As early as his school days, Isaac Thomas has been writing and acting in plays. A primary school student, impressed with Bimal Roy's Madhumati, he watched it several times. By the time he reached high school, he had become the choir captain, and was playing the piano and composing English music. He was fascinated by Lawrence Of Arabia and watched the film eight times. Soon, he was writing musical theatre for the school stage.

While studying at the Madras Christian College, he decided to join the Film and Television Institute at Pune after his graduation. The reason: Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali. After acquiring his postgraduate diploma in direction and screenplay writing from FTII, he worked with the late Aravindan on films like Thampu, Kummatti and Esthappan.

Isaac Thomas's entry into the world of films as a composer started with Girish Kasaravalli's Kannada film Thai Sahiba in 1998. The film went on to win a National Award.

Over to the music composer:

Photograph of Isaac Thomas: Sreeram Selvaraj
Design: Uday Kuckian