Yuvanshankar Raja

Like his father, the musician Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja is an award-winning Indian film composer and lyricist. ∙ Shankar Raja’s breakthrough came thanks to two collaborations with film director Selvaraghavan: the soundtracks for 2002’s Thulluvadho Ilamai and 2003’s Kaadhal Kondein. ∙ In 2006, he became the first Indian composer to win Best Musical Score in a Feature Film at the Cyprus International Film Festival, for his soundtrack to Raam. ∙ He’s won several Filmfare Awards South prizes, including Best Music Director - Tamil for 2004’s 7/G Rainbow Colony and a Special Award for the music for 2009’s Oy. ∙ “Rowdy Baby,” a Tamil language song Shankar Raja wrote for 2018’s Maari 2, was India’s most-viewed video of 2019 and was in the top 10 of Billboard’s global videos list that year.