Vijay Anand (composer)

Vijay Anand was born in Madras (now Chennai) to Roman Catholic parents.^[2] He developed an interest in music at the age of five due to the musical troupe Thomas and Party being his neighbours. After seeing his interest in music, they took him to their troupe and made him to be part of their concerts. He later started his own troupe in 1972.^[3] Anand was also a composer for Visu's stage plays.^[4] He was expected to debut in film with Visu's Naanayam Illatha Naanayam (1984);^[3] however Oorukku Upadesam, released the same year, became his film debut.^[5] Dwarakish who was impressed with his music in Oorukku Upadesam chose him to compose music for its Kannada remake Indina Ramayana (1984).^[3] Vijay Anand went to score for more Tamil films including Naan Adimai Illai (1986), Kavalan Avan Kovalan (1987), Vetri Mel Vetri (1989) and Rasathi Varum Naal (1991). Naan Adimai Illai remains his best-known Tamil film. He was, however, more prolific in Kannada cinema.^[6][7] He also composed the music for a 1992 album titled Asia Classics I.^[8][9][10] One of his last releases was the Kannada film Mugila Chumbana, which had a delayed release in 2013.^[11]

Vijay Anand was married to Amali, and they had a daughter.^[4] He died in Chennai on 6 February 2024, at age 71, following health issues since December 2023.^[12][13][14]