Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraaja, originally named R. Gnanathesigan, was born on June 3, 1943, in Pannaipuram, Tamil Nadu. He is a legendary Indian musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, widely recognized for his contributions to Tamil cinema. Over his career, he has also composed music for Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada films.

Ilaiyaraaja is known for being one of the first composers to blend Western classical music with Indian film scores. He was also the first South Asian to compose a full symphony. Some of his remarkable achievements include using a computer to record a soundtrack for Vikram (1986) and creating the Indian oratorio Thiruvasagam in Symphony (2006). His name underwent several changes before finally becoming Ilaiyaraaja.