National Award winner Dhanush on Wednesday unveiled the first poster of his upcoming movie based on the life of legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja. Titled “Ilaiyaraaja”, the movie will be directed by Arun Matheswaran , who recently helmed Dhanush’s latest release “Captain Miller”.
Movie announcement
Movie was announced in a function at Chennai. Chief Guest was Kamal Hassan. “I grew up listening to the songs of the legendary Ilayaraja. I always had a dream of acting in the biopic of Ilaiyaraaja and actor Rajinikanth. One will fructify, but don’t know when the other will,” Dhanush said at the function of the poster launch.
Movie will showcase his life journey
The movie will showcase the life of musician . Ilaiyaraaja regarded as one of India’s greatest music composers. In a career spanning over five decades, Ilaiyaraaja has composed over 7,000 songs for more than 1,000 films and performed over 20,000 concerts across the globe. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour, in 2010 and received the Padma Vibhushan in 2018, the second highest civilian honour.
Kamal Hassan
Actor Kamal Haasan, who has a close relationship with the composer, on Thursday launched the film’s first-look poster. “I am always in awe listening to his music,” the actor said. “Tell the truth of what you see. Do not get pressurised,” the actor advised the film’s director. “The film is not just about Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja but about Bharat Ratna Ilaiyaraaja. It’s not our wish but our demand,” he added
It will be Pan India movie
“Ilaiyaraaja”, which will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, is backed by Connekkt Media, PK Prime Production and Mercuri Movies. Sriram Bakthisaran, C K Padma Kumar, Varun Mathur, Ilamparithy Gajendran and Saurabh Mishra are credited as producers. Nirav Shah will serve as the director of photography.
Life history of Ilayaraaja
The movie will trace the history of the 81-year-old music legend from Pannaipuram, now Theni, to the present day. Born as R Gnanathesikanin, Ilayaraaja grew up in a rural area and was exposed to a range of Tamil folk music in his formative years. At 14, he joined a travelling musical troupe named Pavalar Brothers, headed by his elder brother Pavalar Varadharajan, and spent the next decade performing across South India, according to information on the web. Ilaiyaraaja moved to Chennai to take a plunge in the cinema at a very early point in his life. In 1975, he got his break when producer Panchu Arunachalam, who was impressed by a song casually sung by Ilayaraja, in 1976 commissioned the musician to compose the songs for his movie Annakili, which was directed by Bharathirajaa, who also hails from the place where Ilaiyaraaja was born. The movie was a huge hit, and the legend did not look back. In the last four decades, he went on to score music for over 1,500 movies in various languages, including Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. In 1986, he became the first Indian composer to record a soundtrack with a computer for the Kamal Haasan film Vikram. He also composed Thiruvasagam in Symphony (2006), the first Indian oratorio.
Kevin Varchand