| Yuvan Shankar Raja |
| Birth name |
Yuvan Shankar Raja |
| Also known as |
Yuvan, Yuvanshankar, YSR, U1 |
| Born |
31 August 1979 (age 32)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Origin |
Pannaipuram, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Genres |
Film score, World music |
| Occupations |
Film composer, music director, record producer, instrumentalist, arranger, singer, songwriter, lyricist |
| Instruments |
Guitar, keyboard/piano, vocals (playback singing) |
| Years active |
1996-present |
| Website |
www.yuvanworld.com |
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian
film score and
soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for
Tamil as well as several
Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for
Aravindhan. After initial struggle, he made his big break with the
Thulluvadho Ilamai soundtrack (2001), and evolved as one of Tamil cinema's most sought-after composers by the mid-2000s.
[1][2]
Within a span of 14 years, Yuvan Shankar Raja worked on over 85 films. Considered a versatile composer,
[3] he often strives for different and innovative music
[4] and has explored and used elements of various
genres in his compositions that range from
folk and
R&B to
techno and
heavy metal.
[5][6] He is particularly known for his use of
western music elements in his pieces and often credited with having introduced
Hip hop to the Tamil film and music industry and having started the "era of
remixes" in
Tamil Nadu.
[7][8][9] Being immensely popular among the younger generation,
[7][10] he is frequently referred to as the "Rockstar",
[11][12][13] and the "Youth Icon of Tamil Film Music".
[9][14][15] In addition, Yuvan Shankar Raja is recognized for his
background score in films (
re-recording) that have fetched him accolades among critics.
[16][17]
He has won two
Filmfare Awards; the
Best Music Director Award in 2004 for his score in the drama
7G Rainbow Colony at age 25, remaining the youngest winner of the award, and the
Special Jury Award in 2009 for his Telugu musical
Oy!. Besides, he received two nominations for Filmfare Awards, one
Tamil Nadu State Film Award in 2006 and the
Cyprus International Film Festival Award in 2006 for
Raam, becoming the first and only Indian composer to win it.
[18]
Early life
Born on 31 August 1979, in
Chennai, India into a
Tamil family, Yuvan Shankar Raja is the third and youngest child of musician and film composer
Ilaiyaraaja and his late wife Jeeva. He is the younger brother of music director
Karthik Raja and
playback singer-cum-music director
Bhavatharini.
Yuvan once confessed, that his brother Karthik Raja is more talented
than him, but did not get a successful break into the music business,
since he did not get a "good team to work with".
[19] His father as well as his siblings have sung many songs under his direction.
Film director and film composer
Gangai Amaran and R. D. Bhaskar are his uncles and their sons
Venkat Prabhu,
Premji Amaran and Parthi Bhaskar, who are working in the
Tamil film industry
as well, are his cousins. Moreover, Yuvan Shankar and both the sons of
Gangai Amaran, do often associate with each other and have often worked
together, the results of which have been very successful.
[20] Venkat Prabhu's films have had all musical score by Yuvan, while Premji had assisted him composing music for some years,
[21]
before becoming an independent composer aside from the fact, that both
have sung several songs under the direction of Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Yuvan Shankar did his schooling at
St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai,
[22][23] and discontinued his education after his tenth class. He started learning music from Jacob Master,
[24] attending piano classes at "Musee Musical" in Chennai, which is affiliated to
Trinity College in London, UK.
[25] Yuvan Shankar Raja stated, that he always wanted to become a
pilot and travel "all around the world", but as he grew up "with music around him", he eventually became a musician.
[24] He admires the work of his father and other composers such as
S. D. Burman,
R. D. Burman,
M. S. Viswanathan and
Naushad and the voices of singers
Lata Mangeshkar,
Asha Bhosle,
P. B. Sreenivas and
P. Susheela.
[24]
Career
Film score and soundtracks
Early years (1997-2000)
In 1996, following his mother's suggestion to take up music as a
profession, Yuvan Shankar Raja started composing tunes for an album.
[26] It was then that
T. Siva, the producer of the Tamil language film
Aravindhan, after hearing some of the tunes, asked to compose a
trailer music. As the producer was so much impressed of which, he gave Yuvan Shankar the assignment to compose the entire
film score including a soundtrack for that film.
