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Ilayaraja makes a low-blow statement! Says usage of his songs in films today is equivalent to stealing & composer's 'lack of manliness'!

PUBLISHED DATE : 27/May/2019

Ilayaraja makes a low-blow statement! Says usage of his songs in films today is equivalent to stealing & composer's 'lack of manliness'!

 

In case you missed it, veteran composer Ilayaraja is all over the internet, thanks to a video interview that surfaced over the weekend. A particular answer of Ilayaraja's from this said interview has raised eyebrows, for the composer ended up making a low-blow remark about musicians from the film industry who use his music in their films.

Ilayaraja was questioned about what he thinks of his music being used for period sequences in films of today like 96 (a mere example) and the composer immediately retorted,
 
"It is a very wrong thing to do..Just because the film takes place in a particular period, it is not necessary to use the songs from that era. (This goes to show that) where they (composers) lack, they fill it (the gap) with already popular matter (songs) which is equivalent to stealing.  Reason being they do not have the stuff to give songs that are equivalent to the popular songs (from that era)."

[A member from team 96 clarified that they had paid their due royalties and were in no way 'stealing' anyone's music, when they included Ilayaraja's songs in their movie.]

  
The composer further added, "Take Yaadon Ki Baarat (1973) for example...R.D. Burman (music composer of that film) did not use another composer's song from 20 years ago just because a sequence in that time era takes place. He self-composed a song (making everyone believe) that it was a song from 20 years ago..Isn't that what is called music?.."

[A twitter user reacted to the same by pointing out the flaw in Ilayaraja's comparison]

The question ends with Ilayaraja concluding, "This (using pre-composed popular songs from an era) indicates weakness and lack of manliness.. You have been given a positon, a position of a music composer..If you are required to compose songs for an 80s period, then self-compose songs that are equivalent to the 1980s. Why can't you compose? You cannot separate people from my music that I had composed in the 80s so you are using it to there which is you lack of manliness!" 


Ilyaraja might not have taken any names but his statement seems directed towards films and composers that have used his music in recent times like 96 (Govind Vasantha) and Mehandi Circus (Sean Roldan).


The internet on their part was quick to point out the irony of Ilayaraja having done the same in Pithamagan and pin-pointed that even Yuvan Shankar Raja has resorted to using Ilayaraja's music in Super Deluxe.

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