray, Semi Bald
Personal Information
Date of Birth	2 June 1943
Birth Place	Pannaipuram, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac Sign	Gemini
Nationality	Indian
School Name
College Name	Trinity College of Music, London
Qualifications	Degree in Western Art Music
Family Profile
Father Name	Daniel Ramaswamy
Mother Name	Chinnathayammal
Siblings	Pavalar Varatharajan (Poet), Amar Singh (Gangai Amaran) (Music Director and Lyricist), Daniel Bhaskar
Career	Musician
Source of Income	Movies, Shows
Worked For	Movies
Net Worth Salary	Rs. 189 Crores+(Approx.)

Ilaiyaraaja Biography

Ilaiyaraaja Education

His father legally changed his name from Gnanathesigan to Rajaiya when he started school, he went to a collage called Trinity College of Music, London to pursue his degree in western art music, however, everyone in the hamlet still called him Raasayya. Dhanraj’s Master rechristened him “Raaja” after he became a student learning to play musical instruments. For his debut film Annakili, producer Panchu Arunachalam gave him the new name Ilaiyaraaja, with the prefix “Ilaiya” (Ilaiya meaning “younger” in Tamil), because another well-known music director, A., had the same suffix in the 1970s. A. M. Rajah.

Ilaiyaraaja Early Life

He joined a musical troupe when he was 14 years old and spent the next decade performing all over South India. Professor Dhanraj was his first musical teacher. A graduate of London’s Trinity College of Music, Ilaiyaraaja was a classical guitar expert. Ilaiyaraaja’s breakthrough came with the soundtrack to the Tamil film Annakkili. He rose to fame after successfully blending the styles of modern popular film orchestration with those of traditional Tamil poetry and folk song melodies.

His command of Western classical form was evident in his playing of the piano, guitar, and string ensembles. Later, while travelling throughout Europe, he discovered the Manasika Gurus in the works of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. It was Ilaiyaraaja’s extraordinary output, both in terms of quality and quantity, that astonished his audience. His fame quickly expanded, both in India and overseas, as he became identified by a look that had never been seen before in the South Indian cinema business.

Ilaiyaraaja Career

Ilaiyaraaja “wasn’t able to grasp how music was being made for films” because his musical sensibilities were so at odds with the film music being composed at the time. Nonetheless, in 1975, film producer Panchu Arunachalam was so taken with a song Ilaiyaraaja sang off-hand that he hired him to write the songs and score for a Tamil film titled Annakili. Ilaiyaraaja used the orchestration techniques of modern popular film music —on Tamil folk poetry and folk song melodies, resulting in a synthesis of Western and Tamil idioms for the soundtrack. At first, he was apprehensive that the music industry would dismiss his work. Upon Annakili’s initial release in 1976, the music immediately became a huge success. For his next 12 films, Ilaiyaraaja composed in the style of mainstream cinema; however, when a new wave of films emerged, he was finally able to write the music he had always dreamed of.

His grip on the Western classical structure became evident with his masterful use of the piano, guitar, and string ensembles. Later on, during a trip to Europe, he recognized Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven as his Manasika Gurus. Ilaiyaraaja amazed his listeners with the outstanding quality and quantity of his musical output. His image grew to be a unique one in the history of South Indian film industry and was soon widely known for his work both in India and abroad.

For his invention of a new Raga “Panjamugi”, Ilaiyaraaja was honored by the music academy and was requested to start the season by singing during the 1994 December musical season. He won a gold medal in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London. His composition for the song “Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu” from the film “Thalapathi” was recognized as the fourth in the world’s top 10 most popular songs of all time by a poll conducted by BBC for people from around 155 countries.

In 2012, for his creativity and experimental works in the music field, Ilaiyaraaja received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He was voted the greatest music composer of India with a maximum of 49% by a poll conducted by CNN-IBN celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013. Ilaiyaraaja is well known to steal the hearts of the public with his incredible music. His contribution to the field is recognized and reserved as one of the best throughout the world.

With his enchanting brilliance, Ilaiyaraaja offered composition to some of the best movies ever. His noted work led him to compose music for international events such as the 1996 Miss World beauty pageant that was held in Bangalore, India, and for a documentary called India 24 Hours. Ilaiyaraaja’s work, though mostly centered around Tamil, is also available in various other languages including Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, English, Marathi, Sanskrit and Punjabi.

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