Kailas Menon is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in Malayalam films and commercials. After working as a composer for television commercials for more than a decade,[1] he debuted as a composer in feature films with director Jayaraj's Pakarnnatam. His first mainstream release happened much later with Theevandi,[2] for which he earned his first Filmfare Award.[3]

Kailas Menon
Born (1986-05-30) 30 May 1986 (age 38)
Occupations
  • Composer
  • music producer
Years active2008–present
Spouse
Annapoorna Lekha Pillai
(m. 2014)
ChildrenSamanyu Rudra(br.2020)
Musical career
InstrumentKeyboard
Labels
  • Kailas Menon Productions
  • Goodwill Entertainments
  • Muzik247

Early life

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Kailas was born in Thrissur, Kerala on 30 May 1986. He learned carnatic music for eight years and was a self-trained keyboard player. He completed his schooling from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thrissur. He graduated in Visual Communications from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, and pursued a course in sound engineering from SAE Institute, Chennai.[4]

Career

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Menon had his first release, the music album Snehathode, at the age of 16.[4]

His professional career began much later, when he joined as an assistant to Malayalam film composer Ouseppachan and subsequently became a sound engineer for Gopi Sunder.

This was followed by a decade-long stint as a composer of television commercials, having scored for over 1000 commercials for brands like Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Toshiba, Unilever, and Bhima Jewellers.[1]

He debuted as a film composer with Jayaraj's off-beat film Pakarnnattam. This was followed by Starring Pournami , which was shelved midway. His first mainstream release happened much later, with Theevandi. The song "Jeevamshamayi", rendered by Shreya Ghoshal and K. S. Harisankar, earned him a Filmfare Award.[3]

In 2019, he launched his own music label, Kailas Menon Productions, and the first film album released from the label was Finals.[2]

Personal life

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Menon married Annapoorna Lekha Pillai, a lawyer at the Kerala High Court, on 8 December 2014. Their son, Samanyu Rudra, was born on 17 August 2020.[5]

Film discography

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Year Film Language Songs Background score Notes
2011 Starring Pournami Malayalam Yes Yes Unreleased film
2012 Pakarnnaattam[1] Malayalam N/A Yes
2018 Theevandi Malayalam Yes Yes Maiden release
2019 Ittymaani: Made in China Malayalam Yes No One song only
Finals Malayalam Yes Yes
Edakkad Battalion 06 Malayalam Yes Yes
2021 Six Hours Malayalam Yes Yes
Member Rameshan 9aam Ward Malayalam Yes Yes
Poga Bandy Telugu Yes Yes Remake of Theevandi.
Telugu debut.
Kotthu Malayalam Yes No
2022 Kallan D’Souza Malayalam No Yes
Vaashi Malayalam Yes No
Nalaam Mura Malayalam Yes No
2023 Dear Vaappi Malayalam Yes Yes
Janaki Jaane Malayalam Yes No
Flush Malayalam Yes Yes
Nalla Nilavulla Rathri Malayalam Yes Yes [6]
Jaladhara Pumpset Since 1962 Malayalam Yes Yes [7]

Awards and nominations

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Menon with his Filmfare award
Award Year Project Category Outcome
Filmfare Award 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director - Malayalam[8] Won
Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director Won
Mazhavil Entertainment Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director Won
Asiavision Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director[9] Won
Additional awards Outcome
Indiewood Film Award Won
Nana Film Award Won
Janmabhoomi Award Won
Jaycee Foundation Award Won
ACV Johnson Master Award Won
Ramu Kariat Award (Finals BGM) Won
Creative Film Award Won

References

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  1. ^ a b c Soman, Deepa (23 April 2018). "Kailas Menon: Composing jingles for ads gave me confidence to be versatile". The Times of India.
  2. ^ a b "Kailas Menon launches own music company". The New Indian Express. 20 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Winners of the 66th Filmfare Awards (South) 2019". filmfare.com. 21 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Nair, Meera (6 September 2012). "Music matters". The Hindu.
  5. ^ "'അവനൊപ്പമുള്ള എന്റെ ആദ്യ ചിത്രം'; കുഞ്ഞതിഥിയെ പരിചയപ്പെടുത്തി കൈലാസ് മേനോൻ" [Kailas Menon introduces his son]. Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). 24 August 2020.
  6. ^ Ramachandran, Arjun (30 June 2023). "Nalla Nilavulla Raathri review: This thriller is high on technical quality, but lacks a good script". The South First. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Urvashi - Indrans starrer 'Jaladhara Pumpset Since 1962' wraps up the shoot". The Times of India. 30 August 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  8. ^ "WINNERS OF THE FILMFARE AWARDS SOUTH 2019 - MALAYALAM". Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Winners of Asiavision Movie Awards 2018". Retrieved 13 April 2020.
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