Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also credited mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian composer and playback singer who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He has also composed for Telugu and Hindi films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South, ten SIIMA Awards, six Edison Awards and five Vijay awards.
His debut song "Why This Kolaveri Di", composed for the 2012 film 3, went viral across the globe and has achieved over 590 million views on YouTube. A.R. Murugadoss signed him to compose music for Kaththi (2014) starring Vijay & Samantha which included the viral hit "Selfie Pulla". The soundtrack for the film became Anirudh's highest profile soundtrack until he was signed to compose music for Rajinikanth's Petta in 2019.
In 2016, he signed a record deal with Sony Music, which publishes his independent albums and live concerts. In the same year, he featured with Diplo on the remix of Major Lazer's hit single "Cold Water".
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Personal life
Anirudh Ravichander was born in a Tamil family to Indian actor Ravi Raghavendra and classical dancer Lakshmi Ravichander. He also has an elder sister. He is the nephew of Latha Rajinikanth and Sudha Mahendra thus making Aishwarya, Soundarya, Hrishikesh and Madhuvanthi his cousins. Through the same relationships, Rajinikanth and Y. G. Mahendran are his uncles. Anirudh's great-grandfather was the director K. Subramanyam, a filmmaker in the 1930s. Anirudh is also the grand-nephew of Padma Vibhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam.
He graduated from the Loyola College in Chennai in 2011, which, according to him, was just a backup in case his music career did not take off. Anirudh learnt piano from Trinity College of Music in London. He was also part of a fusion band. Anirudh has also pursued a diploma in sound engineering from Soundtech Media Audio Engineering Institute in Chennai. In his school days, Anirudh and his band had participated in a reality television show judged by the famous musician A. R. Rahman, and his band was one of the winners along with five other bands in the show.
Career
2011–2012: Debut and early success
Anirudh Ravichander made his debut as a music composer in his cousin Aishwarya Rajinikanth's directorial debut 3, starring Dhanush. 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. In early November 2011, a leaked version of a song from the film Why 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 quirky Tanglish lyrics. Soon, the song became the most searched YouTube video in India and internet phenomenon across Asia. 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 director Aishwarya Rajinikanth wanted a light-hearted song about failed love. Anirudh quickly composed the tune in about 10 minutes.
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 in 3 are good and come with appealing instrumental arrangements", concluding that it was "an intriguing collection." 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 the South Indian International Movie Awards and the 60th Filmfare Awards South. He also worked on the Telugu dubbed version of the film. Anirudh teamed up with Dhanush soon after to produce a Kolaveri-inspired track titled "Sachin anthem" commemorating Sachin Tendulkar in association with the health drink, Boost.
2013–2015: Continued success
Next, he sang and composed a single for David – a multi-starrer directed by Bejoy 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". His next album was Ethir Neechal, starring Sivakarthikeyan. Anirudh introduced rappers Yo Yo Honey Singh and Hiphop Tamizha in the album. Moreover, Sony Music India released the complete background score of Ethir Neechal via YouTube owing to its popularity. 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 rapper Hard Kaur, with the trio also featuring in a music video for the film. In September 2013, he was signed on to compose the background score for Selvaraghavan's fantasy film Irandam Ulagam after Harris 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 in Budapest.
On 15 June 2014, Anirudh Ravichander attended the inaugural Behindwoods Gold Medals ceremony held at the ITC Grand Chola in Chennai. During the event, he was presented with the Behindwoods Gold Medal for Best Music Direction for his work on the soundtracks of Ethir Neechal (2013) and Vanakkam Chennai (2013). The award was presented to him on stage by composer A. R. Rahman. Accepting the honour, Anirudh noted that receiving the award from Rahman—whom he cited as his childhood hero—was a significant personal milestone.
