Happy Birthday Ilaiyaraaja: Why it is hard to hate Isaignani despite his statements

In another instance, Ilaiyaaraja screamed at a mediaperson for asking him about the infamous “Beep Song”, composed by Anirudh and sung by Simbu. The incident happened seven years ago, during the Chennai floods, when Ilaiyaraaja participated in an event to help people affected by the disaster. When a reporter asked him about his comments on “Beep Song”, the veteran resorted to disrespectful language. “Yov, arivu irukkaa. Adhukaa vandhurukom (Hey, do you have any sense? How dare you ask such a question here)?” Again, it is a hard watch.

However, Tamils always tend to give him a clean chit. Even Chief Minister MK Stalin once issued a statement asking his party members not to criticise Ilaiyaraaja. A controversy broke when the composer wrote a forward to a book titled Ambedkar & Modi: Reformer’s Ideas, Performers Implementation. In his writing, Ilaiyaraaja drew parallels between Modi and Ambedkar, which drew flak from DMK party members. However, Stalin had to intervene with a statement asking his men to stop criticising the icon, which brought about an end to the whole row. That’s the amount of respect the icon has in the collective consciousness of Tamil society.

The reason for this unquestioned support is that Ilaiyaraaja has became synonymous with music for people in the Tamil-speaking state. Most often people credit Ilaiyaraaja for songs that are not even composed by him. Even Suhasini Maniratnam wrongly credited Ilaiyaraaja for the songs for Rajinikanth’s film Valli, and the superstar had to correct her and say that the songs were composed by Ilaiyaraaja’s son Karthik Raja. So, any great song that was made in the 80s or 90s was invariably composed by Raja, according to the masses. No questions asked.

In an interview with Cinema Express, the veteran was asked what defines him, and he said, “You all tolerate me despite my statements, my anger, and my scolding… that what defines me. I know that I am torturing you, I treat people in a certain way, and I get angry… but I am not able to change it. This is my nature. It means that I am not able to tolerate myself.”

The best explanation for this tolerance is depicted in a YouTube video of the famous channel called Temple Monkeys. The sketch has two friends fiercely debating Ilaiyaraaja and comparing him to AR Rahman. Obviously, the name is not mentioned. The Raja fan says, “He talks openly without holding back. You call it arrogance.” He adds, “He has composed songs for you, your father, and his father… when someone who has given just three hits shows off, imagine his success.” As the two friends fight, Siennor, an indie musician, keeps strumming his guitar mindlessly. When the fight becomes a quarrel and things become too loud, Siennor plays the tune of  Ilaiyaraaja’s “En Iniya Pon Nilave”. The fight stops and the two friends end up losing themselves in the music.