Producers' council to honour Ilaiyaraja

If in an overnight decision that surprised the entire Tamil film industry, director R Parthiban was appointed as Vice President of the Tamil  Film Producers’ Council(TFPC)  it is with very good reason.

According to sources director Gautham Menon’s sudden exit as  Vice President created a panic-like situation in the Producers’  Council, as all efforts are on to host a commemorative function for music composer Ilaiyaraja on an unprecedented scale.

Says  Vishal, “Yes  it’s true . Parthiban Sir  has been appointed  to fill the void left behind by Gautham  Menon Sir. At  the moment the Producers’ Council is fully focused on organizing an event to honour Raja Sir (Ilaiyaraja). And we needed  to get a new Vice President in place to proceed with plans  to  felicitate  Raj Sir on a scale  never done  before.”

 While the budget for this mega-event honouring one of the greatest  musician of India is estimated at approximately 20 crore rupees, every singer and musician of  the South Indian film industry has agreed to perform at the event free of cost.

Says Vishal Krishna,  “Raja Sir is beyond a  legend. His reputation can never be capsuled in any honorary event. But we are trying. The TFPC has invited every actor and musician associated with  Raja’s music. And they’ve all happily  agreed to come for  the  function.”

According to sources the baritoned Hariharan, S P Balasubramaniam, Yesudas and   Kamal Haasan who is big Ilaiyaraja devotee,  will sing some of  the  composers’ most  famous compositions on stage.

The iconic Lata Mangeshkar says honouring Ilaiyaraja is just the most befitting thing the Tamil film industry can do. “I’ve sung a  very beautiful Tamil song for him.  Araroo araroo in the film Anand. Since Tamil is not a language  I  was familiar with I  was nervous. But I couldn’t say no to an opportunity to sing for Ilaiyarajji. It was the toughest composition of  my life. Then I sang a Hindi song for him in  Raj Kumar Santoshi’s filmLajja, Kaun gali kaun dagar. The lyrics were by Prasoon Joshiji.  I think Ilaiyarajaji is among the handful of most accomplished musicians in the country. No  amount of praise can  do justice  to his talent.”