Leon James | |
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Born | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | 1 December 1991
Origin | Tamil Nadu, India |
Occupations |
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Instrument | keyboard/piano |
Leon James is an Indian film composer and singer who works in Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut by composing two songs for the Tamil film, Kanchana 2 (2015) directed by Raghava Lawrence, before being noticed for his work in Ko 2 (2016). [1]
Leon James became interested in music as a result of his father Noel James's involvement in the industry as A. R. Rahman's manager, and began piano lessons aged three. He played in a school band called Zinx alongside Anirudh Ravichander, with the pair remaining close friends. [2] He is also currently a part of Project Yuj, a "neo-Carnatic funk" band alongside Aalap Raju, Prakash Hariharan and Jeoraj George and the team released an independent album in November 2014. [3] Prior to making his debut as a composer, Leon has worked as a keyboardist for stage shows and film albums composed by Santhosh Narayanan, Anirudh Ravichander and Thaman. [4]
Leon James made a breakthrough in the Tamil film industry after his work was spotted by Raghava Lawrence, who was working on his horror comedy film Kanchana 2 (2015). Lawrence had heard a romantic melody song composed by Leon on YouTube and wanted it adapted to be used in his film, and subsequently brought the composer on board to work on the film's soundtrack. The song, "Vaayaa En Veera" sung by Shakthisree Gopalan, won positive reviews with Karthik Srinivasan noting that "Leon's music seems very new-agey" and his "sound is fresh, and purposefully cluttered". [5] He later asked Leon to work on a further fast-paced song to be used in the film's climax, and the tune "Sandi Muni" was resultantly produced. The film went on to become amongst the profitable ventures of the year, with Leon's work noticed by critics. [6] [7] Soon after the release of the film in April 2015, he teamed up with singer Andrea Jeremiah to record a song called "Ezhunthu Vaa" to promote female empowerment. [8]
The successful nature of his work in his first album prompted producer Elred Kumar to sign him up to work on the whole album for the political-thriller, Ko 2 (2015). [9] The album of Ko 2 entailed of six tracks, with a promotional song titled "Unnai Maatrinal" released early as a tribute to former Indian President Abdul Kalam, consisting of lyrics based on his speeches. The album featured vocals from Bollywood artistes Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Neeti Mohan, while Chinmayi and Leon James, himself, also recorded songs. Leon James also chose to introduce Harish Sivaramakrishnan from the Bangalore-based rock band Agam and London-based singer Inno Genga, for their first respective songs in the Tamil film industry. [10] [11]
Year | Work | Language | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Kanchana 2 | Tamil | 2 songs "Sandi Muni" and "Vaaya Veera" |
Ko 2 | |||
2016 | Kavalai Vendam | ||
2018 | Veera | ||
Next Enti? | Telugu | ||
Silukkuvarupatti Singam | Tamil | ||
2019 | LKG | ||
2020 | Oh My Kadavule | ||
2021 | Paagal | Telugu | 1 song "Kanapadava" Background score |
2022 | Ori Devuda | Remake of Oh My Kadavule | |
2023 | Das Ka Dhamki | ||
Single Shankarum Smartphone Simranum | Tamil | ||
Saba Nayagan | Tamil | ||
2024 | G.O.A.T† | Telugu | [12] |
Sundarakanda † | Telugu | ||
Dragon † | Tamil |
Year | Film | Song | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Varalaru | "Thottapuram" | composed by A. R. Rahman |
2015 | Kanchana 2 | "Sandimuni" | |
Ko 2 | "Kohila", "Vidaadha" | ||
2016 | Kavalai Vendam | "En Pulse Yethitu Poriye" | |
2017 | Sakka Podu Podu Raja | "Unakkaga" | composed by Silambarasan |
2018 | Veera | "Ootaanda Soltuvaa" | |
2020 | Oh My Kadavule | "Haiyyo Haiyyo" |
Raghava Lawrence is an Indian actor, choreographer, film director, composer, playback singer, lyricist, film producer and philanthropist known for his works primarily in Tamil cinema. After making his debut as a dance choreographer in 1993, he began looking for acting opportunities. He began his career as an actor in 1998, in a Telugu film. He adopted the name "Raghava" in 2001, and worked for many prominent actors and directors in Tamil cinema throughout his career. He got his breakthrough with Telugu film Style and then Muni. Lawrence is also known for his intricate hip-hop and westernised dance moves and has won four Filmfare Awards, three Nandi Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Award for best choreography.
The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given to film composers by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films. A. R. Rahman is the most frequent winner with seventeen wins, which also includes nine consecutive wins between 1992 and 2000. Harris Jayaraj follows A. R. Rahman with five wins.
Anirudh Ravichander, also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He has also composed music for Hindi and Telugu films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, nine SIIMA Awards, six Edison Awards and five Vijay Awards. According to some reports, he was paid ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million) for the film Jawan, making him one of the highest paid music composers in India.
Kanchana 2 is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film written, produced and directed by Raghava Lawrence, who enactes in dual role and reprises his role. Alongside him, the film stars Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Renuka, Jayaprakash, Rajendran, Suhasini Maniratnam, Sriman, Mayilsamy, with Kovai Sarala also reprising her role. It is the third instalment in the Muni film series, and is the sequel to Kanchana (2011). The film was remade in Kannada as Kalpana 2 (2016) starring Upendra.
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romantic action comedy film written and directed by Vignesh Shivan, produced by actor Dhanush under his banner Wunderbar Films, and distributed by Lyca Productions. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara, with Parthiepan, Radhika Sarathkumar, RJ Balaji, and Anandaraj in supporting roles. The soundtrack album and score were composed by Anirudh Ravichander. The cinematography was handled by George C. Williams, and editing was done by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Keba Jeremiah is an Indian guitarist and music producer. He works on musical soundtracks for Gospel songs, Bollywood, Tollywood (Telugu), Kollywood music industry.
