Dhanush to star in biopic of veteran musician Ilaiyarajaa that will release in 5 languages
Ilaiyarajaa biopic
Actor Dhanush will be starring in what he calls a dream project in his career, the biopic of veteran musician, composer and singer, Ilaiyaraja, who continues to contribute to the field of music for nearly five decades.
The film will be directed by Arun Matheswaran. Over the years, Ilaiyaraaja has composed more than 7,000 songs, scored music for more than 1,000 films, and performed in thousands of concerts. Known popularly in Tamil Nadu by his moniker - Isaignani (the musical sage), he is also referred to as the maestro.
Speaking on the occasion of the film's official announcement event, Dhanush said that many people fall asleep listening to the melodies of Ilaiyarajaa, but he had spent sleepless nights waiting to act in the veteran musician's biopic.
He expressed gratitude that his wish had now manifested. He added that he had always dreamt of acting in two biopics - of Ilaiyarajaa and Rajanikanth.
Referring to the big challenge and responsibility of playing the veteran musician in the biopic, Dhanush expressed optimism that Ilaiyarajaa's music would guide and teach him on how to act, as it had done all these years.
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Sharing a promotional poster of the film on X, formerly known as Twitter, Dhanush expressed it was an honour for him to play the veteran musician on screen.
The poster showed a young Ilaiyaraaja, standing in erstwhile Madras, now Chennai. This indicates how the film would touch on the early journey of Ilaiyaraaja and how he made it big in Kollywood, the Chennai-based Tamil film industry.
This project, for which shooting will commence soon, is to be released in five languages - Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.
Directed by Arun Matheswaran, whom Dhanush had worked with in his recent outing 'Captain Miller', the Ilaiyarajaa biopic will have cinematography by veteran lensman Nirav Shah.
Veteran actor Kamal Haasan, and veteran director Bharathiraja, among others were part of the film's promotional event held on Wednesday (Mar 20), in Chennai. The biopic will be produced by Connekkt Media, PK Prime Production, and Mercuri Movies.
