Yuvan Shankar Raja Biography, Music, Family, Net Worth, Awards And More!
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian singer-songwriter, film score and soundtrack composer, and occasional lyricist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil films. The youngest son of noted film composer Ilaiyaraaja, he began his musical career in 1996, at age 16, when he composed the film score for Aravindhan. After initial struggle, he made his big break with the Thulluvadho Ilamai soundtrack (2001), and evolved as one of Tamil cinema’s most sought-after composers by the mid-2000s.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Early Life
Born on 31 August 1979, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu into a Tamil
Yuvan Shankar Raja Biography Image
family, Yuvan Shankar Raja is the third and youngest child of musician and film composer Ilaiyaraaja and his late wife Jeeva. He is the younger brother of music director Karthik Raja and playback singer-cum-music director Bhavatharini. Yuvan once confessed, that his brother Karthik Raja is more talented than him, but did not get a successful break into the music business, since he did not get a “good team to work with”.
His father as well as his siblings have sung many songs under his direction.Film director and film composer Gangai Amaran and R. D. Bhaskar are his uncles and their sons Venkat Prabhu, Premgi Amaren and Parthi Bhaskar, who are working in the Tamil film industry as well, are his cousins.
Yuvan Shankar did his schooling at St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai,[8][9] and discontinued his education after his tenth class. He started learning music from Jacob Master, attending piano classes at “Musee Musical” in Chennai, which is affiliated to Trinity College in London, UK. Yuvan Shankar Raja stated, that he always wanted to become a pilot and travel “all around the world”, but as he grew up “with music around him”, he eventually became a musician.
He admires the work of his father and other composers such as S. D. Burman, R. D. Burman, M. S. Viswanathan and Naushad Ali and the voices of singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, P. B. Sreenivas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and P. Susheela.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Career
Recent Work (2013–till now)
In 2013, hit movies like Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga and Aarambam which included also successful soundtracks. The soundtrack of the coming-of-age movie Thanga Meenkal fetched him positive reviews.
In 2014, 9 movies, featuring Yuvan’s music were released, two of them non-Tamil movies; the Telugu film Govindudu Andarivadele and the Hindi film Raja Natwarlal, which marked Yuvan’s Bollywood debut. While Govindudu Andarivadele became one of the highest grossing Telugu films of 2014, whereas Raja Natwarlal was a box office flop.
The other releases that year, which included Thirudan Police, Anjaan, Poojai proved to be commercially successful, whereas Vanavarayan Vallavarayan released with mixed reviews from critics. In Vadacurry , he has done only one song in the album. Vai Raja Vai released 2015, whereas the visuals of Idam Porul Eval remained to be unreleased. In the next year, he had only 2 movies, Masss and Yatchan, which were released. Both movies were, despite the hit of the audio album, commercially unsuccessful.
His next film was Dharmadurai, which marked the second collaboration with lyricist Vairamuthu and director Seenu Ramasamy after Idam Porul Eval. Dharmadurai, Chennai 600028 II, Nenjam Marappathillai, Yaakkai and Taramani were the movies composed by him in 2016. All these films music were praised by critics and audience.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Other work
Playback Singing
Besides, Yuvan Shankar Raja is a noted playback singer as well. As of August 2011, he has sung over 80 songs, mostly his own composed songs and several times for his father Ilaiyaraaja and his brother Karthik Raja. He lent his voice first in 1988, when he was eight years old for a song in the film En Bommukutty Ammavukku, composed by his father.
Since, he frequently sang for his father in films such as Anjali (1990), Chatriyan (1990), Thalattu Ketkuthamma (1991), Friends (2001), Kaathal Jaathi (2002), Ramana (2003) and Neethane En Ponvasantham (2012). Under his brother’s direction, he had sung in the films Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar (1998), Ullam Kollai Poguthae (2001) and Veyilodu Vilayadu (2012).
He had also performed a song for the film Siddu +2 (2010), composed by his friend Dharan, and had lent his voice for the theme song for the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, set to tune by A. R. Rahman. In 2013, he sang a song for Rahman in the film Maryan.
However, he is better known as a singer of his own composed songs. Films, featuring some of his most popular songs as a singer, include Thulluvadho Ilamai, April Maadhathil, Pudhupettai, Pattiyal, Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu (in which he had sung all songs), Deepavali, Kattradhu Thamizh, Siva Manasula Sakthi, Sarvam, Paiyaa and Naan Mahaan Alla, the latter earning him a Filmfare nomination for the Best Male Playback Singer Award.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Music Style and Impact
Yuvan Shankar Raja has been credited with having introduced Hip-hop in the Tamil film music industry and having successfully integrated the genre into the Tamil musical mainstream. He has explored various genres, and experimented with new sounds.
Yuvan Shankar Raja has not learnt Indian classical music, although he has used complex swara patterns and carnatic rāgas in several films, including Nandha and Thulluvadho Ilamai. Critics have noted that Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music has a “youthful character to it”, with his compositions in particular appealing to the younger generation.
Yuvan Shankar Raja started the “era of remixes”; “Aasai Nooru Vagai” from Kurumbu (2004) is considered as the first remix in a Tamil film, following which several composers began remixing Tamil film songs from the 1970s and 80s.
He has experimented with the fusion of old songs with his own original compositions, mixing and incorporating parts of them into his songs. In 2010, he and his friend and fellow actor Silambarasan released the song “Evan Di Unna Pethan” from the film Vaanam (2011) as a single, which generated the trend of releasing single tracks from film soundtracks in Tamil cinema several months prior to the actual release, although the first single in Tamil cinema had been released in 2001 already.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s Personal Life
Yuvan Shankar Raja married his girlfriend Sujaya Chandran on 21 March 2005, at the Mayor Sri Ramanathan Chettiyar Hall in Chennai, India. Yuvan had met her in 2002 as a fan at a music cultural program in London and both fell in love later.
Sujaya was a London-based singer and the daughter of Dr. C. R. Velayutham and Dr. Sarojini Chandran. They had a secret registered marriage in September 2003 in London, before the formal public wedding was held in 2005 with the consent of their parents. In August 2007, they filed for divorce with mutual consent, which was granted in February 2008, after 6 months. The reason for the divorce was cited to be “irreconcilable differences”.
On 1 September 2011, he married Shilpa Mohan at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on 1 September 2011. The marriage was held in a simple ceremony with only family members and close friends being present. Shilpa was revealed to be a B. Pharm graduate from the University of Adelaide, Australia. A wedding reception was arranged a day later in Chennai.
In February 2014, he announced through his Twitter account that he had embraced Islam. He further rechristened himself as Abdul Khaliq. On 1 January 2015, he married for the third time. Yuvan and his wife had a baby girl on 7 April 2016.