Rajamani, born in 1956, was just one of those names in the music world that kept popping up—especially if you were knee-deep in Malayalam films from the late '80s and early 2000s. Guy knew how to make a scene tick. You check out movies like News from 1989, and there’s this pulse under every frame, like he’s drumming his fingers on the back of your brain. Then there’s Nariman in 2001—he just slides right in, making those courtroom moments way more dramatic than they had any business being. Not to mention Sound of Boot in 2008, which, honestly, had a score that made the hair on your arms stand up, even if you were just walking past the TV. He married Beena somewhere along the way, kept his private life pretty low-key. Didn’t see him in the limelight much—he let his music do the talking. Chennai became his final stop, passing away there on February 14, 2016. It hit the industry hard, because you don’t get a Rajamani every decade. People still talk about how he could jump from intense thriller beats to soft, emotional cues without ever breaking a sweat. His tracks kind of sneak up on you; you’re halfway through a scene and suddenly you realize the music’s carrying you. That’s a rare thing nowadays. Rajamani left behind a legacy, not just of soundtracks, but of moods, memories, and that unmistakable, slightly off-kilter magic that only he could pull off.
