Director Shankar has been making films with A.R Rahman right from the beginning.The ace director must have felt that the music wizard would be the perfect choice for his kind of films that has grandeur, youthfulness, and technical excellence.

However, when Shankar had to look for a different musician for his ‘Anniyan’, he chose none other than Harris Jayaraj, the sensational young music director, who made an amazing debut in Goutham Menon’s flick ‘Minnale’. The combination of Shankar and Harris rocked and the music track went on to become smash hit.

Harris Jayaraj, who turns 33 today (January 8) has a unique identity. All his musical tracks for films would be a lovable mixture of melody and peppy songs. A careful look at the songs of ‘Anniyan’, for example, would reveal his versatility and his grip over various genres of music. All of his films have enviable variety and most of them are super hits. This success has made him as one of the leading and most wanted composers in South India.

The beginning

Harris, born into a pious Christian Nadar family in Chennai, studied at the Krishnasamy Matric School. He later obtained a music degree in London. His father, S.M. Jayakumar, is a film guitarist who was a noted musician and composer.

Harris Jayaraj started his career by playing the Tabla and other percussions for many films under none other than the genius musician A.R Rahman. He then started composing beats for TV advertisements.

Harris Jayaraj has been a keyboardist and percussionist for various music directors including A R Rahman, Karthik Raja, and Vidyasagar. He has assisted Adithyan in various projects like ‘Seevalaperi Pandi’, ‘Asuran’ etc.

The break

Goutham Menon’s ‘Minnale’ in 2001 came as a break for the young musician. The music track was quite sensational with ‘Vaseegara’, turning out to be an outstanding song. He followed it up with his music for ‘12B’, ‘Majnu’, and ‘Lesa Lesa’ and many other films.

2005 was a special year for him, as his music tracks for ‘Anniyan’ and ‘Ghajini’ were super duper hits. The song ‘Suttum Vizhi sudarae’, just like the enticing ‘Vaseegara’ became the song of the year.

His successful run continues with many more films like ‘Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu’ (2006), ‘Pachaikili Muthucharam’ (2007) and the recent ‘Bheemaa’. He is now working for ‘Varanam Aayiram’, directed by his favorite Goutham Menon.

He has introduced many singers including Nakul, Saindhavi, Srilekha Parthasarathy, Madhumitha, Nikhil Matthew, Mahathi and Suchithra Ramanathan.

This birthday has turned out to be a special one, as Bheema with his musical track is all st to enthrall the audience. IndiaGlitz wishes this rare young talent a very happy birthday and wishes him with a long and successful career.

Listen to Harris Jayaraj's Birthday Special