Rahul Raj

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Rahul Raj
Music Composer
  • orchestrator
  • Record producer
  • Music director
  • singer
    • Years active2007–present
    Musical career
    Genres
    Instrument(s)
    Labels
  • Saina Music

    • Rahul Raj is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced

    Malayalam movies. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music
    and holds a postgraduate degree in scoring for films, TV and video games.

    Early life

    Rahul Raj was born in

    Cochin. He has one sister, Rehna Raj. From the age of 6, he was trained in Mridangam and Carnatic Music. He graduated as an IT Engineer from CUSAT, Cochin and later on pursued courses such as CCNP and CCIE in Bangalore ILloka networks, before moving to London.[1][2]

    During his stint in London, he underwent training in Electronic Sound Production. He helped Pradeep Menon, a UK-based Indian businessman, remix a Tamil Ayappa record that was originally produced, composed and sung by Pradeep Menon and Shashi Kumar in 1985. The devotional album produced in the UK, Canada and India is titled Sabari Beats.[3] It was released in November 2002 by Super recording in Tamil Nadu. Noted musicians like Pravin Mani, Saroja, and Kamalakar were featured. This launched Rahul Raj's career. He also arranged another song for Pradeep Menon called "Krishna Krishna" with percussionist Sivamani and James Asher from United Kingdom.[4]

    Career

    On returning to India, Rahul composed more than 100 jingles for commercials in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. During this period, he had also composed original themes for many television productions, including shows for Asianet and Amrita TV.[5]

    In 2003, he composed the anthem Lokaha Samastha for Amma's 50th birth anniversary, Amrithavarsam 50, which was later used as the theme song for Amrita TV. He composed Malayalam albums during the period, which include En Jeevane (Pularmanju pole), which was shot completely in the United States by producer–director Tom George Kolath. The song "Pularmanjupol Nee" from the album, rendered by Karthik and Sujatha, became an evergreen hit.

    He was given the opportunity to compose the logo theme music for the show 50 Years of Malayalam Film Music with

    Dr. K. J. Yesudas
    .

    His first feature film score and soundtrack were for Chotta Mumbai, directed by Anwar Rasheed and starring Mohanlal in the lead. His second release was Suresh Gopi's Time directed by Shaji Kailas. Shankar Mahadevan sang in one of his compositions for Chotta Mumbai.

    In 2008, he replaced the trio

    Thiruvananthapuram
    .


    In 2009, he composed for filmmaker

    K.P. Udayabhanu
    .

    In 2010, he won the

    University at Buffalo, The State University of New York to rework and expand Pomp and Circumstance Marches, the traditional convocation music used by them, composed by Sir Edward Elgar. In addition to expanding Edward Elgar's piece, he composed two original music pieces for the convocation, Dance of the Gods and The Circumstance by Rahul Raj.[6] In the same year he signed a project called Mathilukalkkapuram, a sequel to Adoor Gopalakrishnan's classic Mathilukal. The Mammootty starrer which also had Ravi K. Chandran and Resul Pookutty on board as cinematographer and sound designer respectively was subsequently shelved.[7]

    His only release in 2010 was Chekavar which tanked at the box-office, with the music too not appealing to the masses. Later in the year he was approached to score The Thriller which he declined. He was also approached to score two other films which were 2011 releases, Doubles and China Town both of which he rejected citing time constraints.

    In 2011, Rahul Raj made his debut in

    Oh My Friend.[8] The audio of the film opened to overwhelming responses and rave reviews, climbing to the No. 1 position in Telugu music charts, with the song "Maa Daddy Pockets" in particular becoming a rage among the youth. The audio went on to mark record sales of 3 lakh CDs within nine days of release.[9]

    After almost a two-year hiatus, in 2012 he returned to the Malayalam industry by scoring for Amal Neerad's Bachelor Party. The songs became sensational hits and the background score received critical acclaim.[10][11]

    In 2013, he composed for

    Malayalam Cinema. Though the film opened to mixed responses, the title song became a huge hit.[12] Several critics hailed the background score as the most interesting technical aspect of the movie.[13]

    Rahul had a dull opening in 2014 with the high budget romantic comedy

    Paathshala for which he had composed, became a box office success. Rahul's songs for the movie were received well,[14][15] but it was his background score that was unanimously praised by all reviewers, as a major plus point, crediting it to have elevated the movie to a different level.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

    The year 2015, opened on a favourable note for Rahul, as his background score for the Mammootty starrer Fireman received praise.[27][28][29][30] His second release of the year was Sidhartha Siva's Ain which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. The month of August saw the release of his songs from Kohinoor, a heist film set in the 1980s. The song Hemanthamen went on to rake in unanimous praise from critics and public alike, being hailed as an outstanding nostalgic melody.[31]

    With releases like Kasaba, IDI-Inspector Dawood Ibrahim making no significant impact, 2016 was a comparatively listless year for Rahul Raj.

