Ilayaraja compares Ambedkar and Modi, faces music

In the foreword for Ambedkar & Modi — Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementations, published by Delhi-based Bluecraft Digital Foundation, Ilayaraja wrote, “Both these striking personalities succeeded against odds that people from socially disempowered sections of the society face. Both saw poverty and stifling social structures from close quarters and worked to dismantle them, but both are also practical men who believe in action rather than mere thought exercises.”

He added, “Pro-women legislation such as the banning of triple talaq and the rise in sex ratio due to the historic ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ movement, which has brought in social transformation, is something that Dr BR Ambedkar would have been proud of.”

With the foreword fuelling speculation that the BJP may nominate him to the Rajya Sabha, Ilayaraja drew the ire of those opposed to the saffron party.

Born in 1943 in Pannaipuram village near Madurai, Ilayaraja, fondly referred to as “Raaja sir” in his inner circle, got his first exposure to music and compositions in his teenage years through lines penned by his elder brother Pavalar Varadarajan, a member of the Communist Party of India. At a time when CN Annadurai was actively building a Dravidian cultural and literary front for the DMK, Ilayaraja was part of a similar movement for the Communists. The “Pavalar Brothers” troupe travelled across Tamil Nadu and several parts of Kerala — including Munnar, a hill station bordering Tamil Nadu with a strong population of Tamil plantation workers — in the late 1950s and early sixties as part of political work and election campaigns.

By the mid-1960s, he moved to Madras to learn music — first under Dhanraj and then TV Gopalakrishnan — and won a gold medal in classical guitar from the Trinity College of Music in London. In his illustrious career, Ilayaraja has been a composer, singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and Asia’s first symphony writer. He has been credited for about 7,000 songs in several Indian languages. In 1988, the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi conferred the title of “Isaignani”, or “Saint Musician”, on the maestro.

Asked about the controversy the foreword has engendered, a source close to the Ilayaraja camp, requesting anonymity, said Left-liberal groups calling the musician a “Sanghi” were cruel and added that he had no political ambition.

“We have information that his name is being considered among the three names from Tamil Nadu, there is no clarity about that. His younger brother may have a better idea about this,” the source added, referring to Gangai Amaran, also a musician and lyricist who joined the BJP in 2017.

A leading Tamil musician said Ilayaraja should not be blamed even if he is offered a Rajya Sabha seat.

“When Rahman wins Grammy and Oscar, Ilayaraja cannot be blamed for exploring something new, he too has dreams…If at all there is an offer of a Rajya Sabha seat, he will see it as recognition, not a party seat. So, attributing political motives to this may be a little too much. Who wouldn’t like recognition when it comes from the top powers in the country?” said the musician.

Defending the music maestro, BJP state president K Annamalai said those upset with Ilayaraja were powerbrokers and claimed that the “ecosystem created by the DMK” in Tamil Nadu would not be able to throttle the composer’s voice.

“What crime did Ilayaraja commit?” asked former state BJP chief and Union minister L Murugan, adding that the “DMK-led attacks” were anti-Dalit and anti-Constitutional as the Constitution ensures freedom of speech.