Gnanathesikan (born 2 June 1943), known as Ilaiyaraaja, is an Indian film composer, singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, orchestrator, conductor-arranger and lyricist who works in the Indian film industry, predominantly in Tamil. He has also worked in several Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films besides one Marathi film. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian music composers, he is often credited for introducing Western musical sensibilities in the Tamil film musical mainstream. Reputed to be the world's most prolific composer, he has composed more than 7,000 songs, provided film scores for more than 1,000 movies and performed in more than 20,000 concerts. Ilaiyaraaja is nicknamed "Isaignani" (musical genius) and is often referred to as "Maestro", amongst others by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.