Harris Jayaraj was born on 8 January 1975 in Chennai. He is a film composer and singer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also scored films in Telugu and Hindi. He began as a guitarist and later a keyboard player, and by 2000 he had worked as a programmer for more than 25 music directors on over 600 projects.
He made his debut as a composer with the romantic film Minnale (2001), directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The soundtrack, with songs such as “Vaseegara”, made him a major name almost immediately.
He followed this with Kaakha Kaakha (2003), Anniyan (2005), the Tamil Ghajini (2005), directed by A. R. Murugadoss, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006), Vaaranam Aayiram (2008) and 7aum Arivu (2011).
His style blends melody with polished pop production. He has won six Filmfare Awards South, including for Minnale, Kaakha Kaakha, Anniyan and Vaaranam Aayiram.
He remains one of the most prominent composers in South Indian cinema, with a catalogue that continues to feature in playlists and live concerts.
Featured image: Harris Jayaraj at the Gethu audio launch (cropped). Photo by Silverscreen Media Inc. (https://silverscreen.in), licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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