Anirudh's next release Velaiyilla Pattathari, featured a song by veteran singer S. Janaki. while adding "in all, the album is soulful, lively and truly Anirudh". The film subsequently became a blockbuster at the box office, with Anirudh receiving the Filmfare award for best music director. His next film was Maan Karate, starring Sivakarthikeyan. A. R. Murugadoss then signed him on to compose music for Kaththi, starring Vijay, becoming Anirudh's highest profile album at the time. The album and especially the background score received positive reviews from critics and topped the iTunes India Charts.
Next, Anirudh again collaborated with Sivakarthikeyan for the film Kaaki Sattai, produced by Dhanush under his production company. Then, Anirudh scored music for Maari, with Dhanush. The music received positive reviews, with the song "Don'u Don'u Don'u" becoming exceptionally popular. He also received critical acclaim for his work in the Vijay Sethupathi starrer Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, leading him to receive many accolades for his achievement in the film. He released a single from the movie Aakko on Valentine's Day in 2015 of the name "Ennakenna Yaarum Illaiye". He also scored his first Ajith Kumar film in Vedalam, directed by Siva. Anirudh's music received mixed reviews, however, the song "Aaluma Doluma", became a hit. Anirudh concluded the year with Thangamagan, starring Dhanush. In February 2016, for Valentine's Day, he released a single titled "Avalukena", under Sony Music. After a short break, Anirudh released a single from Rum in April 2016; "Hola Amigo". In May 2016, Anirudh signed a deal with Sony Music India for his independent albums and live concerts.
2018–present: Recognition and work in other languages
In 2018, he made his Telugu debut with Agnyaathavaasi which was received well. Next, he composed for Suriya's Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, a remake of Special 26. After that, he composed for Nayanthara's Kolamavu Kokila, which was well received and was praised for being unique.
His next big project came with Petta, directed by Karthik Subbaraj and starring his uncle Rajinikanth. On 10 December, the full album for Rajinikanth's Petta was released by Anirudh. His next project was Nani's Telugu film Jersey, which is directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri. He later composed for Gang Leader which was directed by Vikram K Kumar. This marked his second collaboration with Nani. After that was Darbar, directed by A. R. Murugadoss. He then composed one of the songs of the soundtrack for Dharala Prabhu, the title track, which garnered success.
In 2021, he collaborated with Vijay for the 2nd time in Master, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The first single, "Kutti Story", sung by Vijay himself, received great praise and became popular around the world for its Tanglish lyrics. The second single sung by Gana Balachander, "Vaathi Coming", became an instant viral hit universally. He also came to work on the soundtrack of Doctor, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. The first single "Chellamma" was promoted towards youth, and collected over 100 million views on YouTube. In 2022, he worked with Vijay for the 3rd time in Beast 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.
His work in Vikram marked his first release with Kamal Haasan, although the duo first collaborated on Indian 2 (released in 2024). The first single of Vikram titled "Pathala Pathala" received several million views from fans. He also composed for Sivakarthikeyan's Don and Vijay Sethupathi's Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal. After a hiatus, he returned to compose for Dhanush with Thiruchitrambalam. The first single of Thiruchitrambalam titled "Thaai Kelavi" was released on 24 June 2022 and its lyrics proved controversial. A social activist lodged a complaint against the makers of the film asking them to change the lyrics of the song, citing disrespect to elderly people.
Musical style and classical influences
Anirudh musical style is recognised for blending contemporary Western genres with traditional Indian classical elements, incorporating both Carnatic music and Hindustani classical music into film soundtracks and background scores. His transition toward exploring more traditional and raga-based compositions received encouragement from composer A. R. Rahman. During the audio launch of Kadhalikka Neramillai in January 2025, Rahman publicly advised Ravichander to integrate classical and traditional Indian music more deeply into his upcoming projects. Rahman highlighted that embracing classical roots would ensure greater artistic longevity, help preserve traditional heritage, and introduce younger audiences to Indian classical art forms.
In February 2026, Anirudh opened his own record label, Albuquerque Records.