Karthik Raja, the eldest son of Isai Gnani Illaiyaraja, was born on 29 June 1973. He showed an early interest in and affinity to music. At the age of 13 he played the keyboard for the song Kannukkum from the film Ninaikka Therintha Maname.
He also played the keyboard for the soundtrack and background score for the Kamalhaasan-Mani Ratnam film, Nayakan.
Karthik sang playback with his siblings and cousins in the film Anjali under his father’s music.
He regularly assisted his father, composing the background score in films like Uzhaippaalli, Dharma Seelan, Sakkarai Devan, Amaithi Padai and Rasamagan. He also composed the song Pandiyanin Rajiyathil from Rajinikanth’s Pandiyan and the song Ninakindra from the film Athma.
He made his official debut as a music composer in Panju Arunachallam’s Vijayakanth starrer, Alexander, but delays in the release of this film saw the soundtrack of Manickam being released ahead of this/ Both albums were positively received and the richness of the orchestration as well as the depth of the compositions showed a natural flair for music composition.
He went on to enjoy many popular soundtracks, including Sundar C’s Prabhu Deva-Meena starrer, Naam Iruvar Namakkiruvar, Amitabh Bachchan’s own production – the Ajithkumar-Vikram starrer, Ullasam and the Kamalhaasan-Prabhu Deva starrer, Kaadhalaa Kaadhalaa.
Karthik Raja went on to make his mark in soundtracks in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and English films. His Hindi debut in Grahan won him the R.D. Burman award for Best New Talent.
Karthik Raja’s son, Yatheeshwar recently made his debut as a singer and music composer.
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