Ilayaraja's goodwill!

It’s just a few days ago that we got know about Vimal repaying his producer his remuneration of 50 lakhs since his latest movie Vaagai Sooda Vaa did not go well. Now, we hear that maestro Ilayaraja is scoring for a movie without taking a penny in return. Not that he is new to such things but this time he is doing it for director Selvaraj’s movie Pachai Kudai.

Pachai Kudai is a movie about environmental consciousness and global warming and Ilayaraja felt movies like that needs to be promoted. Selvaraj’s connection with Ilayaraja has a long history since the former was involved in writing stories for almost all of Bharathiraja’s movies. He was also associated with Maniratnam for many of his hit movies. Selvarj, after finishing his Pachai Kudai, took it to Ilayaraja for rerecording and that is when the Isaignani got totally bowled over by the movie.

Pachai Kudai is also a period movie, set about 2000 years back in time. It’s about a tribal woman who falls in love with a wood cutter and educates him about the perils of deforestation. The social message seems to have deeply moved Ilayaraja, who decided to work for the movie without any remuneration.

Although we do not need such anecdotes to appreciate the virtues of maestro Ilayaraja, news like this helps spread good deeds among the film fraternity. Pachai Kudai will be screened to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and President of India Pratibha Patil. A television premiere is also planned for the movie along with screening in all major international film festivals.

• Will other actors follow Vimal's compassion?