Raghavendra Raja Rao, known by his stage name Sean Roldan is an Indian composer, musician, and lyricist who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He has worked on Carnatic music, independent music, and film scores for the Tamil film industry. He rose to fame after gaining critical acclaim for his work in Balaji Mohan's Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Vaayai Moodi Pesavum / Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram (2014).
Kaththi is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander, for the 2014 Tamil film of the same name. The film, directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Lyca Productions, stars Vijay in dual roles, with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Sathish. This film marks the first collaboration of Anirudh with Vijay and A. R. Murugadoss. He composed the film's theme music before signing the project, and started recording the album in late-2013 which was continued till September 2014.
Muni is an Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film series created and directed by Raghava Lawrence who also appeared in lead roles in all the films. The first film is Muni (2007) and the second is Muni 2: Kanchana (2011) with the third installment of the franchise titled Muni 3: Kanchana 2: Ganga (2015). The latest movie, the fourth instalment is Muni 4: Kanchana 3 (2019). and stars Raghava Lawrence and Kovai Sarala with Rajkiran, Sarathkumar, Devadarshini, Sriman, Vedhika, Vinu Chakravarthy, Raai Laxmi, Nithya Menon, Taapsee, Renuka, Oviya, Nikki Tamboli, Alexandra Ri Djavi. All films were successful at the box office, continuing the trend of the comedy-horror genre in Tamil cinema that began with Chandramukhi (2005).
Kanchana 3 is a 2019 Indian Tamil language action-comedy horror film co-produced, written and directed by Raghava Lawrence. The film stars Raghava Lawrence in a dual role with Oviya, Vedhika, Nikki Tamboli and Ri Djavi Alexandra. While Kovai Sarala, Soori, Tarun Arora, and Kabir Duhan Singh play supporting roles. Produced by Sun Pictures, the fourth installment in the Muni , the film began production during October 2018 and released on 19 April 2019. Later, the film was dubbed in Hindi as K3: Kaali Ka Karishma.
Vivek–Mervin is an Indian music composer duo consisting of Vivek Siva and Mervin Solomon. They are known for their work in Tamil language films. They worked together on Vadacurry (2014), Dora (2016), Pattas (2020), Sulthan (2021) Sangathamizhan (2020) and Gulaebaghavali (2018).
Innogen Gengatharan, known professionally as Inno Genga, is a British playback singer who has worked in Tamil language films. After becoming noticed through his song covers on YouTube, Inno Genga has sung songs in albums composed by musicians including Anirudh Ravichander, D. Imman and Leon James.
Mohan Rajan is an Indian lyricist working on Tamil language films.
Velaiilla Pattadhari popularly referred to as VIP, is the soundtrack album, composed by Anirudh Ravichander of the 2014 Tamil film of the same name starring Dhanush. This film marks the second collaboration of Anirudh with Dhanush, after his debut film 3 (2012). The film's soundtrack was launched on 14 February 2014 to positive response from critics and audiences.
Remo is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander, for the 2016 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film of the same name, starring Sivakarthikeyan.
Master is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander, for the 2021 Indian Tamil-language film of the same name, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, and produced by Xavier Britto under his production house XB Film Creators, starring Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi. This film marks Anirudh's first collaboration with Lokesh Kanagaraj and his second collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi and third collaboration with Vijay Sethupathi after Naanum Rowdy Dhaan and Petta. The soundtrack album features eight songs written by Arunraja Kamaraj, Gana Balachandar, Arivu, Vignesh Shivan, Vishnu Edavan and Bjorn Surrao, with three of them were released as singles. The tracks were released digitally through Sony Music India on 15 March 2020. The film also features an extended soundtrack album with two songs "Vaathi Kabaddi" and "Master The Blaster" being released on 13 and 14 January 2021. The soundtrack album has been streamed by 1.5 billion times in music platforms, and was the highest-streamed Tamil album of the year 2020.
Vedalam is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander for the 2015 Tamil film of the same name, written and directed by Siva starring Ajith Kumar in the titular lead role. The film marks Anirudh's first collaboration with Ajith and Siva. The album featured five songs and lyrics were written by Madhan Karky, Rokesh, Viveka and Siva. The soundtrack album was released on 21 October 2015 through the Sony Music India record label.
Vanakkam Chennai is the soundtrack album to the 2013 film of the same name directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and starred Shiva and Priya Anand. The film's musical score is composed by Anirudh Ravichander in his third Tamil film after 3 (2012) and Ethir Neechal, and featured seven songs written by Na. Muthukumar, Madhan Karky, Vignesh Shivan, Hiphop Tamizha and Arjun that featured prominent singers. The soundtrack was released on Sony Music India on 27 July 2013.
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is the soundtrack to the 2015 film of the same name directed by Vignesh Shivan and produced by Dhanush's Wunderbar Films, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara. The soundtrack featured six songs composed by Anirudh Ravichander and were primarily written by Vignesh himself, with the exception of one song by Thamarai, with Anirudh, Neeti Mohan, Benny Dayal, Sid Sriram, and Sean Roldan recording the vocals for the album. All the songs in the film were released as a singles and were well received by critics and listeners.
Petta is the soundtrack album composed by Anirudh Ravichander, for the 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film film of the same name, directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by Sun Pictures, starring Rajinikanth. The film marks Anirudh's maiden collaboration with the director and actor. The accompanying soundtrack consisted of 11 songs—six musical numbers with the lyrics by Vivek, Ku. Karthik, Dhanush and Subbaraj, and five instrumental themes.