Anirudh Ravichander
Anirudh in 2017
Background information
Born	(1990-10-16)October 16, 1990 (age 35)[1] Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India
Education	Trinity Laban
Genres	Film score independent music
Occupations	Composer Playback singer Instrumentalist Music producer
Instruments	Vocals keyboards
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Sony Music India Aditya T-Series Lahari Wunderbar Eros Divo Zee Sun Pictures

Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also creditedmononymously asAnirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily inTamil cinema, in addition toTelugu andHindi films. He has won twoFilmfare Awards South, tenSIIMA Awards, sixEdison Awards and fiveVijay awards.^[2]

His debut song "Why This Kolaveri Di", composed for the 2012 film3, wentviral across the globe and has achieved over 450 million views onYouTube.^[3]A.R. Murugadoss signed him to compose music forKaththi (2014) starringVijay &Samantha^[4] which included the viral hit "Selfie Pulla".^[5] The soundtrack for the film became Anirudh's highest profile soundtrack until he was signed to compose music forRajinikanth'sPetta in 2019.^[5]

In 2016, he signed a record deal withSony Music, which publishes his independent albums and live concerts.^[6] In the same year, he featured withDiplo on the remix ofMajor Lazer's hit single "Cold Water".^[7]

Anirudh Ravichander was born in a Tamil family toIndianactorRavi Raghavendra and classical dancer Lakshmi Ravichander. He also has an elder sister. He is the nephew ofLatha Rajinikanth,^[8] thus makingAishwarya,Soundarya andHrishikesh his cousins andRajinikanth is his uncle. Anirudh's great-grandfather was the directorK. Subramanyam, a filmmaker in the 1930s.^[9] Anirudh is also the grand-nephew of Padma VibhushanDr. Padma Subrahmanyam.

He graduated from theLoyola College in Chennai^[10] in 2011, which according to him was just a backup in case his music career did not take off.^[11] Anirudh learnt piano fromTrinity College of Music inLondon. He was also part of a fusion band.^[12] Anirudh has also pursued a diploma in sound engineering from Soundtech Media Audio Engineering Institute in Chennai.^[13][14] In his school days, Anirudh and his band had participated in a reality television show judged by the famous musicianA. R. Rahman, and his band was one of the winners along with five other bands in the show.^[15]

Anirudh Ravichander made his debut as a music composer in his cousinAishwarya Rajinikanth's directorial debut3, starringDhanush. While pursuing his degree at Loyola College, he had done background scores for the short films made by Aishwarya and his work on short films convinced her to have him work on her first commercial venture.^[16] In early November 2011, a leaked version of a song from the filmWhy This Kolaveri Di!, circulated online and the film's team decided to subsequently release it officially. It instantly became popular on social networking sites for its quirkyTanglish lyrics.^[17] Soon, the song became the most searched YouTube video in India andinternet phenomenon across Asia.^{[18][19][20][21]} The song revolves around the film's main actor being dumped by his girlfriend; the song is sung by the character in a drunken state, with many of the lines nonsensical. According to the composer,3's directorAishwarya Rajinikanth wanted a light-hearted song about failed love. Anirudh quickly composed the tune in about 10 minutes.^[21][22]

The remaining songs of the album were released in December and also received very positive reviews from critics. A reviewer from Behindwoods noted, "Such a promising debut by a composer hasn't been seen in recent Tamil cinema history", while Rediff.com's reviewer noted that "all the songs in3 are good and come with appealing instrumental arrangements", concluding that it was "an intriguing collection."^[23][24] Anirudh also received praise for his background score in the film. He consequently went on to gain recognition for the film through accolades, notably the Vijay Award for Best Find of the Year as well as nominations at theSouth Indian International Movie Awards and the60th Filmfare Awards South.^[25] He also worked on the Telugu dubbed version of the film.^[26] Anirudh teamed up with Dhanush soon after to produce a Kolaveri-inspired track titled "Sachin anthem" commemoratingSachin Tendulkar in association with the health drink, Boost.^[27][28]

Next, he sang and composed a single forDavid – a multi-starrer directed byBejoy Nambiar; "Kanave Kanave" in Tamil and "Yu Hi Re" in Hindi. The album also opened to very positive reviews, with a critic noting: Anirudh's song was "the pick of the album".^[29][30] His next album wasEthir Neechal, starringSivakarthikeyan. Anirudh introduced rappersYo Yo Honey Singh andHiphop Tamizha in the album. Moreover, Sony Music India released the complete background score ofEthir Neechal via YouTube owing to its popularity.^[31] His next soundtrack,Vanakkam Chennai released in July 2013. For the song "Oh Penne", he roped in Vishal Dadlani for the first time in Tamil music. Another promotional song, "Chennai City Gangster", saw him collaborate again with Hiphop Tamizha and British Indian rapperHard Kaur, with the trio also featuring in a music video for the film.^[32][33] In September 2013, he was signed on to compose thebackground score forSelvaraghavan's fantasy filmIrandam Ulagam, afterHarris Jayaraj had opted out. Anirudh noted his happiness at working with Selvaraghavan early in his career, despite being called up as a replacement and subsequently recorded for the film inBudapest.^[34]

Anirudh's next releaseVelaiyilla Pattathari, featured a song by veteran singerS. Janaki.^[35] while adding "in all, the album is soulful, lively and truly Anirudh".^[36] The film subsequently became a blockbuster at the box office, with Anirudh receiving the Filmfare award for best music director. His next film wasMaan Karate, starringSivakarthikeyan.^[37]A.R. Murugadoss then signed him on to compose music forKaththi, starringVijay, becoming Anirudh's highest profile album at the time. The album and especially the background score received positive reviews from critics and topped theiTunes India Charts.^[38][39]

