Rajan–Nagendra were an Indian musical duo who were prominent composers of film music in Kannada and Telugu cinema from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Rajan, along with his brother Nagendra, created a niche for themselves for nearly four decades. The duo scored music for about 375 films, over 200 of them in Kannada and the remainder in other languages like Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Hindi and Sinhala. They composed innumerable hits, hundreds of melodious tunes in their career spanning four decades. They also hold the record for the longest active musical pair in the industry.
Bandhana is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu from a screenplay by H. V. Subba Rao and Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel of the same name by Usha Navaratnanram. The film revolves around the relationship between a surgeon, Harish and his student Nandini. The film stars Vishuvardhan as Dr. Harish and Suhasini as his protégé Nandini, along with Jai Jagadish, Roopadevi and G. K. Govinda Rao in supporting roles.
Gauri Ganesha is a 1991 Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by Phani Ramachandra. It stars Anant Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Master Anand, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Ramesh Bhat among others.
Bangarada Jinke is a 1980 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by T. S. Nagabharana and produced by B. S. Somasundar and T. S. Narasimhan under the banner of Kavitha Komal Productions. It stars Vishnuvardhan, Bharathi, Aarathi, Leelavathi, Pramila Joshai and Sundar Raj.
Devara Gudi is a 1975 Indian Kannada-language drama film starring Vishnuvardhan and Bharathi along with Leelavathi, Manjula and Rajesh. The film was directed and edited by R. Ramamurthy and written by A. S. Prakasham
Doctor Krishna is a 1989 Indian Kannada drama film, directed and written by Phani Ramachandra. The film stars Vishnuvardhan in the title role, along with Suman Ranganathan and Tara in leading roles. The music of the film was composed by Rajan–Nagendra.
Eradu Kanasu is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan, and is based on the novel of the same name by Vani. The film stars Rajkumar, Kalpana and Manjula.
Habba (transl. Festival) is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language drama film written and directed by D. Rajendra Babu. The film has an ensemble cast including Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Devaraj, Jayapradha, Urvashi, Shashikumar, Ramkumar, Vijayalakshmi, Kasthuri and Charulatha. The movie was produced by Bharathi Devi for Chinni Chitra productions. The movie became a blockbuster and ran for more than 25 weeks. The film was remade in Telugu in 2002 as Chandravamsam starring Krishna. The movie was loosely based on the Pandavas's exile episode in the Virata Parva of Mahabharata.
Kalla Kulla is a 1975 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film, directed by K. S. R. Das and produced by Shastry Associates. The story is written by M. D. Sundar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Dwarakish, Bhavani and Jayalakshmi. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs composed by Rajan–Nagendra were huge hits. The movie was dubbed in Hindi as Chor Ka Bhai Chor. H.R. Bhargava was the associate director of this movie. The director remade the movie in Telugu in 1976 as Kallanum Kullanum. The movie was dubbed in Malayalam as Kallanum Kullanum
Kittu Puttu is a 1977 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by C. V. Rajendran and produced by Dwarakish. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Dwarakish, Manjula, K. Vijaya and Vaishali Kasaravalli. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs tuned by Rajan–Nagendra were huge hits.
Professor Huchuraya is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language comedy-drama film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by actor Narasimharaju. The story is written by Narendra Babu. Besides Narasimharaju as the protagonist, the film features Vishnuvardhan, Manjula, R. Nagendra Rao and Balakrishna in prominent roles. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs tuned by Rajan–Nagendra were huge hits.
Muyyige Muyyi is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by P. Krishna Raj. The multi-starrer is led by Srinath, Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, Manjula, Roja Ramani and Chandrashekhar.
Madhura Sangama is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by T. P. Venugopal, starring Anant Nag, Radha Saluja and Ashok. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. One of the early multi-starrers of Kannada cinema. The movie had extended cameo appearances by a galaxy of stars in the Kumara Rama ballet.
Naniruvude Ninagagi is a 1979 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by A. V. Seshagiri Rao Rao and produced by R. V. Gurupada. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, Deepa and Balakrishna. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra.
Gandharva Giri is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by N. S. Dhananjaya (Datthu) and produced by N. S. Mukund, H. S. Chandru, B. A. Anasuya and Veena Nagaraj. It is based on the novel of the same name by Saisuthe. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, J. V. Somayajulu and Anupama. The film has musical score by Upendra Kumar.
Samarpane is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film based on the novel of the same name by Usha Navratnaram, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by P. Krishnaraj. The film stars Aarathi in the main role of the female protagonist Sarla opposite Rajeev and Jai Jagadish. The film has musical score by M. Ranga Rao. Aarathi who had previously starred in two movies based on Usha Navratnaram's novels was signed for the role. Ramakrishna who was to play the antagonist was replaced by Jai Jagdish since Ramakrishna had played the role of Aarathi's son (Ranganayaki) only a couple of years earlier and the director felt that the audience may not accept the pairing.
Nanendu Nimmavane is a 1993 Indian Kannada film, directed by H. S. Phani Ramachandra and produced by Dashami Technicians. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Srishanthi, Ramesh Bhat and Vinaya Prasad in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra.
Marali Goodige is a 1984 Indian Kannada film directed by K. R. Shantharam. It stars Kalyan Kumar, Jai Jagadeesh, Roopa and Poornima in the lead roles. The music of the film was composed by Rajan–Nagendra. This movie is based on the novel by Smt. Aryamba Pattabhi, with the same name.
Karunamayi (transl. Merciful) is a 1987 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed and co-produced by H. R. Bhargava based on the Kannada novel Kesaru Mosaru by Kakolu Saroja Rao. The film starred Vishnuvardhan and Bhavya along with Tara, K. S. Ashwath and Shivakumar in supporting roles. The film's music is scored by Rajan–Nagendra whilst the cinematography is by D. V. Rajaram who also co-produced the film. Movie became a silver jubilee hit.
Phalitamsha is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language romantic movie, directed by S. R. Puttanna Kanagal. The movie is based on the story Golagummata by Srinivasa Kulakarni. Produced under the banner of A1 Movietone, the movie was predominantly shot in Bijapur. The movie paired newcomer Jai Jagadish with four heroines. Aarathi as expected has the meatiest role and delivers yet another power-packed performance. Despite a good-looking hero, top notch actresses and beautiful outdoor locales, Phalitamsha remains one of the few flops of ace director Puttana Kanagal's career. The negatives of the movie were lost in fire. The movie was dubbed in Telugu in 1977 as Nannu Preminchu.