[26]
After consulting and getting consent from his parents, he accepted the
offer; his music career started. His entry into the Tamil film and music
industry had happened at age 16, thus becoming one of the most youngest
composers ever in the industry, which, he says, was "purely
accidental".
[27]
However, both the soundtrack album as well as the film itself failed
to attract audiences and to do well and Yuvan Shankar Raja's following
projects
Velai (1998) and
Kalyana Galatta (1998) were not successful either; his compositions for these films did not receive good reviews or responses,
[28][29] with one reviewer labelling the music and re-recording in the latter as "cacophony" and "poor".
[30] The failures of his first projects caused that he was not offered any film projects and assignments subsequently.
[31] During this time of struggling, he was approached and assigned by director
Vasanth to compose the music for his film
Poovellam Kettuppar (1999). The soundtrack received very positive response, bring described as "fresh" and "different", with a critic from
The New Indian Express citing that his "absolutely enchanting musical score [...] bears testimony to his ‘Raja’ surname."
[32]
The album became very popular, particularly songs like "Irava Pagala"
and "Chudithar Aninthu", gaining him first time notice, especially among
young people and children.
[28][33] The album would make possible his first breakthrough in the industry and proved to be a major turning point in his career.
[5] After working for two
Sundar C. films,
Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga (1999) and
Rishi (2000), which both fared averagely at the box office, he got to work for
A. R. Murugadoss' directorial debut in 2000, the action flick
Dheena starring
Ajith Kumar, which went on to become a blockbuster and Yuvan Shankar Raja's first major successful film.
[34] Yuvan Shankar's songs were equally successful,
[35][36] which are considered to have played a major role for the film's great success.
[37] whilst his
background score in the film was also well appreciated.
Rise to prominence (2001-2003)
Thanks to this film's enormous success, he eventually broke into the
Tamil music scene as offers were pouring in subsequently. He was mainly
approached by many young new directors. In 2001 he had three album
releases, the first being
Thulluvadho Ilamai, collaborating with
Selvaraghavan for the first time.
[38] The soundtrack album of
Thulluvadho Ilamai particularly appealed to the younger generation. The film itself, marking the debut of Selvaraghavan's brother
Dhanush, released one year later and became a
sleeper hit at the Chennai box office.
[39][40] This was followed by
Bala's Nandha (2001), for which he received rave reviews.
[28] He then gained notice by churning out "youthful music" in the
college-life based
April Maadhathil (2002), the
romantic comedy films Kadhal Samrajyam (2002),
[41] and
Mounam Pesiyadhe (2002),
Ameer's directorial debut film, and the
triangular love story Punnagai Poove (2002), in which he also made his on-screen debut, appearing in some scenes and one song sequence.
[42] At the same time he made his
Telugu debut with
Seshu and
Malli Malli Chudali and also composed for the Tamil films
Junior Senior and
Pop Carn, starring Malayalam actors
Mammootty and
Mohan Lal, respectively, all of which performing poorly at the box offices, though.
In 2003 Selvaraghavan's first independent directorial, the drama-
thriller film Kaadhal Kondein released, which is considered a milestone for Yuvan Shankar Raja.
[43]
His work in the film, particularly his background score, was
unanimously praised, leading to the release of a separate CD consisting
of several film score pieces, a la "Hollywood-style", which was
reportedly the first film score CD release in India. Furthermore, the
film went on to become a blockbuster, cementing the film's lead artist
Dhanush and Yuvan Shankar in the Tamil film and music industry.
[44] The same year, he worked in
Vishnuvardhan's debut film,
Kurumbu, which featured the first
remix
song in a Tamil film. By that time, in a career spanning less than a
decade, Yuvan Shankar Raja had established himself as one of the leading
and most-sought after music directors in the Tamil film industry,
despite having worked predominantly with newcomers and in low-budget
productions.
[43][44]
Success (2004-2007)
Yuvan Shankar's 2004 releases,
7G Rainbow Colony, another Selvaraghavan film, and
Silambarasan's Manmadhan,
were both critically and commercially successful films, featuring
acclaimed as well as popular music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, which also
contributed to the films' successes.
