Sean Roldan

The son of Carnatic classical mridangam maestro Srimushnam Raja Rao, Raghavendra Raja Rao was so determined to carve out his own identity as a musician that he decided to change his name to Sean Roldan. That's how he's known today to Tamil music fans the world over—as an artist equally skilled as a film composer, playback singer and band leader. Initially gaining recognition as leader of the genre-meshing Tamil group Sean Roldan & Friends, he brought indie sensibilities to the region’s film industry in his debut as a music director with 2014's Vaayai Moodi Pesavum. Impressing audiences with his work on soundtracks such as Mundasupatti that same year and Joker in 2016, Roldan moved into the mainstream with his songs for actor-filmmaker Dhanush’s directorial debut Power Paandi in 2017. The hits have kept coming ever since, from Mehandi Circus in 2019 and 2021's Jai Bhim to Good Night in 2023, and 2024's two-hander of Lover and Lubber Pandhu. Meanwhile, Roldan’s expressive voice has made him a singer in high demand among fellow composers such as D. Imman, Santhosh Narayanan, Justin Prabhakaran and Anirudh Ravichander. Like the legends he counts as his key influences—M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman—Roldan possesses a deftness for mixing traditional and modern sounds. So he was a natural choice for the role of co-curator of Coke Studio Tamil, a gig that proved yet another marker of his remarkable versatility.