Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraaja is, frankly, one of those figures who leaves me almost reverent. Born in 1943 in Theni district, he is a titan of Indian film music, composing thousands of songs predominantly in Tamil while ranging across Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. What astonishes me is the breadth: composer, singer, arranger, conductor, all in one person, crowned with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan among countless honors. He does not merely score films, he carries a whole musical culture on his shoulders. When I trace the great melodies of South Indian cinema, his hand is so often behind them that I get chills. He is a living institution.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Ilaiyaraaja

Name (Japanese)

イラヤラージャ

Reading

いらやらーじゃ

Born

June 2, 1943 (age 83)

Origin

Pannaipuram, Theni district, India

Occupation

actor / singer / composer / musician / screenwriter

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Goat

Awards & achievements

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• Nandi Award
• Filmfare Awards South
• Padma Bhushan
• National Film Award for Best Music Direction
• 2018 Padma Vibhushan

• Official sitehttps://ilaiyaraajalive.com/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilaiyaraaja
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2720141

Tags

• Theni district
• actor
• singer
• composer

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.