Ilaiyaraaja

To date, Ilaiyaraaja has composed over 4,500 songs and provided film scores for more than 950 Indian films in various languages in a career spanning more than 30 years. His songs and background scores have played a very crucial role in the success of many films and he remains one of the most popular composers to have emerged from India.A gold medallist in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music London in 1993, he organised a full symphony and thus became the first Asian to compose a full symphony performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London's Walthamstow Town Hall, which is not released yet. In 2003, according to a BBC international poll, people from 155 countries voted his composition Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu from the 1991 film Thalapathi fourth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time. In the 2000s, he composed a variety of non-film music, including religious and devotional songs, an oratorio and world music, while shifting his focus to Malayalam films. He is usually referred to by the title Isaignani (English: Musical Genius), or as The Maestro. He has won four Indian National Films awards; three for Best Music Direction and one for Best Background Score and is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award from the Government of India. In 2012 he received the Sangeet Natak Academi Award for his creative and experimental works in music field. In a poll conducted by CNN-IBN celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema in 2013, Ilaiyaraaja was voted the greatest music composer of India with a maximum of 49%.