Rajinikanth: Illaiyaraaja was very naughty and mischievous

'I told Illaiyaraaja when he had composed music for 786 films that soon there will be 1,000. Today is that day.'

The film industry felicitates music composer Illaiyaraaja.

Some of the biggest stars of Indian cinema came together to honour a landmark achievement -- music composer Illaiyaraaja’s 1000th film, Shamitabh, on January 20 at Mumbai's Taj Lands End, in the western suburb of Bandra.

Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, and Kamal Haasan took turns to describe their association with the legendary composer.

"Raaja sir (referring to Illaiyaraaja) was very naughty and mischievous. We would gossip a lot and drink till morning. But one day, he transformed and changed everything about him, including his dressing style. After that, I didn’t feel like calling him Raaja sir. Since that day, I have called him Raaja Swami,” Rajinikanth says.

Together, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have acted in 200 films for which Illaiyaraaja was the music composer.

Kamal Haasan said he had not hugged “Raaja sir” in 40 years because he is a bit finicky and shy, but he made sure to do so at the music launch.

"I told him when he had composed music for 786 films that soon there will be 1,000, and today is that day,” he adds.

Incidentally, Shamitabh director R Balki clarified that Tamil director Bala’s film Tharai Thappattai is actually Illaiyaraaja’s 1000th film but that film is not ready for release yet.

Kamal Haasan said he had sung a song for an Illaiyaraaja composition, and it was Illaiyaraaja’s misfortune not to always work with brilliant singers.

Rajinikanth added that when he sang two lines for Illaiyaraaja for a film, it took eight hours to record!

Amitabh Bachchan admits it is scary to sing in front of Illaiyaraaja, as he catches even small mistakes. That's why when he sang for Paa and now Shamitabh, he recorded at composer Aadesh Shrivastava’s studio instead.

Kamal Haasan narrated an incident about his film Hey Ram. He had asked another composer to do the music, but after the song was recorded, Haasan couldn’t use it (composer Dr L Subramaniam was reportedly asked to compose the music for Hey Ram).

He went to Illaiyaraaja and rather sheepishly asked him to compose the music. He said he was prepared to re-shoot the songs.

The maestro asked to see the songs on the big screen. “After viewing it, he said, ‘I will give you hit songs. You don’t have to reshoot them. I will put the music to the same lyrics and match the lip sync.’ That is the brilliance of Illaiyaraaja!” Haasan says.

Shamitabh actor Dhanush says he grew up listening to Illaiyaraaja's music, and that he owes his success to the composer's songs that were picturised on him. He sang a couple of songs as well. Watch the video above to see.

The event starts with the beautiful song, Jaane Do Na from Cheeni Kum, sung in both Hindi and Tamil by Shreya Ghosal.

Amitabh Bachchan sings Piddly Si Baatein from Shamitabh.

Caralisa Monteiro, who started her career with Dil Chahta Hai, sings Sha Sha Sha Mi Mi Mi.

Suraj Jagan, who shot to fame with the song Give Me Some Sunshine from 3 Idiots, sings Ishq E Phillum from Shamitabh.

Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar. Videos: Afsar Dayatar