[43][45][46] His work in the former, in particular, got critically acclaimed and eventually led him to win the
Best Music Direction Award at the 2004
Filmfare Awards South;
[47]
receiving the award at the age of 25, he remains the youngest winning
music composer of the award. From since, he has had nine to ten releases
every year on average, making him one of the most prolific film
composers of India.
[10][48]
His first of nine album releases of 2005 was
Raam. His score for the
Ameer-directed thriller, labelled as "soul-stirring", fetched him further accolades
[49][50] and eventually yielded a win at the 2006
Cyprus International Film Festival for Best Musical score in a Feature Film,
[51][52]
the first such award for an Indian composer. His success streak
continued with his following releases of that year, low-budget films
such as
Arinthum Ariyamalum,
Kanda Naal Mudhal and
Sandakozhi surprisingly becoming successful ventures at the box office, since also Yuvan Shankar's compositions like "Theepidikka",
[53]
"Panithuli" and "Dhavani Potta" from the respective soundtracks enjoyed
popularity and played an important role for the films's successes.
[54] After the release of the soundtrack for the
S. J. Suryaah-starring romantic comedy,
Kalvanin Kadhali that also enjoyed popularity post the film's release,
[52][55] his final album of 2005,
Pudhupettai, released, which saw him once again collaborating with director
Selvaraghavan. The ten-track
experimental
album, receiving exceptionally rave reviews, was considered Yuvan
Shankar Raja's finest work till then and being hailed as a "musical
masterpiece".
[56][57] The soundtrack and score of the film featured a traditional
orchestral score played by the "Chapraya Symphony" of
Bangkok,
[58]
the first time in a Tamil film. Critics felt that this project, in
particular, proved his abilities and talent to produce innovative and
experimentative scores as well.
[59] The film itself, releasing only in May 2006, did average business, despite opening to outstanding reviews.
He next worked on the romantic comedies
Happy and
Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu and the gangster film
Pattiyal, which all released in early 2006. His
Happy songs and score received positive reviews, with critics labelling the "youthful music" as "excellent",
[60] and the film's "main strength",
[61] whilst his score for
Pattiyal was highly praised by critics; a
Sify reviewer wrote, "Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and background score is the life of the film".
[62]
Further more, both films went on to become very successful ventures,
both commercially and critically. His subsequent releases that year
include
Silambarasan's debut directorial,
Vallavan and the action entertainer
Thimiru. Yuvan Shankar Raja was hailed as the "real hero" of the former,
[63] which featured some of the year's most listened tracks like "Loosu Penne" and "Yammadi Aathadi",
[64] while the latter film ranked amongst the year's highest-grossing films. In November 2006, the
Paruthiveeran soundtrack album got released, which saw the composer foraying into pure rural folk music,
[65] using traditional music instruments.
[66] Though initially releasing to mixed reviews, with critics doubting whether the songs could attract modern youth audience,
[67][68] his first attempt at rural music turned out to be a major success, following the film's outstanding run at the box office.
[69][70] The film, Ameer's third feature film as well as
Karthi's
debut venture, received universal critical acclaim after its release in
February 2007 and became a blockbuster, whilst particularly the song
"Oororam Puliyamaram" was a chartbuster number in
Tamil Nadu.
[71][72]
In 2007, he had a record ten album releases in one year. The first was the soundtrack of the romantic drama film
Deepavali, following which the audios of the
sports comedy film
Chennai 600028, the Telugu family entertainer
Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule,
Vasanth's thriller film
Satham Podathey and the romantic films
Thottal Poo Malarum and
Kannamoochi Yenada released, with the former three being well-received besides garnering positive reviews. The films,
Chennai 600028,
Venkat Prabhu's directorial debut, and
Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule,
Selvaraghavan's
Telugu debut, in particular, were high commercial successes and became
one of the year's most successful films in Tamil and Telugu,
respectively. In late 2007 then, the audio and the film
Kattradhu Thamizh got released. The soundtrack album, which was released as
Tamil M. A.,
as well as the film itself, had been met with exceptionally positive
reviews and critical acclaim. The music was widely considered a "musical
sensation" and noted to be a proof of Yuvan Shankar Raja's "composing
skills".
