Charan Raj (composer)

Charan Raj is an Indian composer and singer known for his work in Kannada cinema. For his work in Jeerjimbe (2016), he was awarded the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director.^[1]

Charan Raj
Background information
Born	(1985-01-27) January 27, 1985 (age 40) Kodagu, Karnataka, India
Occupations	Singer music director arranger
Instrument	Piano
Years active	2014–present

Early life

Charan Raj attended Sri Ramakrishna Vidya Shala, a residential school in Mysore. He was part of the music group there. Raj is trained in classical Carnatic music with Perumbavoor G. Raveendranath and in Western Classical music with Neecia Majolly. He also holds a grade eight certificate in piano from the London School of Music.

Career

Raj's first major success came when Winds of Samsara, an album of Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman won the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 2015. The album also featured vocals by Raj.^[2][3] During the time, he also worked as an arranger for composers such as Prashant Pillai.

Raj's first work in Kannada films came in Harivu in 2014.^[4] He received acclaim for his work in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu.^[2] He scored for Pushpaka Vimana. For his work in Jeerjimbe (2016), he was awarded the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director.^[5]

Raj received praise for his music in the 2018 film Tagaru. The soundtrack included tracks with blend of "electronic score" and "traditional sounds".^[6] It was composed with each track based on a different "human emotion" "such as love, anger and fear" rather than situation-based nature of tracks.^[7] In its review of the film, the New Indian Express wrote, "Charan Raj's music raises the tempo of the narrative with good songs, and lets it flow seamlessly with the right background score."^[8]

In 2023, Raj joined forces with Sanjith Hegde and Prassanna Hegde for Coke Studio Bharat's first Kannada song "Geejaga Hakki" which draws inspiration from various retellings of Raja Harishchandra's story. The song became an instant hit among the audience.^[9]

Saptha Sagaradache Ello movie which was released as two part Romantic drama in 2023 fetched him more accolades with his varied music and heart stirring background score and songs. The Entire album was a hit among critics and Audience.^[10][11] The film marked his third combination with Hemanth Rao who has been his go to collaborator.

Discography

List of Charan Raj music credits

Year	Album	Notes
2008	Thaalam	Malayalam Album
2014	Winds of Samsara	Vocals Grammy Award for Best New Age Album[2]
	Harivu	Feature film
2016	Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu
	Mandya to Mumbai
2017	Pushpaka Vimana
2018	Tagaru
	Dalapathi
	Jeerjimbe	[1]
2019	Kavaludaari
	Avane Srimannarayana	2 Songs only
2020	Popcorn Monkey Tiger
	Bheema Sena Nala Maharaja
2021	Salaga
2022	James	Special Appearance
	Head Bush
2023	Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A
	Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B
	Bad Manners
2024	Somu Sound Engineer
	Bheema
2025	Royal
	Uttarakaanda	Background score only

Awards

Film	Award	Category	Result	Ref
Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu	64th Filmfare Awards South	Best Music Director	Nominated	[12]
	6th SIIMA Awards	Best Music Director	Nominated	[13]
Pushpaka Vimana	7th SIIMA Awards	Best Music Director	Nominated	[14]
Jeerjimbe	2016 Karnataka State Film Awards	Best Music Director	Won	[1]
Tagaru	66th Filmfare Awards South	Best Music Director	Nominated	[15]
	8th SIIMA Awards	Best Music Director	Nominated	[16]
Kavaludaari	9th SIIMA Awards 2019	Best Music Director	Nominated	[17]
Avane Srimannarayana		Best Music Director	Nominated
Popcorn Monkey Tiger	9th SIIMA Awards 2020	Best Music Director	Nominated	[18]
		Best Male Playback Singer	Nominated
Salaga	67th Filmfare Awards South	Best Music Director	Nominated	[19]
Sapta Saagaradaache Ello	69th Filmfare Awards South	Best Music Director	Won	[20][21]