Next, Anirudh again collaborated withSivakarthikeyan for the filmKaaki Sattai, produced byDhanush under his production company. Then, Anirudh scored music forMaari, withDhanush. The music received positive reviews, with the song "Don'u Don'u Don'u" becoming exceptionally popular.^[40] He also received critical acclaim for his work in theVijay Sethupathi starrerNaanum Rowdy Dhaan, leading him to receive many accolades for his achievement in the film.^[41] He released a single from the movieAakko on Valentine's Day in 2015 of the name "Ennakenna Yaarum Illaiye". He also scored his firstAjith Kumar film inVedalam, directed bySiva. Anirudh's music received mixed reviews, however, the song "Aaluma Doluma", became a hit.^[42] Anirudh concluded the year withThangamagan, starringDhanush. In February 2016, for Valentine's Day, he released a single titled "Avalukena", under Sony Music. After a short break, Anirudh released a single fromRum in April 2016; "Hola Amigo". In May 2016, Anirudh signed a deal withSony Music India for his independent albums and live concerts.^[43][44]

Anirudh again teamed up withSivakarthikeyan ForRemo. In late 2017, for the filmVivegam, Anirudh launched the first single "Surviva" and became fastest Tamil song to get 1 million streams,^[45] this track sawYogi B performing in a Tamil film after a long hiatus. He again teamed up with Sivakarthikeyan for the fifth time withVelaikkaaran, for which he won a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.^[46] A Hindi pop music videoBewajah, composed and sung by Anirudh, Irene and Srinidhi Venkatesh was released bySony Music India. The song became an instant hit etching several million views.^[47]

In 2018, he made his Telugu debut withAgnyaathavaasi which was received well.^[48][49] Next, he composed forSuriya'sThaanaa Serndha Koottam, a remake ofSpecial 26. After that, he composed for Nayanthara'sKolamavu Kokila, which was well received and was praised for being unique.

His next big project came withPetta, directed byKarthik Subbaraj and starring his uncleRajinikanth. On 10 December, the full album for Rajinikanth'sPetta was released by Anirudh. His next project wasNani's Telugu filmJersey, which is directed byGowtam Tinnanuri. He later composed forGang Leader which was directed by Vikram K Kumar. This marked his second collaboration with Nani. After that wasDarbar, directed byAR Murugadoss. He then composed one of the songs of the soundtrack forDharala Prabhu, the title track, which garnered success.

In 2021, he collaborated withVijay for the 2nd time inMaster, directed byLokesh Kanagaraj. The first single, "Kutti Story", sung by Vijay himself, received great praise and became popular around the world for its Tanglish lyrics.^[50] The second single sung by Gana Balachander, "Vaathi Coming", became an instant viral hit universally.^[51] He also came to work on the soundtrack ofDoctor, directed byNelson Dilipkumar. The first single "Chellamma" was a hit among the youth with the fun and romantic lyrics, collecting over 100 million views on YouTube.^[52] In 2022, he worked with Vijay^[53] for the 3rd time inBeast directed by Nelson, whom he also worked with for the 3rd consecutive time. The first single "Arabic Kuthu", was a fusion featuring Arabic phrases and rhyming verses in Tamil. The song set the record for the most-viewed and liked South Indian song within 24 hours, and is currently his most-viewed single with over 700 million views.^[54]

His work inVikram marked his first release withKamal Haasan, although the duo collaborated first onIndian 2 which wasn't released at that time (released on 2024).^[55] The first single ofVikram titled "Pathala Pathala" received several million views from fans.^[56] He also composed for Sivakarthikeyan'sDon and Vijay Sethupathi'sKaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal.^[57][58] After a hiatus, he returned to compose forDhanush withThiruchitrambalam.^[59] The first single ofThiruchitrambalam titled "Thaai Kelavi" was released on 24 June 2022 and its lyrics proved controversial.^[60] A social activist lodged a complaint against the makers of the film asking them to change the lyrics of the song,^[61] citing disrespect to elderly people.^[62]

AfterA. R. Rahman turned down an offer byAtlee to compose for his Hindi filmJawan withShah Rukh Khan,^[63] Anirudh was chosen to compose for the film. An announcement teaser featuring Anirudh's score was released in June 2022.^[64]Jawan marks the first full-fledged debut for Anirudh inHindi cinema as a composer as his previous Hindi filmsDavid andJersey featured just a single and reused film from the original, respectively. He then composed the soundtrack forLeo, in his fourth collaboration withVijay afterKaththi (2014),Master andBeast; third collaboration with Lokesh afterMaster andVikram (2022).^[65] The track "Bloody Sweet" that was featured in the two-minute promo video for the movie was released on 3 February 2023, the same date as the promo.^[66][67] It has gathered 83 million views so far on YouTube, his highest. He also composed music forRajinikanth’s 169th film titledJailer directed byNelson.

The film marks Anirudh's third collaboration with Rajini afterPetta andDarbar and fourth with Nelson afterKolamaavu Kokila,Doctor andBeast.^[68]

In 2024, he composed music forN. T. Rama Rao Jr.'sTelugu filmDevara, which is directed byKoratala Siva.^[69][70] He has collaborated withAjith Kumar for his 62nd filmVidaamuyarchi directed byMagizh Thirumeni which marked his third collaboration with Ajith afterVedalam andVivegam.

The soundtrack ofThe Ba***ds of Bollywood is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, working with Aryan Khan for the first time; this would also mark his debut as a composer in a television series, previously having composed in Hindi for Shah Rukh Khan'sJawan. The music rights were bagged byT-Series.

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