[73][74][75]
However, despite outstanding reviews by critics, the venture failed to
evoke the interest of the audience and did not enjoy much popularity.
His final release of 2007 was
Billa, a remake of the 1980
Rajinikanth-starrer
of the same title. This film, remade by
Vishnuvardhan, starring
Ajith Kumar in the title role, also featured two remixes from the original version. The film emerged one of the top-grossers of the year,
[76] whilst also fetching rave reviews for Yuvan Shankar's stylish musical score.
[77]
Recent work (2008-present)
In 2008, five films, featuring Yuvan's music were released, two of them being the Tamil and Kannada remakes of
Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule, titled
Yaaradi Nee Mohini and
Anthu Inthu Preethi Banthu,
respectively, which partly featured the original score and songs. The
Tamil version, in particular, was able to repeat the success of the
original film, emerging a high commercial success, while yielding Yuvan
his second Filmfare nomination. The other releases that year include
Seeman's Vaazhthugal,
Venkat Prabhu's comedy-thriller
Saroja,
Ajith Kumar's action thriller
Aegan and
Silambarasan Rajendar's
masala flick Silambattam, out of which,
Saroja and
Silambattam
proved to be successful at the box office, with Yuvan Shankar's score
in the former and his songs in the latter garnering accolades and
several awards at the 2009 Isaiyaruvi Tamil Music Awards.
[78] In 2009, nine of his soundtrack albums released. Excluding the romantic comedy
Siva Manasula Sakthi, featuring his most popular song of the year "
Oru Kal Oru Kannadi", all other films failed at the box office. Besides "Oru Kal", the songs "Siragual" (
Sarvam) and "Aedho Saigiral" (
Vaamanan) also became popular.
[79][80] He had provided a rural score again in
Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puravum and a
sarangi-based score for the urban action drama of
Ameer's Yogi. His score for his Telugu romantic musical
Oy! fetched him the
Special Jury Award at the
2010 South Filmfare Awards.
In late 2009, the
soundtrack album of
Paiyaa released, which was regarded as a "blockbuster album" and "magnum opus",
[81][82] as it went on to become exceptionally popular, much prior to the film's release,
[83] and probably one of Yuvan Shankar Raja's biggest success of his career. The song "
Thuli Thuli"
had become the first Tamil song to be featured in the India Top 20 list
for April 2010, indicating that it was the most frequently played Tamil
song on all Indian FM radio stations in the history of Tamil film
music.
[84] The film itself became one the highest earners of the year, particularly supported by Yuvan's score and songs. Along with
Paiyaa, songs from three more films for which he composed music that year -
Naan Mahaan Alla,
Baana Kaathadi and
Boss Engira Bhaskaran - featured among the Top 10 chartbusters of the year.
[10] In early 2010 he composed his first
Bollywood song "Haq Se" as part of the ensemble soundtrack of the film
Striker, starring his close friend
Siddharth, which received thoroughly positive reviews. In 2011, he teamed up with Silambarasan again for the anthology film
Vaanam, with the song "
Evan Di Unna Pethan" from the album, that was released as a single, gaining popularity. His next film was
Bala's
Avan Ivan; Yuvan's songs generally fetched positive reviews.
[85] He next composed a score that drew influence from several
world music styles for the critically acclaimed independent gangster film
Aaranya Kaandam,
[86] winning high praise from critics.
[87] He went on to work in
Venkat Prabhu's action thriller
Mankatha, his biggest project till date, and Vishnuvardhan's first Telugu venture
Panjaa. His last two releases of 2011 were the soundtrack albums to the action-masala films
Rajapattai and
Vettai,
both of which received mixed response and failed to reach success.
Yuvan Shankar Raja is currently working on nearly ten projects
simultaneously, including
Billa II, starring
Ajith Kumar and
Ameer's long-delayed
Aadhi Bhagavan, aside from a couple of small films.
