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Indian composer and playback singer (born 1973)

Musical artist

Karthik Raja (born 29 June 1973) is an Indian composer and playback singer, who predominantly works in Tamil films, apart from a few Hindi films. He made his debut as a film composer in the film Pandiyan (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films predominately from the 1990s and 2000s.^[1]^[2]

Personal life

Karthik Raja is the eldest son of music composer Illayaraja. His brother Yuvan Shankar Raja and sister Bhavatharini, also Tamil film music directors and playback singers, have worked with him on notable projects. He was schooled at St. Bede’s School and Boston Matriculation higher secondary school in Chennai. On 8 June 2000, Karthik Raja married Raja Rajeshwari at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Career

Born to a family of musicians, Raja had exposure to various kinds of music from a very early age. He had his formal training in Western classical music from the Trinity School of Music, mainly in piano (affiliated with Jacob John). He also had training in Carnatic music from T. V. Gopalakrishnan and Malayalam composer, V. Dakshinamoorthy.^[3]

As a child, Raja often used to accompany his father to the recording studios. At the age of 13, Karthik Raja played the keyboard for the song Kannukkum from the Tamil movie Ninaikka Therinda Maname (1987). Many such outings followed including playing keyboard for the soundtrack of the movie Nayakan. Karthik also arranged many recordings for his father and composed his first song “Pandianin Rajiyathil” for the movie Pandiyan (1992) and “Ninaikindra” for the movie Athma (1993). Around this time, he also composed some background scores for the TV series Bible.

Raja debuted as a fully-fledged composer in 1996 through the Tamil movie Alexander, soon followed by Manikkam. Then came many chart-busters that included Ullaasam, Naam Iruvar Nammaku Iruvar, Kadhala Kadhala and Dumm Dumm Dumm among others. He also debuted in Hindi films with Grahan which won him the R.D. Burman award for the best new talent.

Discography

Tamil films

Other language films

As playback singer

Year	Title	Song	Composer
1990	Anjali	“Something Something”, “Iravu Nilavu”, “Motta Maadi”, “Vaanam Namakku”, “Anjali Anjali”	Ilayaraja
1996	Enakkoru Magan Pirappan	“Cham Cham”	himself
1996	Alexander	“Koothadichu”	himself
1997	Devathai	“Enge En Kaadhali”	Ilayaraja
1997	Ullasam	“Ullasam”, “Vaalibam Vaazhthu”	himself
1998	Kaathala Kaathala	“Saravana Bhava”	himself
2001	Ullam Kollai Poguthae	“Kathavai Naan”, “Adada Adada”	himself
2003	Ragasiyamai	“Kadhal Mannile”,”Oduthe”	himself
2004	Neranja Manasu	“Tharisa Kedakkura”	himself
2005	Rightaa Thappaa	“Ilamai Enbathu”	himself
2006	Mercury Pookkal	“Solla Vaarthaigal”	himself
	Thullura Vayasu	“Mama Unakku”	himself
	Manathodu Mazhaikalam	“Pani Vizhum Kaalam”	himself
2007	Oru Ponnu Oru Paiyan	“Nenjil”	himself
2008	Chakkara Viyugam	“Idyatha Kaanam”, “Padaithal Kadhal”, “Yei Unnidam”	himself
2009	Kudiyarasu	“Idhu Enna”	himself
2010	Goa	“Yezhezhu Thalamuraikkum”	Yuvan Shankar Raja
2012	Kazhugu	“Aathadi Manasuthan”	Yuvan Shankar Raja
2014	Vanavarayan Vallavarayan	“Kongu Naatu Thendralukkum”	Yuvan Shankar Raja

Albums

Year	Album	Language	Notes
1997	Meri Jaan Hindustan	Hindi	One track
2000	Split Wide Open – Album	Hindi	One track
	Kaathalai Gauravikkum Neram	Tamil
	India Unlimited	Hindi
	Haule Haule	Hindi	Three tracks
2012	Srivilliputtur Andal	Tamil	12 Tracks^[4]

Television

Awards

References

External links

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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-”’Karthik Raja”’ (born 29 June 1973) is an Indian composer and playback singer, who predominantly works in Tamil films, apart from a few Hindi films. He made his debut as a film composer in the film [[Pandiyan (film)|”Pandiyan”]] (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films of the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name=”hindu1″>{{cite news | last=Krithika Reddy| first=T | title= Yuvan Unplugged | date= 23 October 2009 | url =http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/article37628.ece| work =[[The Hindu]]| access-date = 21 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=”glitz”>{{cite news | last=Krithika Reddy| first=T | title=Karthik Raja croons for Yuvan | date= 3 April 2009 | url =http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/46026.html| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090405094946/http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/46026.html| url-status =dead| archive-date =5 April 2009| work =www.indiaglitz.com| access-date = 21 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=”hindu2″>{{cite news | last=Ashok Kumar| first=S. R | title=  On a creative trip | date= 7 November 2008 | url =http://www.hindu.com/cp/2008/11/07/stories/2008110750070300.htm| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121108173754/http://www.hindu.com/cp/2008/11/07/stories/2008110750070300.htm| url-status =dead| archive-date =8 November 2012| work =[[The Hindu]]| access-date = 21 January 2010}}</ref>
+”’Karthik Raja”’ (born 29 June 1973) is an Indian composer and playback singer, who predominantly works in Tamil films, apart from a few Hindi films. He made his debut as a film composer in the film [[Pandiyan (film)|”Pandiyan”]] (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films  the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name=”hindu1″>{{cite news | last=Krithika Reddy| first=T | title= Yuvan Unplugged | date= 23 October 2009 | url =http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/article37628.ece| work =[[The Hindu]]| access-date = 21 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=”hindu2″>{{cite news | last=Ashok Kumar| first=S. R | title=  On a creative trip | date= 7 November 2008 | url =http://www.hindu.com/cp/2008/11/07/stories/2008110750070300.htm| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121108173754/http://www.hindu.com/cp/2008/11/07/stories/2008110750070300.htm| url-status =dead| archive-date =8 November 2012| work =[[The Hindu]]| access-date = 21 January 2010}}</ref>
 ==Personal life==