2011–2012: Debut and early success

Anirudh Ravichander made his debut as a music composer in his cousin Aishwarya Rajinikanth's directorial debut 3, starring Dhanush. While pursuing his degree at Loyola College, he had done background scores for the short films made by Aishwarya and his work on short films convinced her to have him work on her first commercial venture.^[16] In early November 2011, a leaked version of a song from the film Why This Kolaveri Di!, circulated online and the film's team decided to subsequently release it officially. It instantly became popular on social networking sites for its quirky Tanglish lyrics.^[17] Soon, the song became the most searched YouTube video in India and internet phenomenon across Asia.^{[18][19][20][21]} The song revolves around the film's main actor being dumped by his girlfriend; the song is sung by the character in a drunken state, with many of the lines nonsensical. According to the composer, 3's director Aishwarya Rajinikanth wanted a light-hearted song about failed love. Anirudh quickly composed the tune in about 10 minutes.^[21][22]

The remaining songs of the album were released in December and also received very positive reviews from critics. A reviewer from Behindwoods noted, "Such a promising debut by a composer hasn't been seen in recent Tamil cinema history", while Rediff.com's reviewer noted that "all the songs in 3 are good and come with appealing instrumental arrangements", concluding that it was "an intriguing collection."^[23][24] Anirudh also received praise for his background score in the film. He consequently went on to gain recognition for the film through accolades, notably the Vijay Award for Best Find of the Year as well as nominations at the South Indian International Movie Awards and the 60th Filmfare Awards South.^[25] He also worked on the Telugu dubbed version of the film.^[26] Anirudh teamed up with Dhanush soon after to produce a Kolaveri-inspired track titled "Sachin anthem" commemorating Sachin Tendulkar in association with the health drink, Boost.^[27][28]

2013–2015: Continued success

Catherine Tresa, Anirudh Ravichander and Dhanush at 60th Filmfare Awards South in 2013

Next, he sang and composed a single for David – a multi-starrer directed by Bejoy Nambiar; "Kanave Kanave" in Tamil and "Yu Hi Re" in Hindi. The album also opened to very positive reviews, with a critic noting: Anirudh's song was "the pick of the album".^[29][30] His next album was Ethir Neechal, starring Sivakarthikeyan. Anirudh introduced rappers Yo Yo Honey Singh and Hiphop Tamizha in the album. Moreover, Sony Music India released the complete background score of Ethir Neechal via YouTube owing to its popularity.^[31] His next soundtrack, Vanakkam Chennai released in July 2013. For the song "Oh Penne", he roped in Vishal Dadlani for the first time in Tamil music. Another promotional song, "Chennai City Gangster", saw him collaborate again with Hiphop Tamizha and British Indian rapper Hard Kaur, with the trio also featuring in a music video for the film.^[32][33] In September 2013, he was signed on to compose the background score for Selvaraghavan's fantasy film Irandam Ulagam, after Harris Jayaraj had opted out. Anirudh noted his happiness at working with Selvaraghavan early in his career, despite being called up as a replacement and subsequently recorded for the film in Budapest.^[34]

Anirudh's next release Velaiyilla Pattathari, featured a song by veteran singer S. Janaki.^[35] while adding "in all, the album is soulful, lively and truly Anirudh".^[36] The film subsequently became a blockbuster at the box office, with Anirudh receiving the Filmfare award for best music director. His next film was Maan Karate, starring Sivakarthikeyan.^[37]

A.R. Murugadoss then signed him on to compose music for Kaththi, starring Vijay, becoming Anirudh's highest profile album at the time. The album and especially the background score received positive reviews from critics and topped the iTunes India Charts.^[38][39]

Next, Anirudh again collaborated with Sivakarthikeyan for the film Kaaki Sattai, produced by Dhanush under his production company. Then, Anirudh scored music for Maari, with Dhanush. The music received positive reviews, with the song "Don'u Don'u Don'u" becoming exceptionally popular.^[40] He also received critical acclaim for his work in the Vijay Sethupathi starrer Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, leading him to receive many accolades for his achievement in the film.^[41] He released a single from the movie Aakko on Valentine's Day in 2015 of the name "Ennakenna Yaarum Illaiye". He also scored his first Ajith Kumar film in Vedalam, directed by Siva. Anirudh's music received mixed reviews, however, the song "Aaluma Doluma", became a hit.^[42] Anirudh concluded the year with Thangamagan, starring Dhanush.