Besides
Tamil films, he has also scored music for films in other
South Indian languages. Around 35 of the Tamil films, for which he had composed music, were afterwards dubbed into
Telugu,
Kannada or
Malayalam languages as were the respective soundtracks. Apart from these ones, he also worked "straightly" on Telugu projects such as
Seshu,
Malli Malli Chudali,
Happy,
Raam,
Raju Bhai and
Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule, making him a well-known popular composer in
Andhra Pradesh, too.
[88] His latest Telugu album
Oy! has become a grand success as it topped the charts for several weeks. Yuvan's latest album of 2011,
Panjaa has created all time records, creating new waves (trends) as a rocking album in Andhra Pradesh.
[89]
Yuvan Shankar Raja's collaborations with several film directors such as
Selvaraghavan,
[90][91] Ameer Sultan,
[92] Vishnuvardhan,
[52] Venkat Prabhu[93] and
Linguswamy have always resulted in highly successful soundtracks. Likewise he has often worked together with noted
Tamil poet
Vaali and young Tamil lyricists including
Na. Muthukumar,
Pa. Vijay and
Snehan and come up with successful compositions.
Other work
Playback singing
Besides, Yuvan Shankar Raja is a noted
playback singer as well. As of August 2011, he has sung over 80 songs, mostly his own composed songs and several times for his father
Ilaiyaraaja and his brother
Karthik Raja. He lent his voice first in 1988, when he was eight years old for a song in the film
En Bommukutty Ammavukku, composed by his father. Since, he frequently sang for his father in films such as
Anjali (1990),
Chatriyan (1990),
Thalattu Ketkuthamma (1991),
Friends (2001),
Kaathal Jaathi (2002) and
Ramana (2003) and the upcoming
Neethane En Ponvasantham.
[94] Under his brother's direction, he had sung in the films
Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar (1998) and
Ullam Kollai Poguthae (2001). He had also performed a song for the film
Siddu +2 (2010), composed by his friend
Dharan,
[95] and had lent his voice for the
theme song for the
World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, set to tune by
A. R. Rahman.
[96]
However, he is better known as a singer of his own composed songs.
Films, featuring some of his most popular songs as a singer, include
Thulluvadho Ilamai,
April Maadhathil,
Pudhupettai,
Pattiyal,
Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu (in which he had sung all songs),
[97] Deepavali,
Kattradhu Thamizh,
Siva Manasula Sakthi,
Sarvam,
Paiyaa and
Naan Mahaan Alla, the latter earning him a Filmfare nomination for the
Best Male Playback Singer Award.
[98]
Non-cinematic output
Aside from scoring film music and soundtracks, he also produces
personal music albums from time to time. In his very early years, in
1999, when he was not familiar to most people yet, he made the Tamil pop
album
The Blast, that contained 12 tracks, featuring vocals by
Kamal Haasan,
Unnikrishnan and
Nithyashree Mahadevan.
[99]
However, the album went downright unnoticed. In 2008, he started
working on his second album, the rights of which had been acquired by
Sony BMG then.
[100][101][102] Reportedly a bilingual album produced in both Tamil and
Hindi, the album never was released.
In 2010, he joined hands with former
President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for a grand music video album titled "
Song of Youth".
[103]
The popular song of the same title, based on which the album is made,
was written by Kalam and is set to tunes by Yuvan Shankar Raja, who,
along with Kalam and many other celebrities from the field of sports and
entertainment, will feature in the
video as well.
[104] The album was made as a trilingual, produced in the three languages
Tamil,
Hindi and English,
[103][105] and remains also unreleased as of 2012.
Concerts
In January 2009, Yuvan had announced his first live performance, which was planned to be held at the
Rogers Centre
in Toronto, Canada on 25 April 2009. According to Yuvan, the show would
have featured around 30 songs, sung by well-known singers and his
father
Ilaiyaraaja, as well as some stage dances in between by actresses
Sana Khan and
Meenakshi.
[106][107][108]
However, the concert had been postponed eventually, with Yuvan Shankar
stating, that he was working on novel ideas to make the show memorable
and hence, postponed the concert.
[109]
In October 2009 then, he announced that a
world tour, titled "Oru Naalil", is planned with a three-hour
stage show to be held in various cities all over the world.
