Vijaya Anand

Vijaya Anand (born Jude Matthew) is one of the top composers of music for the films of India. Since 1982, Anand (whose adopted name means "victory and ecstasy") has composed the scores of numerous movies in the Tamil and Taluga languages and has recorded in the Kannada language, which he does not speak. While his music is rooted by ancient Indian melodies, his use of modern instrumentation including electric guitar and synthesizers allows him to bridge the traditional and the contemporary sounds of India. The son of a middle school teacher and a post office employee, Anand was...