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Sean Roldan
Background information
Birth name	Raghavendra Raja Rao
Born	(1987-12-27) 27 December 1987 (age 37) Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Film score, Independent music, Carnatic music
Occupation(s)	Film composer, Music director, Independent musician, Song writer, Singer
Years active	2014–present
Sean Roldan Parent(s) Padma (mother) Srimushnam V. Raja Rao (father) Relatives Sandilyan (maternal grandfather)

Raghavendra Raja Rao, known by his stage name Sean Roldan is an Indian composer, musician, and lyricist who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He has worked on Carnatic music, independent music, and film scores for the Tamil film industry. He rose to fame after gaining critical acclaim for his work in Balaji Mohan's Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Vaayai Moodi Pesavum / Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram (2014).

Early life

Roldan was born as Raghavendra Raja Rao to the mridangam player Srimushnam V. Raja Rao and Padma, the daughter of novelist Sandilyan. He is married to Lalitha Sudha, a playback singer who works in the Indian film industry, primarily for films composed by him. He was drawn into film music by A.R. Rahman's debut album Roja.

Career

Film score and soundtracks

Rao began a career in music composing and working on Carnatic tracks before venturing into independent Tamil music with his band Sean Roldan & Friends. Roldan was recommended by film producer C. V. Kumar to Varun Manian, the producer of the bilingual film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum / Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram, who was looking for a composer after the director's original choice, Anirudh Ravichander, had opted out. He subsequently signed the film and chose to continue to credit himself as Sean Roldan for a career in the Tamil film industry. He produced eight tracks for the film, singing two, while including one inspired by the single track "Mayakkura Poo Vaasam" composed for his band. That same year, he composed music for the films Sathuranga Vettai, Mundasupatti, and Aadama Jaichomada. All soundtracks were well-received. 2015 saw him composing the songs for 144.

In 2016, Roldan composed music for the political satire film Joker. The songs were well-received. 2017 saw him composing music for Pa Paandi, the directorial debut of actor Dhanush. Three more films were released that year featuring Roldan's music: Neruppu Da, Katha Nayagan, and Velaiilla Pattadhari 2, the last of which he collaborated with Dhanush, though this time as a lead actor. Roldan's only film composed in 2018 was Kathiruppor Pattiyal. He composed two films in 2019: Mehandi Circus and Raatchasi.

In 2020, Roldan composed one song from Dharala Prabhu, and in 2021, he composed one song from Kasada Thapara. 2021 also saw him composing the legal drama Jai Bhim in his first collaboration with Suriya.

In 2022, Roldan released a music video called Parai. The video is about a Parai artist and his daughter who are subject to torment by casteists. He also co-wrote the song's lyrics.

In 2023, Roldan composed the music for the movies August 16 1947, Good Night, and Lucky Man.

Playback singing

Roldan has mainly sang songs for his own films but has frequently worked with composers Pradeep Kumar and Santhosh Narayanan. He has also worked with the likes of Anirudh Ravichander, D. Imman, and Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Musical style

Roldan's music draws heavy inspiration from Tamil composer Ilaiyaraaja. His greater aim is to represent Indian music internationally.

Discography

As composer

• The films are listed in order that the music released, regardless of the dates the film released.
• The year next to the titles of the films indicates the release year of the either dubbed or remade version in the named language later than the original version.
• • indicates original language release. Indicates simultaneous makes, if featuring in more languages.

As singer

As lyricist

Television

External links

• Sean Roldan at IMDb

References

1. "- Tamil News". Archived from the original on 2 December 2015.
2. "All you want to know about #LalithaSudha". Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
3. "Sean Roldan & Friends - wemdb.in". Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
4. "C.V. Kumar introduces Sean Roldan". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
5. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Mayakura Poovasam by Sean Roldan & Friends Music Mojo - Kappa TV". YouTube.
6. "I was destined to be a part of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum: Sean Roldan". The Times of India. 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
7. "Sean Roldan releases music video of new song 'Parai'". The Times of India. 4 March 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
8. Narayanan, Lavanya (26 October 2018). "The best of all worlds, with Sean Roldan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
9. Hymavati, Ravali (8 May 2023). "Modern Love Chennai: This Thiagarajan Kumararaja's Web Series Will Premier On Amazon Prime From This Date". www.thehansindia.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
10. "Guru Somasundaram's 'Bottle Radha' to release on THIS date". The Times of India. 30 October 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 12 November 2024.

• Living people
• Tamil musicians
• Tamil film score composers
• Musicians from Chennai
• Indian Tamil people
• Singers from Tamil Nadu
• Indian male playback singers
• Musicians from Tamil Nadu
• Singers from Chennai
• Indian male film score composers
• Indian folk-pop singers
• Tamil-language lyricists
• Tamil singers
• Tamil playback singers
• 21st-century Indian male singers
• 21st-century Indian singers
• 1987 births
• 21st-century Indian composers
• Bollywood playback singers