Why Ilaiyaraaja'd said no to Cheeni Kum

Ilaiyaraaja, 70, has given music to a 1,000 films. He is emotional, sensitive and deeply religious. He may not cry much himself, but he knows how to make his audiences weep, listening to his music. He is simple, but very bright, naughty, but very disciplined, old and traditional looking, but very modern-minded and liberal in his music. For his fans, he is not just a legend, he is like God.There is a famous story about him that may explain this to you. There was a time when films in Tamil cinema would sell as they had music by Ilaiyaraaja. So, right from early morning 7, when Ilaiyaraaja starts working, there would be top directors waiting in queue to get their songs recorded. He would oblige them in a way that each of them got a song — he would compose a song for one of them in the morning and another in the evening. Outside his studio, there are a number of trees and each tree is named after one of the directors that would be waiting to get music composed by him. While his studio is based inside the iconic Prasad Studios in Chennai, it is known as Ilaiyaraaja’s studio, as he has composed all his music, right from the beginning, out there. I was told that he usually does not meet the media and certainly not for long. I was lucky as I not only got to meet him, but also have my favourite south Indian filter coffee with him. Excerpts from my conversation:
R Balki has done all his three films Cheeni Kum, Paa and now Shamitabh with you. He considers you God in music. What makes you work with him? He is a very good fan of mine. He knows all my compositions and he will always ask for the old hits only. That is something I don’t like. When he came for Cheeni Kum, he asked me for the song on which he had grown up in Bengaluru. It’s a Kannada film song that he is very fond of. I told him, ‘You can use that song and put the name of any music director. Why should I repeat myself?’ He said, ‘Sir, in North India, no one knows about this tune, so I want to give it to them.’ His reason was quite alright, so, I accepted. Now, of course, in Shamitabh all the compositions are original.
Sir, you have composed for Amitabh Bachchan earlier in Cheeni Kum and now in Shamitabh. Talk about him... He is unbelievable. Very nice and he is wonderful. He is a very good singer and I have heard him singing before I composed for him. Balki made me listen to that. His singing is very nice and he keeps his sur in mind. I composed Piddly for him, which he sang in a sur to get the feel and I reworked it based on that.
Does it impact you if a big star is singing your song? Whoever sings the song, should be good. In the case of Shamitabh, it goes with the story that Amitji is singing the song in his voice, so, we requested him to sing and he sang wonderfully.
Among all the stars who have sung for you, who is the most sureela star? Kamal Haasan. It’s very difficult to sing in sur, whoever it is. Today, we can do anything with any voice as we have instruments that can correct many things, but earlier, in the era of Lataji (Lata Mangeshkar), Ashaji (Asha Bhosle) and Rafi sahab (Mohammed Rafi), they would rehearse for hours together and then come and finish the song in five minutes. Today, it can take days. That was the era of music.
Do you find anybody among the young singers who is potentially at the level of some of the biggest singing legends? A real composer doesn’t depend on the singers. My song, anybody sings, should get popular.
Talk about working with Kamal Haasan... He is a very good singer and has a very good voice. His grasping is fantastic, be it the scene or music. He would crack jokes on the set while the director would be arranging things to take the shots but as soon as his call comes and the director would say action, he is unbelievable.
You have also worked with Rajinikanth? He is a wonderful director. He is a fantastic screenplay writer. He is actually very good at that also, but his career is totally different. I once said to him, ‘Why don’t you write a script for yourself? You can write so well.’ He said, ‘Swamy, that is different, Swamy.J’
What do you like about yourself the most? I hate myself for taking this birth. I don’t like this janam at all. To take this birth, I would have committed so many sins in my previous birth. So, how to make it alright. That’s what I am working for. That’s why I have taken birth to make corrections on my previous mistakes.
Who are you most attached to? All my children.
What is Yuvan Shankar Raja like? He is very good. He is doing wonderful music. Yuvan has some kind of mischievousness in him. I, too, am childlike and am more naughty than Yuvan.
Sir, no one will imagine you as being naughty... Once, I was playing the guitar as a part of the orchestra of another music director. One of the players was my friend who was playing the mandolin and me the guitar at the same microphone. The music director kept both our notations in front of us and we were both reading that. Before the take, I asked my friend, ‘Which one should I play?’ So, my friend said, ‘Play whichever, as whatever you play, this music director won’t be able to find out if you played the wrong one as he can’t make out.J’ Another time, we were playing for another big music director who had repeated a song that he had composed long ago, and yet, he had taken three months to compose it. I was assisting him and also playing the guitar with him. So, when the other musicians asked me why it took so long for him to compose this song as it was a repeat of his earlier song, I said, ‘It took him time as he had to select which song of his he should repeatJ’ Like that I was naughty.
How do you feel when you sing for your sons Yuvan Shankar Raja or Karthik Raja who are today big composers themselves? Very nice. Yuvan will teach the song to me. And I will say, ‘Why Yuvan, this is not my pitch?’ He will say, ‘Come on, dad. Sing.’ It feels nice. Karthik never leaves me. He will make very difficult phrases for me and will insist that I have to sing it in my voice.
Yuvan once told me that your favourite is Karthik and he was his mother’s favourite. Nothing like that. They are both my favourites. Yuvan’s mother always encouraged him, so, he feels like that and misses her a lot.
You are known to be very short tempered. Is that true? Yes. But it has already come down. In the beginning, if the orchestra made mistakes, I would shout at them, send them out. But after 80s, I have become normal and never shout and have started keeping silence. It’s a miracle how I changed.
Are you competitive? I never get jealous. I used to compare my songs with songs of other previous composers. Why can’t I make this kind of music? If I heard Beethoven or Mozart or Tchaikovsky or Elgar, I would think why I could not make what they had made.
How do you feel when people treat you like God? I am not very serious about these things. People call Sachin Tendulkar as God. Like that, for them I am God also, what’s the difference. I don’t give importance to that. We are bringing down God and making him very cheap.
How did you come into music? I am completely illiterate, but my elder brother, who was about 10 years older to me, is a singer. Through him only I got inspired and came to know about ragas and other things. When he bought this harmonium in 1960, he never allowed me to touch this as I was a small boy then. If I would touch it, he would beat me in my hand with a thick stick. So, in his absence, I would take the harmonium and practise and that’s how I learnt.
Talk about your parents... I was nine when my father died. My mother died later, when I was 40, due to brain haemorrhage. I had become a music director by then. But even then, my father always said to my mother, ‘You will see how these boys will come up in life.’ My father is now like a swamiji for me. He is like an idol in a temple for me. When my father was alive, we were struggling for food in Chennai, but we were still so happy.
You lost your wife two years ago. Do you miss her? I am now very much worried for my children. In my life, I didn’t spend time with my wife, my family or children. I was only making music past 30 years or more. But the very best thing about them was that they never complained about me that I didn’t spend time with them or didn’t take care of them. Everything my wife took care of, so, I was able to do this.
Do you regret not having given them enough time? No, because they understand. If they complained against me then I would have.
Sir, what do you look forward to doing after making music for 1,000 films? I never took my life in my hand. It just happened. Now also whatever happens, let it happen. I am not expecting anything.