Kailas Menon is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in Malayalam films and commercials. After working as a composer for television commercials for more than a decade, he debuted as a composer in feature films with director Jayaraj's Pakarnnatam. His first mainstream release happened much later with Theevandi, for which he earned his first Filmfare Award.
Early life
Kailas was born in Thrissur, Kerala on 30 May 1986. He learned carnatic music for eight years and was a self-trained keyboard player. He completed his schooling from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Thrissur. He graduated in Visual Communications from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, and pursued a course in sound engineering from SAE Institute, Chennai.
Career Menon had his first release, the music album Snehathode, at the age of 16.
His professional career began much later, when he joined as an assistant to Malayalam film composer Ouseppachan and subsequently became a sound engineer for Gopi Sunder.
This was followed by a decade-long stint as a composer of television commercials, having scored for over 1000 commercials for brands like Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Toshiba, Unilever, and Bhima Jewellers.
He debuted as a film composer with Jayaraj's off-beat film Pakarnnattam. This was followed by Starring Pournami, which was shelved midway. His first mainstream release happened much later, with Theevandi. The song "Jeevamshamayi", rendered by Shreya Ghoshal and K. S. Harisankar, earned him a Filmfare Award.
In 2019, he launched his own music label, Kailas Menon Productions, and the first film album released from the label was Finals.
Personal life
Menon married Annapoorna Lekha Pillai, a lawyer at the Kerala High Court, on 8 December 2014. Their son, Samanyu Rudra, was born on 17 August 2020.
Film discography Year Title Language Songs Background score Notes2011 Starring Pournami Malayalam Unreleased film2012 Pakarnnaattam Malayalam N/A 2018 Theevandi Malayalam Maiden release2019 Ittymaani: Made in China Malayalam One song only Finals Malayalam Edakkad Battalion 06 Malayalam 2021 Six Hours Malayalam Member Rameshan 9aam Ward Malayalam Kotthu Malayalam 2022 Kallan D’Souza Malayalam Vaashi Malayalam Nalaam Mura Malayalam 2023 Dear Vaappi Malayalam Janaki Jaane Malayalam Flush Malayalam Nalla Nilavulla Rathri Malayalam Jaladhara Pumpset Since 1962 Malayalam 2025 L Jagadamma Ezham Class B Malayalam Sri Sri Sri Raja Vaaru Telugu
Awards and nominations
Award Year Project Category Outcome Filmfare Award 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director - Malayalam Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director Mazhavil Entertainment Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director Asiavision Awards 2019 Theevandi Best Music Director
+Additional awardsOutcomeIndiewood Film AwardWonNana Film AwardWonJanmabhoomi AwardWonJaycee Foundation AwardWonACV Johnson Master AwardWonRamu Kariat Award (Finals BGM)WonCreative Film AwardWon
References
External links
Kailas Menon at MSI