An Indira Vizha in Rahman’s name!

The audio launch of Indira Vizha was held today in the city. The film is directed by Rajeshwar and stars Srikanth (in a full fledged commercial movie after a long time) and Namitha. At the function, Balu Mahendra released the first copy of the CD which was received by Vairamuthu.

As expected, the actual purpose of the event was rather eclipsed by the joy that was brought by Rahman’s double Oscar victory. Speaking at the

function, Balu Mahendra reminisced about the first steps of Rahman into the music world. He recalled that he was the chairman of the jury deciding the National Awards in the year when both Roja and Devar Magan were released. He was in mental turmoil when both the movies were neck to neck when it came to the award for best music. Since he was a very close friend of Ilayaraja, he decided to stay away from the jury because he felt that his friendship might prevent him from making the right decision. But as fate would have it, the ballot by the rest of the jury turned out to be a deadlock and it was up to the chairman to bring in his casting ballot. It was a tough decision to make, but he put his trust in God and cast the vote in favor Rahman, hoping to spur the young man on to greater heights. Today, he said, that his 16 year old decision stood vindicated.

Vairamuthu said that he had been to Malaysia recently to attend an event. There he noticed that the traditional ‘Thamizh Thaai Vazhthu’ was being sung with different lines. When he enquired further he was told that the Malaysian government did not allow the original version to be sung because it had many references to the boundaries of India. Vairamuthu had promised all present there that he would come up with a new ‘Thamizh Thaai Vazhthu’ which could be sung by Tamils all over the world. But only when he came back did he realize the enormity of what he had committed to. He then spoke to Rahman about his promise and the response was quick. Rahman said that there could be no more prestigious work and that he would definitely do all that he can to be part of this effort. The ‘Thamizh thaai vazhthu’ with Vairamuthu’s lines and Rahman’s music can be expected soon.

Coming back to the main event, Indira Vizha has music by Yatheesh, a member of Yuvan Shankar Raja’s team. The movie is set for a summer release.