Thamarai (born 10 November 1975) is an Indian poet and lyricist who writes in

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 ...

. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world and has worked in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the 1998 film '' Iniyavale'', which was directed by Seeman and had music composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...

Life and career

Thamarai was born in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

on 10 November 1975. She graduated from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, in production engineering and worked for six years in

. With her passion for poetry, she decided to move to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, where she worked as a freelance journalist in an organization named Bhagya and wrote essays, stories and poems. Through her literary works, she became popular and got noticed. Director Seeman assigned her as lyricist for the song "Thendral Enthan" for his Tamil film '' Iniyavale''. Subsequently, she wrote lyrics for films such as '' Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen'' ("Malligai Poove") and '' Thenali'' ("Injirango Injirango"). Her work together with music director

Harris Jayaraj J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...

in '' Minnale'' marked the turning point in her film industry career, primarily noted for her song "Vaseegara" in the movie. After ''Minnale'', the trio, composed of director

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...

and music director

, teamed up several times again ('' Kaakha Kaakha'', '' Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'', '' Pachaikili Muthucharam'' and '' Vaaranam Aayiram'') and were a very successful collaboration in the film field, until the break-up between Menon and Jayaraj happened. Since then, she is teaming up with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

, who replaced Jayaraj. Menon, Jayaraj and Thamarai teamed up again in July 2014 for the

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

film '' Yennai Arindhaal''. The film's album was released on 1 January 2015, and it was well-received by critics. She wrote" Neeraambal Poovae" from the movie Nannbenda, where she again worked for

. The song is sung by Arjun Menon.

Personal life

Thamarai was married to Thozhar Thiyagu. They have a son. Thamarai is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and an advocate of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

Filmography

Awards

;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vaaranam Aayiram'' (2008) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' (2010) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada'' (2016) ;

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...

* Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist – '' Thenali'' (2000) * Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award – Paavender Bharathidasan Award (2006) ; Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards * Ananda Vikatan Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vaaranam Aayiram'' (2008) * Ananda Vikatan Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' (2010) * Ananda Vikatan Award for Best Lyricist – for the song for " Thalli Pogathey" from '' Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada'' (2016) * Ananda Vikatan Award for Best Lyricist – for the song "Yaar Azhaithathu" from '' Maara'' (2021) ;

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held i ...

* Vijay Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vaaranam Aayiram'' (2008) * Vijay Award for Best Lyricist – '' Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal'' (2012) ; Other awards and recognition * ITFA Best Lyricist Award – '' Kaakha Kaakha'' (2003) * Meera Isaiaruvi Tamil Music Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vaaranam Aayiram'' (2008) *

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an annual Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema – the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA w ...

- Best Lyricist for "Kaanana Kanney" - '' Viswasam'' (2020) ; Nominations * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Kaakha Kaakha'' (2003) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – ''Ghajini'' (2005) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Subramaniapuram'' (2008) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – ''

Pasanga ''Pasanga'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language children's film directed by Pandiraj in his directorial debut. It stars debutant child actors Kishore DS, Sree Raam and Pasanga Pandi, Pandian, along with newcomer Vimal (actor), Vim ...

'' (2009) * Vijay Award for Best Lyricist – ''

'' (2009) * Vijay Award for Best Lyricist – '' Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'' (2010) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – ''

7aum Arivu ''7 Aum Arivu'' ( ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film Suriya in dual roles, along with Shruti Ha ...

'' (2011) * Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – '' Yennai Arindhaal'' (2015) * SIIMA Award for Best Lyricist – '' Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada'' (2017) * SIIMA Award for Best Lyricist – '' Viswasam'' * SIIMA Award for Best Lyricist – '' Maara''

References

External links