Famous Indian Lyricists & Songwriters

A. R. Rahman is an Indian film composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Rahman is one of the most decorated and celebrated musicians in Indian history. He was won several prestigious awards including two Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award. In 2009, he was named among the 100 most influential people in Time.

Born in Chennai, to a Carnatic music teacher mother, Sid Sriram later moved to the US with his family. The talented singer-songwriter is a Berklee College of Music alumnus and is known for his skills mixing pop/soul and Indian classical elements. His Indian playback credits include Adiye from the film Kadal.

Famed Indian lyricist, poet, author, screenwriter, and film director Gulzar has been a major figure in Bollywood for over six decades. He started doing odd jobs as a teenager and eventually entered films, where he made a name for himself as a lyricist and screenwriter. He soon started directing films as well. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards.

Andrea Jeremiah is an Indian actress, singer, voice-over artist, and musician who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. Apart from playing lead roles in successful films, Jeremiah has also contributed to the soundtracks of popular albums. She is best known for her performance in the 2018 period gangster film Vada Chennai for which she won the Behindwoods Golden Medal.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is a music composer and singer-songwriter. He is credited with introducing hip-hop to the Tamil music industry and became one of the most sought-after Tamil composers in 2000s. In 2006, he won the Cyprus International Film Festival Award, becoming the first Indian composer to win the award. He has also won other awards like Filmfare Awards South.

Raftaar is an Indian rapper, TV personality, lyricist, dancer, and music composer. The recipient of a Brit Asia TV Music Award, Raftaar has contributed immensely to the soundtracks of several popular Bollywood films like Bullet Raja, Heropanti, and Dangal. He has also served as a judge on popular TV shows like Roadies, Dance India Dance, and MTV Hustle.

Urdu poet Rahat Indori had an illustrious and versatile career as a painter, a Bollywood lyricist, and a professor. A regular at poetry events such as Kavi Sammelan, he was known for his captivating couplets such as Kisi Ke Baap Ka Hindustan Thodi Hai. He died of COVID-19 in 2020.

Apart from being a talented Bharatnatyam dancer, Sukanya has also made her mark as an actor in South Indian films. She won a Filmfare for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Innathe Chintha Vishayam. She has also appeared in series and has released two devotional albums.

Hamsalekha is an Indian songwriter and film composer who works predominantly for Kannada cinema. One of the most influential and celebrated music composers of the Kannada film industry, Hamsalekha is credited with popularizing Kannada songs in the rest of South India. He is the recipient of six Filmfare Awards, a National Film Award, and seven Karnataka State Film Awards.

Na. Muthukumar was an Indian poet, author, and lyricist who predominantly worked in the Tamil film industry. He is credited with writing several popular film songs and is widely regarded as one of the most successful lyricists of his generation. During his illustrious career, Muthukumar won several prestigious awards, including two National Film Awards for Best Lyrics.

Sahir Ludhianvi was an Indian poet and film lyricist best remembered for his works written in the Hindi and Urdu languages. He wrote lyrics for a number of memorable Hindi film songs. He was a member of the Progressive Writers’ Movement. Sahir was a staunch secularist, and he did not practise any religion

Punjabi folk and Sufi singer Satinder Pal Singh, better known as Satinder Sartaaj, not only boasts of a PhD in Sufi singing but has also created his own musical instrument, the Saaz-e-Sartaj. He also appeared as Maharaja Duleep Singh in the Hollywood film The Black Prince.

Irshad Kamil is an Indian lyricist and poet best known for writing lyrics for songs in the Hindi film industry. Renowned for his work in films like Jab We Met, Raanjhanaa, and Aashiqui 2, Kamil is one of the most decorated Hindi lyricists of his generation. 

Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi, better known as Kavi Pradeep, was a renowned poet-lyricist who had penned scores of nationalistic songs, such as the ever-popular Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo and Aao Bachcho Tumhein Dikhayen. He was a regular at poets’ meets or Kavi Sammelans and had also been named the Rashtrakavi.

Sahana Bajpaie is an Indian singer and songwriter best known as an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet, songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. Apart from contributing as a playback singer in the Indian Bengali film industry, Sahana Bajpaie has also released several successful studio albums.

Balachandran Chullikkadu is an Indian poet, lyricist, orator, and actor who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. A much-revered poet, Chullikkadu represented Indian poetry in Sweden's international bookfair in 1997. A multi-talented personality, Chullikkadu won the 2003 National Film Award under the Best Non-Feature Film Narration / Voice Over category.

Anne Hills is an American singer and songwriter. She is credited with co-founding a record label named Hogeye Music. Over the course of her career, Anne Hills has collaborated with several prominent musicians and bands like Bob Gibson and Tom Paxton. In 2002, Anne Hills was honored by the World Folk Music Association with the prestigious Kate Wolf Memorial Award.