His melodies have touched generations and with his unparalleled contribution to Indian cinema, legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja continues to rule the hearts, in recognition of which the Tamil Nadu government is honouring him with a massive felicitation on Saturday (September 13).
At the event scheduled to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Ilaiyaraaja will perform a symphony that will be witnessed by Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin in the company of versatile actor Kamal Hassan and superstar Rajinikanth among others, an official release here said.
The chief minister described the felicitation on ‘X’ as a “celebration not only for the emperor of the music world, but to his adoring fans across the globe. It is a gentle lullaby in a gentle breeze for Raaja.” In March this year, when the maestro returned after completing his symphony in London, Stalin had announced that the state government would honour him with a grand celebration.
Responding to the government holding the fete, Ilaiyaraaja expressed happiness since this is the first time that the state government is felicitating him. “This is the first time that the government is doing it. Like all of you and the people, I am very happy about this. There is such a huge expectation among the people to participate, but the stadium, venue of the event, cannot hold a massive crowd,” the Rajya Sabha MP told the media in Chennai.
In his half a century journey in the film industry, the maestro has composed for numerous blockbuster movies featuring leading film stars and continues to enchant and enthral the audience. Apart from scoring music for films, Raja had exhibited his versatility by bringing to the present generation musical compositions of ancient devotional hymns. The pinnacle of his musical journey was the symphony composed early this year in London christened ‘Valiant’, the first ever by an Indian and joining the list of Beethoven and Mozart.
Earlier in 1993, he recorded his symphony at the famed Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London under the baton of John Scott. The invitation from RPO came following his two albums, ‘Nothing But the Wind’ and ‘How to Name it’. However, it was not released due to some controversies.
The name itself mesmerises music lovers and he has earned an iconic status. Besides scoring music for over 1000 films and 8000 songs in 9 languages including, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, he had produced widely acclaimed albums with select ancient devotional hymns from – Thiruvasagam, a Saivite composition, and Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, Vaishnavite compositions.
Born in a poor family in nondescript and caste-ridden Pannaipuram village in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Theni district on June 2, 1943, he had reached the pinnacle of world music. As a young boy, he used to sing in Communist party meetings accompanying his brother Pavalar Varadarajan. In 1968, he set foot in Chennai along with his brothers Baskar and Gangai Amaran and struggled a lot. It was ‘Annakili’ (1978) that gave him the much-needed break in the dream industry. A disciplinarian and a learner, fame had not deterred him from working on films since he maintains that his best is yet to come so that he could give up. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2022.
“I wish youngsters to take me as an example to progress in their own fields and make the country proud,” he had said earlier.