[110] The tour began with a show on 1 December 2009 at the
Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
[111][112] featuring performances by singers like Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan,
Karthik,
Harish Raghavendra and
Silambarasan and professional dancers from
Mumbai,
[110] which was expected to be followed by shows in Canada, the
U. S. and South Africa.
[110] Also it was planned to conduct the shows in
Muscat, Oman and
Kuwait,
[110][112] but following the Dubai concert, the tour was cancelled.
In October 2010, Yuvan Shankar Raja disclosed that he had signed for his first live concert in
Chennai.
[113] The concert, which was sponsored, organized and later telecasted on
STAR Vijay, was held at YMCA Grounds,
Nandanam,
Chennai, on 16 January 2011.
[114]
Additionally, a promotional music video, "I'll Be There for You",
composed and sung by Yuvan Shankar, himself, directed by Vishnuvardhan
and shot by
Nirav Shah, was made,
[115] while STAR Vijay aired a 3-week, 14 episode serial on Yuvan Shankar Raja as a run-up to the concert.
[116]
In February 2012
Techofes organized a live-in tribute concert for Yuvan Shankar Raja where he also performed.
[117]
Music style and impact
Yuvan Shankar Raja's music predominantly displays the use of
Western musical elements. He is creditted with having introduced
Hip-hop
in the Tamil film music industry and having successfully integrated the
genre into the Tamil musical mainstream. He has explored various
genres,
[110] and experimented with new sounds. Yuvan Shankar Raja has not learnt
Indian classical music,
[118] although he has used complex
swara patterns and
carnatic rāgas in several films, including
Nandha and
Thulluvadho Ilamai. Critics have noted that Yuvan Shankar Raja's music has a "youthful character to it",
[118] with his compositions in particular appealing to the younger generation.
Yuvan Shankar Raja started the "era of
remixes"; "Aasai Nooru Vagai" from
Kurumbu
(2004) is considered as the first remix in a Tamil film, following
which several composers began remixing Tamil film songs from the 1970s
and 80s. He has experimented with the fusion of old songs with his own
original compositions, mixing and incorporating parts of them into his
songs.
[119] In 2010, he and his friend and fellow actor Silambarasan released the song "
Evan Di Unna Pethan" from the film
Vaanam (2011) as a
single,
which generated the trend of releasing single tracks from film
soundtracks in Tamil cinema several months prior to the actual release,
[120][121] although the first ever single in Tamil cinema had been released in 2001 already.
[122]
Personal life
Yuvan Shankar Raja married his longtime girlfriend Sujaya Chandran on
21 March 2005, at the Mayor Sri Ramanathan Chettiyar Hall in
Chennai, India.
[123][124] Chandran had met him in 2002 as a fan at a music cultural program in London and both fell in love later.
[125] Chandran was a London-based singer and the daughter of Dr. C. R. Velayutham and Dr. Sarojini Chandran.
[126]
They had a secret registered marriage in September 2003 in London,
before the formal public wedding was held in 2005 with the consent of
their parents.
[125] In August 2007, they filed for divorce with mutual consent, which was granted in February 2008, after 6 months.
[125][127] The reason for the divorce was cited to be "irreconcilable differences".
[127]
On 1 September 2011, he married Shilpa Mohan at the
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple,
Tirupati in
Andhra Pradesh.
[128] The marriage was held in a simple ceremony with only family members and close friends being present.
[129] Shilpa was revealed to be a
B.Pharm graduate from the
University of Adelaide, Australia.
[130] A
wedding reception was arranged a day later in Chennai.
[131]
Filmography
- Released soundtrack albums
- #Only soundtrack, film score composed by another composer
- #2Only film score, no soundtrack released
- The films are listed in order of the album release date, irrespective of the film release date.
- The year next to the title of the affected films indicates the
release year of the either dubbed or remade version in the named
language later than the original version.
- • indicates original language release. Indicates simultaneous makes, if featuring in more languages
- ♦ indicates a remade version, the remaining ones being dubbed versions
- Forthcoming releases
Discography
Singles
Albums
Awards
- Nominations
