The genius of Illaiyaraaja has finally been recognised with a Sangeet Natak Akademi award. His multi-faceted talent as a composer, lyricist, music director, songwriter, singer and conductor may perhaps deserve an even greater honour.
While music lovers tap their way to any kind of beat, only a connoisseur can truly appreciate the creativity that goes into each score, each passage, each timbre, every note.
Long before techno-wizardry “modernised” music with sound mixers, Isaignani (musical genius) Illaiyaraaja ruled as the melody king of the movies (mainly Tamil, but also Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and Marathi). His music came from the depths of his soul, so language was no barrier. Catchy folk music was not his only forte; he kept breaking new ground. The speed at which he would annotate made him a master of background score. Tucked away in a special Chennai studio with living and dining facilities, he scored music with a flying pen in just a few days even as a movie was being projected for him. And he would say knowingly sometimes that silence was the best music, sizing up the most dramatic moments in a film with a long pause.
Coming from a classical tradition, kitsch was never his forte. Music lovers swear by his orchestration abilities; but he was dismissive of his own creative talent. In true achiever style, he was often quite disdainful about awards as well!