    The year 2017 opened on an excellent note with his song Lailakame from Ezra becoming a smash hit,[32] prompting several cover versions, including one by Rahul Raj himself.

    In early 2018, the film

    Academy Award Winner Resul Pookutty's multilingual titled The Sound Story directed by Pookutty's protege Prasad Prabhakar. The movie was touted to feature 164 tracks comprising background score pieces and 2 songs.[33] He composed the songs of the film, but opted out before composing the background score, as there were schedule conflicts with his stint in Berklee, Spain.[34] For the same reason, he also had to opt out of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel
    after giving two songs.

    In June 2019, he composed and conducted the symphonic piece Birth of the Nemesis, which was performed by the London Orchestra.

    Hindi.[38][39]

    Orchestration

    Rahul Raj is known for giving ultra-modern orchestration in his songs. He uses international elements for the instrumentation in his songs. His background scores in particular are rich with elements of symphony and Western Classical music.[40]

    Personal life

    Rahul is married to Miriam, a German national and has a daughter Akshaine, who was born in 2012.

    Film discography

    2000s

    Year Film Language Songs Score Director Other Notes
    2007 Chotta Mumbai • Malayalam Yes Yes Anwar Rasheed
    Time • Malayalam Yes Yes Shaji Kailas

    Winner – JayCee Foundation Award for Best Music Direction

    2008
    Annan Thambi
     •    		 Malayalam Yes No Anwar Rasheed
    Malabar Wedding • Malayalam Yes Yes Rajesh-Faisal
    One Way Ticket • Malayalam Yes No Bipin Prabhakar
    Maya Bazar • Malayalam Yes No Thomas Sebastian
    Crazy Gopalan • Malayalam Yes No Deepu Karunakaran
    2009 Ritu • Malayalam Yes Yes Shyamaprasad Winner –
    Kerala State Film Award
    – Best Background Score
    Winner – Vayalar Movie Award – Best Music Direction

    2010s

    Year Film Language Songs Score Director Other Notes
    2010 Chekavar • Malayalam Yes Yes Sajeevan
    2011
    Oh My Friend
     •    		 Telugu Yes No Venu Sriram Telugu Debut.
    Winner – Maa Music Award – Best Debut Music Composer
    2012 Bachelor Party • Malayalam Yes Yes Amal Neerad
    2013 Kili Poyi • Malayalam Yes Yes Vinay Govind
    Paisa Paisa• Malayalam No Yes Prasanth Murali Background Score only.
    D Company
     •    		 Malayalam No Yes Vinod Vijayan Anthology film.
    Segment: Day of Judgement.
    2014
    London Bridge
     •    		 Malayalam Yes No Anil C. Menon Opening Credits Theme & 2 songs only.
    Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 • Malayalam Yes Yes Mamas K. Chandran
    Kadavul Paathi Mirugam Paathi • Tamil Yes Yes Raj-Suresh Tamil Debut.
    Pathasala
     •    		 Telugu Yes Yes
    Mahi V. Raghav
    2015
    Fireman
     •    		 Malayalam No Yes Deepu Karunakaran
    Ain • Malayalam Yes Yes Sidhartha Siva
    Kohinoor • Malayalam Yes Yes Vinay Govind
    Style
     •    		 Malayalam No Yes Binu Sadanandan
    Background Score
    only.
    2016 Mudhugauv • Malayalam Yes Yes Vipin Das
    Karingunnam Sixes
     •    		 Malayalam Yes Yes Deepu Karunakaran
    Kasaba• Malayalam Yes Yes Nithin Renji Panicker
    White
     •    		 Malayalam Yes Yes Uday Ananthan
    IDI- Inspector Dawood Ibrahim • Malayalam Yes Yes Sajid Yahiya
    2017 Ezra • Malayalam Yes No Jay K
    E • Malayalam Yes Yes Kukku Surendran
    Sherlock Toms • Malayalam No Yes Shafi
    2018 Hey Jude • Malayalam Yes No Shyamaprasad One song only.
    Kaly
     •    		 Malayalam Yes Yes Najim Koya
    Vikadakumaran • Malayalam Yes No Boban Samuel
    Kuttanadan Marpappa • Malayalam Yes Yes Sreejith Vijayan
    B. Tech • Malayalam Yes Yes Mridul Nair
    Ente Mezhuthiri Athazhangal • Malayalam No Yes Sooraj Tom
    Dakini • Malayalam Yes No Rahul Riji Nair Guest composer. Two songs only.
    The Sound Story • Malayalam Yes No Prasad Prabhakar Announced by Resul Pookutty.
    Multilingual film.[41][42]
    2019 Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel • Malayalam Yes No B. Unnikrishnan Announced by
    Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
    . Guest composer. Two songs only.
    Oru Nakshathramulla Aakasham • Malayalam Yes No Ajith Pulleri, Suneesh Babu Guest composer. Two songs only.

