JOIN USIlaiyaraaja’s tryst with Prasad Studios ends on unhappy note
For 77-year-old Ilaiyaraaja, the recording theatre inside Prasad Studios was like a ‘temple’. It was where he spent most of his time till a year ago, composing spectacularly popular film music in various languages.
The theatre, where ace directors awaited their turn as Ilaiayaraaja wrote and recorded his scores for their films, is now an IT room for a firm that has taken Prasad Studios on lease.
Locked in a dispute over its possession, Ilaiyaraaja had approached the High Court, which had accepted his request to be allowed to visit the theatre.
When his lawyers informed him on December 28 that his room had been “tampered with”, he called off what was to be his ‘last visit’ to the theatre.
“Ilaiyaraaja wanted to meditate there for a few hours. But when we visited the premises, his studio was non-existent. All his belongings had been removed. When we conveyed this to him, he decided not to go,” said A Saravanan, Ilaiyaraaja’s lawyer.
Ilaiyaraaja has been working from ‘Theatre-1’ at Prasad Studios since the 1980s, after its founder L V Prasad gave him its possession as a ‘mark of respect’.
The arrangement continued under the leadership of Ramesh Prasad, the late L V Prasad’s son, but things changed when Ramesh’s son Sai Prasad took charge. Sai Prasad asked Ilaiyaraaja to vacate the premises, which led to a confrontation.
The matter reached the court, with Ilaiyaraaja saying his efforts to reach a compromise had failed.
He told the court the studio had rejected his offer to pay rent.
Even as the matter was pending in court, he filed a complaint with the Chennai police in July, accusing the management of breaking into his studio and selling his “invaluable composition notes” in the black market for a “huge sum”.
Ilaiyaraaja has composed over 6,000 songs at the theatre in various languages.