Yuvan Shankar Raja

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Yuvan Shankar Raja
Birth name Yuvan Shankar Raja
Also known as Yuvan
Born August 31, 1979 (1979-08-31) (age 28)
Origin Indian flag Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation(s) Film composer, music director, singer
Instrument(s) Guitar, keyboard/piano
Years active 1997–present

Yuvan Shankar Raja (Tamil: யுவன் சங்கர் ராஜா)is one of top film music composers from Tamil Nadu. He is one of the most successful composers in South India.

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[edit] Summary of career

The first film he composed for was the Tamil film Aravindhan. Hailing from a musical family, much of Yuvan’s inspiration is said to come from the several genres he grew up listening to such as Western classical music and jazz, in addition to urban Hip Hop and other styles and sounds. His father Ilaiyaraaja is also an inspiration. Yuvan Shankar Raja is renowned for his unique blend of melody and electronic orchestration. Soundtracks for films such as Kadhal Kondein, 7G Rainbow Colony, Kanda Naal Mudhal and others were released to acclaim and popularity. He is known for his ability to produce hit albums back to back in a very short period of time. But this ability forces him to borrow heavily from Spanish and Western music. When Yuvan started music career he was heavly compared to his elderly brother Karthik Raja and often criticized by music critics but later on gained momentum after the hit music for Poovelaam Kaetupaaru. Some of his influences as stated by him in many interviews are his father Ilayaraja, John Williams, Michael Jackson and RD Burman. Currently, Yuvan is the only music director who has composed for more than 14 films this year in TamilNadu.

His latest soundtracks for the films Pudhupettai, Vallavan and Pattiyal have become immensely popular and have established him as one of the leading composers in South India. Pudhupettai featured a traditional orchestral score played by Chapraya Symphony Orchestra in Bangkok with several themes and the soundtrack was released to acclaim . Yuvan Shankar Raja’s collaborations with the directors Selvaraghavan,ameer,simbu,venkat prabhu and Vishnuvardhan have resulted in very successful albums. Many of his soundtracks feature a variety of songs drawing influence from different traditions. Upcoming features include Kettavan,Yogi. He is the only south indian composer ,who never worked for hindi movies to be recognised by sony bmg to produce an english album. He is one of the few composers who can deliver a blockbuster back to back to back.

[edit] Awards

Yuvan Shankar Raja has won the following awards:

  • state award tamilnadu - 2007 - award for the best music director

[edit] Discography

[edit] Forthcoming albums

[edit] Released albums

[edit] Personal albums

  • 1999 - The Blast
  • Unnamed Album for Sony BMG

[edit] Personal life

In 2005, he married his long time girlfriend Sujaya Chandran. The couple has filed for divorce through mutual consent. The reason for the separation has been cited as 'irrevocable differences'. He is the youngest son of film composer Ilaiyaraaja. Yuvan Shankar Raja is the younger brother of music director, Karthik Raja and is also the elder brother of playback singer and music director Bhavatharini.He broke off his friendship with Selvaraghavan due to certain untold issues and left the movie Aayirathil Oruvan.

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