Talking about the greatest combinations Tamil cinema has seen; be it director-actor, scriptwriter-director, singer-actor or director-composer; the Mani Ratnam-Ilayaraja combination will be right on top of the list. They created magic together, never put a foot wrong. In the eight films that they worked together, there is not a single song that went unnoticed and there are quite a few that remain evergreen hits of Tamil cinema. Their success is close to a 100%, something that can be matched only by the Mani-Rahman combination or the new age hit makers Gautham-Harris. But, as they say ‘old is gold’ and the Mani-Ilayaraja magic can never be forgotten or recreated. And one wonders whether the fact that they share the same birthday (June 2nd) helped them vibe well enough to create great music. Close on the heels of the duo’s birthday is that of one of Kollywood’s legendary singers S.P. Balasubramaniam; the man who has been seen most often with the duo in creating some of the biggest hits of the mid 80s and early 90s. Let’s take a look at the best that the Mani Ratnam-Ilayaraja combination has given us.