    2020s

    Year Film Language Songs Score Director Other Notes
    2021
    The Priest
    •     		Malayalam Yes Yes Jofin T. Chacko
    Lalbagh • Malayalam Yes Yes Prasanth Murali
    Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea • Malayalam No Yes Priyadarshan
    2022
    Aaraattu
     •    		 Malayalam Yes Yes B. Unnikrishnan [43]
    Freedom Fight • Malayalam Yes Yes Jeo Baby Anthology film. Segment Old Age Home.
    Makal • Malayalam No Yes Sathyan Anthikad
    Eesho
     •    		 Malayalam No Yes Nadirshah
    2023
    Lovefully Yours Veda • Malayalam Yes Yes Praghesh Sukumaran
    Dance Party • Malayalam Yes Yes Sohan Seenulal Three songs and score.
    2024
    Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal • Malayalam Yes Yes Sharan Venugopal
    Brocode[44] • Malayalam Yes Yes Bibin Krishna
    Pushpaka Vimaanam • Malayalam Yes Yes Ullas Krishna
    Varaaham[45] • Malayalam Yes Yes Sanal V. Devan
    Untitled Netflix Anthology segment • Malayalam Yes Yes Rathish Ambat
    The Statesman • Malayalam Yes Yes Kishore Prakash Menon

    Independent studio albums

    The following section contains the independent studio album(s) composed, arranged and produced by Rahul Raj.

    Year Title
    2020 Indiasoundz: The Cosmic Series

    Short films

    Year Title Notes
    2020 Hambre: A Post-apocalyptic Story
    2020 Mattoru Kadavil

    Awards and nominations

    Award Year Project Category Outcome
    Kerala State Film Award
         		2009 Ritu
    Best Background Score
    		 Won
    Vayalar Movie Award 2009 Ritu Best Music Composer Won
    Jay Cee Foundation Award 2007 Time Best Music Composer Won
    Maa Music Award
         		2011 Oh My Friend
    Best Debut Music Composer (Telugu)
    		 Won
    Flowers Music Awards
         		2018 Lailakame (Ezra)
    Best Song Composition
    		 Won

    As President of FEFKA Music Directors' Union

    In 2013, Rahul Raj was designated as the President of the FEFKA Music Directors' Union, the official association of film composers in the

    Malayalam film industry.[46][47]

    References

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    29. ^ "Fireman Movie Review". Metromatinee.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
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    32. ^ "Rahul Raj's cover for Lailakame from Ezra goes viral - Times of India". The Times of India. 12 March 2017.
    33. ^ "Now, meet Resul Pookutty, the actor! - Times of India". The Times of India. 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
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    35. ^ "സ്വപ്നം യാഥാർഥ്യമായപ്പോൾ ഈ ഭൂമിയിൽ തന്നെയില്ല; മറഞ്ഞുപോയ ഹേമന്തത്തെ പറ്റി രാഹുൽ രാജ്".
    36. ^ "The Priest Review: A gripping mystery thriller!". 11 March 2021.
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    44. ^ "Dileesh, Dhyan to star in Bibin Krishna's 'Brocode'".
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    46. ^ "Music directors rubbish claims made by singers". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
    47. ^ "www.deccanchronicle.com/130829/entertainment-mollywood/article/%E2%80%98-singer%E2%80%99s-role-important-limited%E2%80%99". deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 20 November 2021.

    External links

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rahul_Raj&oldid=1220347030"