Ilayaraja scoring for Kannada movie Suryakaanti

Musical genius Ilayaraja was in namma Bengaluru over the weekend for the final mixing of Suryakanti. Word has it that the legend doesn’t usually partake in such events, especially if it’s outside Chennai. He sends his sound engineers to do the job. “But he made an exception in this case because he was happy with both his work and the film. So he wanted to be here personally to ensure that everything goes smoothly,” says suryakanthi director Chaitanya.

Ilayaraja, says Chaitanya, has made a detour from his usual style in this flick. “He’s used a lot of modern music and funky beats in this project. There’s also a lot of jazz,” the director tells us.

He made another exception for Bangalore. “It’s been eight years since he did a television interview. But during his visit, Ilayaraja did back-toback interviews with various channels. He’s very camera shy, so it was a huge feat for him,” shares Chaitanya.

The much-feted music composer has scored six songs for the film, the most popular being Swalpa Soundu Jasti Maadu, the lyrics of which have been penned by Yograj Bhat. “Ilayaraja understands my way of working and knows how I treat a film. He’s a master at re-recording. Music isn’t just about composing; it’s about good background scores too,” says Chaitanya. But it’s also said that the master isn’t at his best these days. “That depends on the film-maker he’s working with. If Ilayaraja is excited about a project, he’ll give it his best. He’s not someone who’s easily impressed. You have to motivate him with quality work,” explains Chaitanya. So did they also discuss his latest, Paa? “Ilayaraja was very excited about the film. He spoke to Balki a couple of times while he was here,” signs off Chaitanya K.