Yuvan Shankar Raja turns 46 today

It is hard to believe that at age 46, Yuvanshankar Raja has already completed more than 190 albums and is officially in the film industry for 29 years. He is the first and only Indian music composer to win the Best Music composer award at the Cyprus International Film Festival.

Born on 31 August 1979, he is the youngest son of Isai Gnani Illaiyaraja. Yuvan, his brother, Karthik Raja and his late sister Bhavadharani made their debut to films as singers in Maniratnam’s 1990 film Anjali, a soundtrack which also featured the voices of his cousins Venkat Prabhu and Premgi Amaran.

He made his debut in the Sarathkumar-Nagma starrer, Aravindan. He was only 15 when he was signed on, but the film released a year later. Although this album was well received, his subsequent albums failed to impress audiences and film critics. However, his fame rocketed after the release of the soundtrack of Vassanth’s Poovellaam Kettupaar.

In 2001 he tasted greater success with his soundtrack for Ajithkumar’is Dheena directed by A.R. Murugadoss,

A year later, he had a bigger hit with Thulluvadho Illamai, the film that marked the debut of Dhanush, Sherin and Selvaraghavan.

He made his screen debut in a song sequence in Punnagai Poove.

In 2003 he enjoyed another hit soundtrack with Kaadhal Konndain, the official

directorial debut of Selvargahavan.

He was the first Tamil film composer to start remixing older Tamil songs, the first being for Vishnu Varadhan’s Kurumbu. Song remixes have now increased in popularity.

Yuvanshankar Raja’s fame and success then snowballed. Although there were some failed soundtracks in his discography, his success rate is staggeringly high.

He has collaborated with many artists and released his first independent album The Blast in 1999 when the concept of independent albums in Chennai was still relatively new.

Yuvan is also a playback singer, film producer and owns his own music label, U1 Records which he launched in 2015.

Yuvan’s last released film was the Fahadh Faasil-Vadivelu starrer, Maareesan and he currently has 10 other assignments in varying stages of completion.