Yuvan Shankar Raja stated that he always wanted to become a pilot and travel "all around the world", but as he grew up "with music around him", he eventually became a musician.[11] He admires the work of his father and other composers such as S. D. Burman, R. D. Burman, M. S. Viswanathan and Naushad Ali and the voices of singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, P. B. Sreenivas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, and P. Susheela.[11]
In 1996, following his mother's suggestion to take up music as a profession, Yuvan Shankar Raja started composing tunes for an album.[13] T. Siva, the producer of the Tamil language film Aravindhan, after hearing some of the tunes, asked him to compose a trailer music score. As Siva was impressed by the music, he gave Yuvan Shankar the assignment to compose the entire film score, including a soundtrack for that film.[13] After consulting and getting consent from his parents, he accepted the offer; his music career started. His entry into the Tamil film and music industry had happened at age 16, thus he became one of the youngest composers ever in the industry, which he says, was "purely accidental".[14]
However, both the soundtrack album as well as the film itself failed to attract audiences and do well, and Yuvan Shankar Raja's following projects Velai (1998) and Kalyana Galatta (1998) were not successful either; his compositions for these films did not receive good reviews or responses,[15][16] with one reviewer labelling the music and background score in the latter as "cacophony" and "poor".[17] The failures of his first projects meant that he was not offered any film projects and assignments subsequently.[18] During this time of struggle, he was approached and assigned by director Vasanth to compose the music for his film Poovellam Kettuppar (1999). The soundtrack received a very positive response, being described as "fresh" and "different", with a critic from The New Indian Express citing that his "absolutely enchanting musical score [...] bears testimony to his "Raja" surname."[19] The album became very popular, particularly songs such as "Irava Pagala" and "Chudithar Aninthu", gaining him first time notice, especially among young people and children.[15][20] The album would make possible his first breakthrough in the industry and proved to be a major turning point in his career.[21] After working for two Sundar C. films, Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga (1999) and Rishi (2000), he got to work for A. R. Murugadoss's directorial debut in 2000, the action flick Dheena, starring Ajith Kumar, which went on to become a blockbuster and Yuvan Shankar Raja's first major successful film.[22] Yuvan Shankar's songs were equally successful,[23][24] which are considered to have played a major role in the film's great success,[25] while his background score in the film was also well appreciated.
In 2001, he had three album releases, the first being Thulluvadho Ilamai, collaborating with Selvaraghavan for the first time. The film was directed by Kasthuri Raja, but his son Selvaraghavan wrote the script and worked with Yuvan Shankar Raja for the film's soundtrack album. The soundtrack album of Thulluvadho Ilamai particularly appealed to the younger generation. The film itself, marking the debut of Selvaraghavan's brother Dhanush, released one year later and became a sleeper hit at the Chennai box office.[26][27] This was followed by Bala's Nandha (2001), for which he received rave reviews.[15] He then gained notice by churning out "youthful music" in the college-life based April Maadhathil (2002), the romantic comedy films Kadhal Samrajyam (2002) (The film was never released theatrically, the soundtrack was released in 2002) and Mounam Pesiyadhe (2002), Ameer's directorial debut film, and the triangular love story Punnagai Poove (2002), in which he also made his on-screen debut, appearing in some scenes and one song sequence.[28] At the same time, he made his Telugu debut with Seshu and Malli Malli Chudali and also composed for the Tamil films Junior Senior and Pop Carn, starring Malayalam actors Mammootty and Mohanlal, respectively, though all of which performed poorly at the box office.
In 2003, Selvaraghavan's first independent directorial, the drama-thriller film Kaadhal Kondein released, which is considered a milestone for Yuvan Shankar Raja.[29] His work in the film, particularly his background score, was unanimously praised, leading to the release of a separate CD consisting of several film score pieces, Ã la "Hollywood-style", which was reportedly the first film score CD release in India. Furthermore, the film went on to become a blockbuster, cementing the film's lead artist Dhanush and Yuvan Shankar in the Tamil film and music industry.[30] The same year, he worked in Vishnuvardhan's debut film Kurumbu, which featured the first remix song in a Tamil film. By that time, in a career spanning less than a decade, Yuvan Shankar Raja had established himself as one of the leading and most-sought after music directors in the Tamil film industry, despite having worked predominantly with newcomers and in low-budget productions.[29][30]
Yuvan Shankar's 2004 releases, 7G Rainbow Colony, another Selvaraghavan film, and Silambarasan's Manmadhan, were both critically and commercially successful films, featuring acclaimed as well as popular music by Yuvan Shankar Raja, which also contributed to the films' successes.[29][31][32] His work in the former, in particular, got critically acclaimed and eventually led him to win the Best Music Direction Award at the 2004 Filmfare Awards South;[33] receiving the award at the age of 25, he was the youngest winning music composer of the award at that time. For the next several years, he would have nine to ten releases every year on average, making him one of the most prolific film composers of India.[34][35]
His first of nine album releases of 2005 was Raam. His score for the Ameer-directed thriller, labelled as "soul-stirring", fetched him further accolades[36][37] and eventually yielded a win at the 2006 Cyprus International Film Festival for Best Musical score in a Feature Film,[38][39] the first such award for an Indian composer. His successful streak continued with his following releases of that year, the low-budget films Arinthum Ariyamalum, Kanda Naal Mudhal and Sandakozhi becoming successful ventures at the box office; Yuvan Shankar's songs, "Theepidikka",[40] "Panithuli" and "Dhavani Potta" from the respective soundtracks enjoyed popularity and were said to have played an important role in the films's successes.[41] After the release of the soundtrack for the S. J. Suryah-starring romantic comedy Kalvanin Kadhali, that also enjoyed popularity after the film's release,[39][42] his final album of 2005, Pudhupettai, released, which saw him once again collaborating with director Selvaraghavan. The ten-track experimental album, receiving high critical acclaim, was considered Yuvan Shankar Raja's finest work till then and a "musical masterpiece".[43][44] The soundtrack and score of the film featured a traditional orchestral score played by the "Chapraya Symphony" of Bangkok,[45] for the first time in a Tamil film. Critics felt that this project, in particular, proved his abilities and talent to produce innovative and experimental scores as well.[46] The film itself, releasing only in May 2006, did average business, despite opening to outstanding reviews.
He next worked on the romantic comedies Happy and Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu and the gangster film Pattiyal, which all released in early 2006. His Happy songs and score received positive reviews, with critics labelling the "youthful music" as "excellent",[47] and the film's "main strength",[48] while his score for Pattiyal was highly praised by critics; a Sify reviewer wrote: "Yuvan Shankar Raja's music and background score is the life of the film".[49] Furthermore, both films went on to become very successful ventures, both commercially and critically. His subsequent releases that year include Silambarasan's directorial debut Vallavan and the action entertainer Thimiru. Yuvan Shankar Raja was cited as the "real hero" of the former,[50] which featured some of the year's most listened-to tracks such as "Loosu Penne" and "Yammadi Aathadi",[51] while the latter film ranked amongst the year's highest-grossing films. In November 2006, the Paruthiveeran soundtrack album got released, which saw the composer foraying into pure rural folk music,[52] using traditional musical instruments.[53] Though initially releasing to mixed reviews, with critics doubting whether the songs could attract a modern youth audience,[54][55] his first attempt at rural music turned out to be a major success, following the film's outstanding run at the box office.[56][57] The film, Ameer's third feature film as well as Karthi's debut venture, received universal critical acclaim after its release in February 2007 and became a blockbuster, while particularly the song "Oororam Puliyamaram" was a chartbuster number in Tamil Nadu.[58][59]
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