Thotakura Somaraju

Thotakura Somaraju, popularly known as Raj of the Raj-Koti duo was a music composer in the Telugu film industry. He was born in Andhra Pradesh. His father Thotakura Venkata Raju Thotakura Venkata Raju is also known as T. V. Raju >> Read More... was also an Indian music composer in Telugu cinema. Besides composing, Somaraju was also involved in singing and songwriting. Thotakura Somaraju, along with Koti, made his debut in 1982 in a Telugu film called Pralaya Garjana. Raj-Koti had a successful career spanning over a decade, working in almost 300 films. Some of their best works include Yamudiki Mogudu(1988), Jayammu Nishchayammu Ra(1989), Khaidi No 786(1988), Bava Bamaridi(1993), Hello Brother Click to look into! >> Read More... (1994) among others. Majority of their compositions were sung by the legendary singers like SP Balasubrahmanyam and KS Chitra.

Raj-koti received Nandi Award for Best Music Director in 1994 for the movie Hello Brother. The duo however split up in 1995 citing creative differences as the reason. Thotakura then went on to compose individually for some of the films. The Legendary AR Rahman also worked under Somaraju in the initial years of his career. Somaraju had a bright career which ended in 2002 when he left composing for films. Thotakura Somaraju unfortunately died on 21st May 2023 after suffering a fall in the bathroom. He was reported to have suffered a cardiac arrest which led to his untimely demise. Somaraju is survived by his wife and three daughters, Deepti, Divya, and Swetha.