2016–2017

In February 2016, for Valentine's Day, he released a single titled "Avalukena", under Sony Music. After a short break, Anirudh released a single from Rum in April 2016; "Hola Amigo". In May 2016, Anirudh signed a deal with Sony Music India for his independent albums and live concerts.^[43][44]

Anirudh again teamed up with Sivakarthikeyan For Remo. In late 2017, for the film Vivegam, Anirudh launched the first single "Surviva" and became fastest Tamil song to get 1 million streams,^[45] this track saw Yogi B performing in a Tamil film after a long hiatus.

He again teamed up with Sivakarthikeyan for the fifth time with Velaikkaaran, for which he won a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.^[46] A Hindi pop music video Bewajah, composed and sung by Anirudh, Irene and Srinidhi Venkatesh was released by Sony Music India. The song became an instant hit etching several million views.^[47]

2018–present

In 2018, he made his Telugu debut with Agnyaathavaasi which was received well.^[48][49] Next, he composed for Suriya's Thaanaa Serndha Koottam, a remake of Special 26. After that, he composed for Nayanthara's Kolamavu Kokila, which was well received and was praised for being unique.

His next big project came with Petta, directed by Karthik Subbaraj and starring his uncle Rajinikanth. On 10 December, the full album for Rajinikanth's Petta was released by Anirudh. His next project was Nani's Telugu film Jersey, which is directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri. He later composed for Gang Leader which was directed by Vikram K Kumar. This marked his second collaboration with Nani. After that was Darbar, directed by AR Murugadoss. He then composed one of the songs of the soundtrack for Dharala Prabhu, the title track, which garnered success.

In 2020, he collaborated with Vijay for the 2nd time in Master, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The first single, "Kutti Story", sung by Vijay himself, received great praise and became popular around the world for its Tanglish lyrics.^[50] The second single sung by Gana Balachander, "Vaathi Coming", became an instant viral hit universally.^[51]

He also came to work on the soundtrack of Doctor, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. The first single "Chellamma" was a hit among the youth with the fun and romantic lyrics, collecting over 100 million views on YouTube.^[52] In 2021, he worked with Vijay^[53] for the 3rd time in Beast directed by Nelson, whom he also worked with for the 3rd consecutive time. The first single "Arabic Kuthu", was a fusion featuring Arabic phrases and rhyming verses in Tamil. The song set the record for the most-viewed and liked South Indian song within 24 hours, and is currently his most-viewed single with over 500 million views.^[54]

His work in Vikram marked his first release with Kamal Haasan, although the duo collaborated first on Indian 2 yet to be released.^[55] The first single of Vikram titled "Pathala Pathala" received several million views from fans.^[56] He also composed for Sivakarthikeyan's Don and Vijay Sethupathi's Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal.^[57][58]

After a hiatus, he returned to compose for Dhanush with Thiruchitrambalam.^[59] The first single of Thiruchitrambalam titled "Thaai Kelavi" was released on 24 June 2022 and its lyrics proved controversial.^[60] A social activist lodged a complaint against the makers of the film asking them to change the lyrics of the song,^[61] citing disrespect to elderly people.^[62]

After A. R. Rahman turned down an offer by Atlee to compose for his Bollywood film Jawan with Shah Rukh Khan,^[63] Anirudh was chosen to compose for the film. An announcement teaser featuring Anirudh's score was released in June 2022.^[64] Jawan marks the first full-fledged debut for Anirudh in Hindi cinema as a composer as his previous Hindi films David and Jersey featured just a single and reused film from the original, respectively. He is also composing the soundtrack for Leo, in his fourth collaboration with Vijay after Kaththi (2014), Master and Beast; third collaboration with Lokesh after Master and Vikram (2022).^[65] The track "Bloody Sweet" that was featured in the two-minute promo video for the movie was released on 3 February 2023, the same date as the promo.^[66][67] It has gathered 76 million views so far on YouTube, his highest. He also composed music for Rajinikanth’s 169th film titled Jailer directed by Nelson. The film marks Anirudh’s third collaboration with Rajini after Petta and Darbar and fourth with Nelson after Kolamaavu Kokila, Doctor and Beast.^[68]

He is also set to collaborate with Ajith for his 62nd film Vidaa Muyarchi directed by Magizh Thirumeni which marks his third collaboration with Ajith after Vedalam and Vivegam. He is also set to compose music for N. T. Rama Rao Jr.'s upcoming Telugu film Devara which is directed by Koratala Siva.^[69][70]

Other honors

Once Upon a Time (2022-2023)

Others artists in attendance included Jonita Gandhi, Inno Genga and Adithya RK.^[103]

Hukum (2024)