Lesle Lewis (composer)

Leslee Lewis is an Indian singer and composer known for his work with Hariharan as the duo "Colonial Cousins". They won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then the U.S. Billboard Viewer's Choice Award for 'Colonial Cousins', their debut album. He conceived and created all the music for Coke Studio, MTV India debut season.
Popularly known as 'Lezz' in the industry, Leslee Lewis is one of the first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to Rock and Pop music. Leslee's creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, P L Raj, noted choreographer from the film industry.
With an aim to give the audiences a taste of varied music flavors, he has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.
Early life.
Leslee Lewis is the son of P. L. Raj, a prolific film choreographer. He was educated at St. Mary's High School, Mt. Abu in Rajasthan.
As a child, Leslee was greatly influenced by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton and with further working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors.
He played guitar at the Cafe Royal, Oberoi Towers, Mumbai and recorded with Kalyanji–Anandji, Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R. D. Burman and Louis Banks.
Biography.
Jingles.
From 1987 he composed advertising jingles and was nominated for awards from the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA). In 1989 received an award for his work. He went on to make some famous jingles such as Doodh-Doodh-Doodh (Piyo full glass), Mango Fruity fresh and juicy, Thumbs up taste the thunder, Santoor Santoor, etc.
Mainstream Music.
Lewis remixed Asha Bhonsle's album "Rahul and I" and composed songs for "Janam samjha karo, O mere sona, Piya Tu- ab toh aaja". He also composed and produced the music for "Paree Hu Main" by Suneeta Rao, "Bombay Girl" by Alisha Chinai and for KK's album "Pal". He even composed songs such as Bombay Girl and De De- Mujh Ko for Alisha Chinai.
He also launched indipop boy band A Band of Boys and gave music for their hit songs such as Meri Neendh, Gori and Aa Jaa Meri Jaan.
In 1998, Lewis recorded his first solo album, "Haseena". He composed the score for the Hindi films "Mela" and "Jahd" and the Tamil films "Modhi Vilayadu" and "Chikku Bukku".
Colonial Cousins.
Lewis first worked with ghazal singer Hariharan in 1992, creating a jingle. They formed "Colonial Cousins" in 1996 and recorded an album, "Colonial Cousins". They were the first Indian act to be featured on "MTV Unplugged". It won the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group. They released the albums "The Way We Do It" (1998) and "Aatma" (2001) and composed the soundtrack for the Tamil films "Modhi Vilayadu" and "Chikku Bukku".