Music composer Isaignani Ilaiyaraja was on Thursday honoured with the second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, at the Republic Day celebrations on Friday by the President of India. In a career spanning over four decades, the legendary composer has given music in over 1000 films.
Ilaiyaraaja has won five National Film Awards, three for Music Direction and two for Background Score. His last National Film Award was for the Tamil film Tharai Thappattai, which he won for the background score. He is also an instrumentalist, singer and songwriter.
Also read: The full list of 2018 Padma award winners
Ilaiyaraaja has mainly composed for Tamil films but has also given music to various Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. He first gave music for the 1975 Tamil film Annakkili and has given music for over 6500 songs. In 2010, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
With the Padma Vibhushan being awarded to such a legendary musician, it is indeed an honour for the film fraternity as it highlights his contribution to the world of Indian cinema.
We bring you a list of 5 of his best Hindi compositions:
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