Chennai, August 18 : Popular music composer and singer Yuvan Shankar Raja has filed a Rs 5 crore defamation suit against his former landlady and her brother in Chennai.

Raja, the son of noted legendary composer Ilaiyaraaja, has issued a legal notice to Hajmat Jameela Begum, who rented out her house which was used as a studio by the 44-year-old composer.

In the notice, Raja demanded a compensation of Rs 5 crore for the 'emotional distress' and 'reputational damage' caused by certain remarks made by his former landlady and her brother.

Jameela Begum's brother, Mohammed Javid, earlier filed a police complaint against Raja, accusing him of not paying rent arrears amounting to Rs 20 lakh.

Javid also claimed that Raja had vacated the house abruptly without informing its owners besides causing damages to the property.

Begum's brother filed the complaint with the Nungambakkam police station on Saturday, claiming that despite multiple requests, Raja didn't pay rent nor did he respond.

In his career spanning 25 years, Raja has composed music for around 170 films. He began his career at the age of 16 when he composed music for the film 'Aravindhan'.

His breakthrough Tamil movie was 'Thullavadho Ilamai' (2002), which established himself as one of the most sought after music composers in the Tamil film industry.

Raja also floated his own music label -- U1 Records -- in 2015, and in 2017, he opened his own film production company -- YSR films.

Yuvan currently has several projects in the pipeline, including 'Vijay Digot,' 'Sardaar 2', and 'Morrison'.

Raja has frequently collaborated with several acclaimed film directors such as Selvaraghavan, Ameer, Vishnuvardhan, Venkat Prabhu, Ram, Linguswamy, Thiagarajan Kumararaja, P. S. Mithran and Elan.

Likewise, he has often worked with noted Tamil poet Vaali and young Tamil lyricists including Na. Muthukumar, Pa. Vijay, Snehan, and Madhan Karky.

Additionally, he has worked with Vairamuthu, Thamarai, and Kabilan.

/IANS