Anil Johnson

Anil Johnson. One word that is enough to describe this man: Maestro! He is a multitalented, multifaceted artist who has been entertaining audience for over a decade now. He has primarily worked for Malayalam cinema. He was born and raised in Cochin in Kerala. He has a list of specialties under his belt! Some of them are: composer, a lyricist, music director, song writer, keyboard programmer and arranger, producer and sound designer, to name a few. The list is endless. Just like his talents! He can proudly boast of having composed the music for jingles for advertisements, programmed music for several major composers and musicians and also worked on films to provide background scores.

According to him, it’s an art to detect the mood of a movie, and then use music to enhance that feeling and bring it out, through sounds, lyrics, and beats. It is what makes him tick. His zest for music isn’t a recent occurrence. He’s been an ardent music fan since childhood, indulging himself in music classes- ranging from dance music, to world music and to classical music as well. The whole spectrum! His journey to becoming a music maestro started at the mere age of 16, where he played the piano in churches. He went to St. John D Britto Fort Cochin as a child and then switched over to FACT School Udyogamandal.

He later graduated from the Mahatma Gandhi University, majoring in Music Production. In the year 2010, he released his first album Chulli- A Malayalam album, where he experimented with different songs and styles. He would later go on to collaborate and produce music with Indian music legend Bombay Ravi, AKA Ravi Shanker Sharma! He is quite zealous for music. In fact, he was once asked in an interview why he was so passionate and enthusiastic about music. His reply was short and sweet: “We all carry music in ourselves.

That is why it’s called a heart beat.” Some of the movies he’s provided background scores for are 3 Dots, Memories, Dhrishyam, Life of Josutty, and his latest flick- Olapeepi. All of these have been box office hits, and he’s musical contributions in all have earned him stern respect from his peers, critics, and fans alike. But perhaps his crowning achievement is the fact that he worked in tandem with Tarsem Singh as a music arranger on the famous Hollywood TV show, ABC’s Lost; a show broadcast world-wide! He is currently living in his hometown in Kerala and insists that he doesn’t want to stop yet.