Sean Roldan

Sean Roldan
Background information
Birth name	Raghavendra Raja Rao
Born	(1987-12-27) 27 December 1987 (age 36) 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

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).^[1]

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.^[2] He was drawn into film music by A.R. Rahman's debut album Roja.

Rao began a career in music composing and working on Carnatic tracks before venturing into independent Tamil music with his band Sean Roldan & Friends.^[3] 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.^[4] 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"^[5] composed for his band.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.

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.

Roldan's music draws heavy inspiration from Tamil composer Ilaiyaraaja. His greater aim is to represent Indian music internationally.^[8]

• 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.

• Sean Roldan at IMDb