Mumbai: It’s a special year for the recipient of multiple National awards and Padma Bhushan Awards, the music legend, Illaiyaraaja, touted the greatest music composer of the country as he accomplishes a feat that no one in the world has this far ,that of composing music for over a 1000 films and Eros International’s SHAMITABH directed by R.Balki went all out to celebrate his genius.
On the occasion of their music launch, the makers of Shamitabh hosted an intimate event that paid tribute to Ilaiyaraaja and his greatest works – The star studded event saw the who’s who of the music industry including Anu Mallik,Pankaj Udhas, Udit Narayan, Ila Arun,Shreya Ghosal (who also performed live), Amit Trivedi, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Bappi Lahiri, Kunal Ganjawalla and Adesh Shrivastav.
Time stood still as veterans Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Sri Devi felicitated music maestro Ilaiyaraaja – While Mr.Bachchan put up a performance to remember as he crooned to “Piddly” another Raja composition, co-star Dhanush mustered up the courage to sing 3 of his favourite Ilaiyaraaja compositions in Tamil.
Says director R.Balki, “Any tribute we pay to ilaiyaraaja sir will not do justice to his contribution to cinema. 1000 films! And 5000 songs. And background score for each and every film. Even these statistics don’t do justice to the role his music has played in the lives of the listeners. He is the definition of music to millions of people. The websters dictionary should add his name to the meaning of music.”
Says Amitabh Bachchan, “We have always been great admirers of his work the world over. I cannot express in words what he means to the music industry and his contribution to our cinema. I consider him a genius. He knows everything aboutmusic. I consider myself fortunate to have worked in movies that had his music.”
Adds Dhanush, “Ilaiyaraaja has been filling my life with his music, which is my first love. His music is always there for me: in times of happiness and in distress. Hismusic has kind of got mixed up in my blood.”
Producers Sunil Lulla and Krishika Lulla along with Jaya Bachchan ,Ilaiyaraaja and Gulzar unveiled the music CD at the event .
Said producer Sunil Lulla, Eros International, “We are honored to pay tribute to the legendary Ilaiyaraaja who has achieved a feat no other composer has in the world. We are also happy to present audiences with the 2nd trailer of Shamitabh that will cement the film’s position as one of the most sought after movies this year”.
The night ended by a vote of thanks by Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Presented by Eros International, produced by RK Damani, Sunil Lulla ,Gauri Shinde ,Rakesh Jhunjhuwaala and Abhishek Bachchan Shamitabh starring Amitabh Bachchan,Dhanush and Akshara Haasan is scheduled to release February 6th 2015.
