Ilaiyaraaja’s Chennai concert faces backlash over alleged mismanagement

Veteran musician Ilaiyaraaja made it memorable for everyone by bringing in a grand spectacle to Chennai over the weekend with the performance of his first-ever symphony, Valiant at the Nehru Outdoor Stadium on May 30. The music maestro returned the next day with three-hour concert delivering timeless classics. However, attendees complained about poor management, inadequate facilities at the venue.

Ilaiyaraaja's concert draws flak from netizens

Several netizens who had attended the concert had alleged that the venue lacked proper guidance and facilities as well. One user wrote, "Ilayaraja Concert- Big letdown I would say, I’m not new to concerts in the past I’ve attended Harris,arr vijay Antony concerts, but being an Ilayaraja fan this is something I was looking forward for a long time. I went for a musical concert but I got an Award function, where directors come to stage and talk random things and trailers play out and parthiban hypes politicians. My god."

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Another user wrote, “Ilaiyaraaja should stop platforming this singer who got called out by multiple women including young girls. ARR seemed to have distanced himself from this person but he still gets to sing at all the Ilaiyaraaja concerts.”

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"SCAM..@ilaiyaraaja..Travelled 500 km from Cbe just to listen to the live symphony. Heavily disappointed. The most basic thing a concert needs sound, but they scammed. No speakers, no arrangements & 80% we couldn't hear anything. Waste of time, money & effort refund", wrote the third user.

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All about Ilaiyaraaja

Born in Pannaipuram, in Tamil Nadu, Ilaiyaraaja is one of the renowned musicians and playback singers who predominantly work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. He was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music. He is nicknamed "Isaignani" (the musical sage) and is often referred to as "Maestro", the title conferred to him by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London. He is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Indian upper house, Rajya Sabha, since July 2022.

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Ilaiyaraaja received several awards for his works throughout his career. In 2012, for his creative and experimental works in the field of music, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest Indian recognition given to people in the field of performing arts. In 2010 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in India, and in 2018 the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award by the government of India.