At 81, Ilayaraja remains the emperor of melodies. But of late he has painted his incomparable talent and self into a controversial corner. Recently SUN Pictures released the trailer of their upcoming Rajnikanth potboiler, Coolie with Anirudh composing music. Ilayaraja was angry to hear his composition from Thanga Magan, in a digital garb used in the trailer. He promptly sent a legal notice. This side of a gentle genius irritated film folks, with filmdom abounding in instances of copyright infringement. In the midst of this controversy this Rajya Sabha MP had the time and talent to announce the completion of a full scale symphony he composed in just 35 days. His talent and stature is so high, and some detractors are saying, does it behove his standing to send legal notice? Music borrowing, plagiarism or theft, call what you may, is a global phenomenon; Arabian belly dance tunes, African drum beats , tribal taals, from the great Indian music composers, Saint Thyagaraja, Annamiah etc are freely lifted. Often turning melodious music into cacophony. Ilayaraja, known fondly as Isaignanai (sage of music) has compiled over 7000 film songs, scored music for over 1000 films and performed in 20,000 concerts. He is a music composer, conductor, orchestrator, multi- instrument player, lyricist and singer who has no equal. Recently, the famous music duo sisters Ranjani and Gayatri performed on stage with Ilayaraja sitting in the front row. They drew repeated applause for the Thyagaraja composition in Raga Charumati, Mari Mari Ninne which Ilayaraja immortalised as his base for the hit song Paatu ariyen, padippariyen, pallikoodam thaan ariyen in the film Sindhu Bhairavi. Ilayaraja, your kind of genius is rare and immortal. Think of plagiarism as the best adulation.
![](https://shortpost.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/vinesh-300x150.jpg)