Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer who works in the South Indian cinema predominantly in Tamil since mid 1970s. Widely regarded as one of the the greatest Indian music composers of all time, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 6500 songs and provided film scores for more than 1500 films, also being acclaimed for his exceptional background scores. Singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra and S. Janaki have sung more of his songs than any other singers. 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 five Indian National Film Awards (the highest film honor in India); three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score. In 2010 he has received Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India.