Renowned Kannada music composer Rajan of the Rajan-Nagendra duo breathed his last yesterday at his residence in Bengaluru (October 12, 2020), reportedly after suffering from indigestion for the past two days. As per reports, he was healthy and even taking online music classes during the COVID-19 lockdown. He was 85 and is survived by a son and a daughter.
Notably, Rajan and Nagendra, who were brothers in real life were fondly referred to as Sandalwood's Kalyanji-Anandji (renowned Bollywood music composers). The duo had debuted as music composers with the 1952 film Soubhagya Lakshmi. A few of their Kannada compositions include 'Beladinglondu Hennagi Bandanthe Kande' from Premanubandha, 'Beluvalda Madialli Bevara Hani Biddaga' from Beluvaladha Madilalli, 'Cheleveya Andada Mogake' from Devara Gudi, 'Dundu Mallige Mathaadeya' from Nanna Devaru, 'Ellelli Nodali Ninnane Kanuve' from Na Ninna Mareyalare, and 'E Hrudaya Haadige' from Suprabhata among many others. The duo had composed music for more than 350 films in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Tulu and Sinhala. Notably, Nagendra died of a stroke in Bengaluru in the year 2000, aged 65.