My very dear friend Sanjay Bhansali and I were discussing a possible biopic on our Mata Saraswati Lata Mangeshkar.He sadly said, “No one can play Lataji except Lataji herself. Kisiki auqat nahin hai.”
The same goes for the legend beyond legends Ilaiyaraja. It is disheartening to hear that Dhanush will play Ilaiyaraja. It is like Sonu Sood playing Amitabh Bachchan in the latter’s biopic just because of the faint resemblance.Was Dhanush chosen for his Kolaveri D? The most atonal song in the history of Indie-pop.
With Ilaiyaraja , there is a duable option: Kamal Haasan. The two have been closely associated for more than fifty years. Kamal Haasan knows Ilaiyaraja’s music inside out.
In fact once during an informal telephonic conversation I casually asked Ilaiyaraja whom he would like to play him in a possible biopic.
“Kamal Haasan”, came the almost instant response.
I remember when Kamalji was doing the music of his directorial Hey Ram in the year 2000.Violinist L Subramanian asked for a ridiculous sum of money to do the music in Hey Ram.He asked for Rs 50 lakh. He was out of the project. Kamalji couldn’t afford to pay him that kind of money.
Ilaiyaraja had sportingly stepped in . Kamal Haasan took Ilaiyaraja to Budapest to record the background music.
Then there was this other incident in 2013 to show how close Kamalji is to the music maestro.Kamal Haasan had gone and sung a song for the incredibly accomplished composing maestro Ilayaraja…and that too at just half an hours’ notice after the singer assigned the job of singing the intricate composition couldn’t rise to the occasion.
“Get me Kamal on the phone,” Ilaiyaraja commanded his assistant.Within an hour Kamal Haasan reached the recording studio in Chennai and in half an hour the ‘ditty’ deed was done.
The song was for the Pankaj Kapoor starrer Happi which was a tribute to Charlie Chaplin.And Kamal Haasan is a diehard Chaplin fan. The Tamil genius has paid heartfelt tributes to Chaplin in films like Pushpak and Sagar.
But the real incentive for rushing in where other professional singers tremble to venture was his ardent devotion to Ilayaraja.
Recalled the Happi director Bhavna Talwar, “It all happened in a flash.We were in Chennai to record this amazing composition titled Zindagi Dish written by Jaideep Sahni.Raja Sir(Ilayaraja) was not getting what he wanted.The singer who was assigned to do the job wasn’t getting it right. Raja Sir asked his assistant to contact Kamalji.Within no time Kamalji was in the studio. It took him half an hour to record the song.”
Speaking of his closeness to Ilaiyaraja Kamal Haasan once said to this writer, “My respect for certain people goes beyond the work place.Shivaji Ganesan, K. Balachander and Ilayaraja are to me, idols.And if they call I run. As simple as that.
The astonishing multi-faceted artiste lets out an interesting self-observation. “Somehow I find it much easier to connect with male artistes. If you see the Kathak performance in Vishwaroop you’d see how closely I’ve observed and imbibed Pandit Birju Maharaj’s style. This wouldn’t have been possible with a female dancer. Likwise in music, though I deeply admire M S Subbulakshmi and Asha Bhosle it’s Balamuralikrishan that I idolize.”
