Karthik Raja is an India composer based in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. He made his debut as film composer in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films.

Personal life

Karthik Raja is the eldest son of music composer Ilaiyaraaja. His brother

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

and sister

Bhavatharini Bhavatharani Raja is an Indian singer and music composer. She is the daughter of Ilaiyaraaja and her brothers are the noted film composers Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja. She has mostly sung songs under the direction of her father and br ...

, who are also

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

music directors and playback singers, have worked with him on notable projects. He did his schooling at St. Bede's School and Boston Matriculation higher secondary school in Chennai. On 8 June 2000, Karthik Raja married Raja Rajeswari at

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Career

Born to a family of musicians, he had exposure to various kinds of music at a very early age. He had his formal training in Western classical music from the Trinity School of Music, mainly in piano (affiliated with Jacob John). He also had training in Carnatic music from T. V. Gopalakrishnan and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

composer V. Dakshinamoorthy. As a child, he often used to accompany his father to the recording studios. At the age of 13, Karthik Raja played the keyboard for the song ''Kannukkum'' from the Tamil movie ''Ninaikka Therinda Maname'' (1987). Many such outings followed including playing keyboard for the soundtrack of the movie ''

Nayakan ''Nayakan'' (; ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. Produced by Muktha Srinivasan, the film stars Kamal Haasan, Saranya (in her feature debut) and Karthika, with Janagaraj, Vijayan, M. V. Vasu ...

''. Karthik also arranged many recordings for his father and composed his first song "Pandianin Rajiyathil" for the movie '' Pandiyan'' (1992) and "Ninaikindra" for the movie '' Athma'' (1993). Around this time, he also composed some background scores for the TV series ''Bible''. He debuted as a full-fledged composer in 1996 through the Tamil movie ''Alexander'', soon followed by ''

Manikkam ''Manikkam'' is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language film directed by K. V. Pandian and produced by T. Siva for Amma Creations. The film stars Rajkiran and Vanitha Vijayakumar, while Vinu Chakravarthy and Ganthimathi play supporting roles. Plot Th ...

''. Then came many chart-busters that included ''

Ullaasam ''Ullaasam'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic film directed and co-written by the duo J. D. and Jerry and produced by actor Amitabh Bachchan. The film featured Ajith Kumar, Vikram and Maheswari with Raghuvaran, S. P. Balas ...

'', ''

Naam Iruvar Nammaku Iruvar ''Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar'' () is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language directed by Sundar C. Prabhu Deva and Meena played the leading roles, whilst the film featured an extensive cast, along with a bevvy of supporting actors. The film released on 14 J ...

'', '' Kadhala Kadhala'' and '' Dumm Dumm Dumm'' among others. He also debuted in Hindi films with '' Grahan'' which won him the R.D. Burman award for the best new talent.

Discography

Film scores/Soundtracks

Singer

Albums

Awards

* 1998:

Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent The Filmfare R. D. Burman Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Named in honour of music director R. D. Burman, the award recognises new and upcoming talent in the Bollywood music ind ...

– '' Grahan'' * 2001: Cinema Express Award for Best Music Director – '' Dumm Dumm Dumm''

References

External links

*
Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, Karthik 1970 births Living people People from Theni district Tamil film score composers Loyola College, Chennai alumni 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Musicians from Tamil Nadu Kannada film score composers Telugu film score composers Hindi film score composers Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian musicians