Leslee Peter Lewis (formerly spelled Leslie and Lesle; born 20 June 1960), popularly known as Lezz Lewis, is an Indian singer and composer known for his work with Hariharan as the duo Colonial Cousins.Leslee Lewis composes for his first Bollywood flick
IBN Live; 13 November 2007 They won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then the U.S. Billboard Viewer's Choice Award for 'Colonial Cousins', their debut album. He conceived and created all the music for Coke Studio, MTV India debut season. Lewis is one of the first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to rock and pop music. Lewis's creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, P. L. Raj, noted choreographer from the film industry. With an aim to give the audiences a taste of varied music flavours, he has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.

Early life

Leslee Lewis is the son of P. L. Raj, a prolific film choreographer.Lesle Lewis - Biography
; 17 June 2011 He was educated at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim As a child, Lewis was greatly influenced by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and with further working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors. He played guitar at the Cafe Royal, Oberoi Towers,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and recorded with Kalyanji–Anandji, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman and Louis Banks.

Biography

Jingles

From 1987, he composed advertising jingles and was nominated for awards from the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA). In 1989 received an award for his work. He went on to make some famous jingles such as Doodh-Doodh-Doodh (Piyo full glass), Mango Fruity fresh and juicy, Thums up taste the thunder, Santoor Santoor, etc.

Mainstream music

Lewis remixed

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

's album ''Rahul and I'' and composed songs for ''Janam samjha karo, O mere sona, Piya Tu- ab toh aaja''. He also composed and produced the music for ''Paree Hu Main'' by Suneeta Rao, ''Bombay Girl'' by

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the ' ...

and for KK's album ''

Pal Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

''. He composed songs such as "Bombay Girl" and "De De- Mujh Ko" for Alisha Chinai. He also launched Indipop boy band A Band of Boys and gave music for their hit songs such as "Meri Neendh", "Gori" and "Aa Jaa Meri Jaan". In 1998, Lewis recorded his first solo album, ''Haseena''. He composed the score for the Hindi films '' Mela'' and ''Jahd'' and the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films '' Modhi Vilayadu'' and '' Chikku Bukku''.

Colonial Cousins

Lewis first worked with

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

singer Hariharan in 1992, creating a jingle. They formed ''Colonial Cousins'' in 1996 and recorded an album, '' Colonial Cousins''. They were the first Indian act to be featured on ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

''. It won the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group."Artist biography: Hariharan"
. Indianmusicinfo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2011 They released the albums '' The Way We Do It'' (1998) and '' Aatma'' (2001) and composed the soundtrack for the Tamil films '' Modhi Vilayadu'' and '' Chikku Bukku''.

Discography

As composer

;Albums * ''Dhuan (Suneeta Rao Album)'' (1991) * '' Bombay Girl'' (1994) * '' Colonial Cousins'' (1996) * '' Haseena'' (1998) * '' The Way We Do It'' (1998) * ''

'' (1999) * '' Aatma'' (2001) * '' Meri Neend'' (2002) * '' Gori'' (2002) * '' Elements'' (2002) * '' Ye Bhi Woh Bhi'' (2002) * '' Once More'' (2012) ;Films *'' Rockford'' (1999) * '' Mela'' (2000) * ''

Apna Asmaan ''Apna Asmaan'' (transl. ''Our sky'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Kaushik Roy, starring Irrfan Khan, Shobana and Dhruv Piyush Panjuani in pivotal roles, with Rajat Kapoor and Anupam Kher in supporting roles. Khan p ...

'' (2007) * '' Modhi Vilayadu'' (2009) * '' Chikku Bukku'' (2010) * '' Poshter Boyz'' (2014-Marathi) * '' Online Binline'' (2015 - Marathi)

As singer

* "Kannum Kannum Nokia" - ''

Anniyan ''Anniyan'' ( ) is a 2005 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language psychological fiction, psychological action thriller film directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran (film producer), V. Ravichandran. The film stars Vikram (actor), V ...

'' (2005 - Tamil) * "Vellaikaari", "Sikki Mukki" - '' Modhi Vilayadu'' (2009 - Tamil) * "Hosahore" - '' Darling (2010 film)'' (2010 - Telugu) * "Hey Amigo" - '' Kaappaan'' (2019 - Tamil)

Awards and achievements

* 1997: MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award for '' Colonial Cousins'' in Radio City Hall - New York * US Billboard Viewer's Choice Award - Las Vegas * Awarded 'Indian of the Year 2017

References

External links

Official Website@LesleLewis on TwitterLesle Lewis (official fan page) on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leslee Living people Indian male pop singers Tamil film score composers Indian pop composers 1960 births Jingle composers Indian male film score composers