Here are some amazing Bollywood Movies which have Great soundtracks by Ilayaraaja:
- Sadma : The Music Director made his Hindi Debut with the movie Sadma released in 1983. It is a remake of the Tamil Classic Moondram Pirai. It has Kamal and Sridevi reprising their roles from the Tamil Original. The best songs in this album include Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le sung by Suresh Wadkar and Surmaaye Aankhiyon Mein sung so emotionally by KJ Yesudas. An underrated song from this movie is Ek Dafa Ek Jangal Tha sung by Kamal Hassan and Sridevi and the performance which Kamal Does in that scene is outstanding to say the least.
The song Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le was further used in the 2016 film Dear Zindagi composed by Amit Trivedi and having Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan in the lead roles.
2. Kamagni : This 1987 film directed by Cinematographer Ashok Kumar has Alok Nath and TIna Munim in the lead roles. The soundtrack of this film is possibly the most underrated soundtracks composed by Ilayaraaja. All the songs in this movie are sung by amazing singers like Asha Bhosle , Suresh Wadekar , Anuradha Paudwal and Sharon Prabhakar. This is a very underrated album which definitely deserves more attention than ever.
3. Aur Ek Prem Kahani : Aur Ek Prem Kahani is a 1996 Hindi Movie directed by Balu Mahendra and starring Ramesh Aravind , Revathi and Heera Rajgopal in the lead roles. The film is a remake of Balu Mahendra’s debut film Kokila released in 1978 and having Kamal Hassan and Shoba in the lead roles.
The film features tunes from Ilayaraaja’s previous movies like Johny , Auto Raja , Alaigal Oivathillai and Mann Vasanai.
The track Listing of this film is as follows:
- Naina Bolo Naina - Asha Bhosle ( Original song from the movie Johny - Kaatril Endhan Geetam)
- Hona Hai To - Mano , Asha Bhosle ( Original Song from Mann Vasanai - Potti Vacha Malligai Mottu)
- Monday Toh Utkar - Mano , Preeti Uttam Singh ( Original Song from Auto Raja - Sangathil Padatha)
- Meri Zindagi - Asha Bhosle ( Original from the movie Alaigal Oivathillai - Kadhal Oviyam Paadum Kaaviyam)
4. Cheeni Kum : Cheeni Kum was one of the three massive collaborations with Ilayaraaja and Director R Balki and this director Music Director duo is the best in my opinion. R Balki usually remakes old tunes of Ilayaraaja and gives a contemporary modern twist to it.
The film follows the romantic relationship between Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu who have an age gap of almost 30 years. It is one of the best movies from Hindi Cinema which i will definitely recommend everyone to watch.
Except for Sooni Sooni sung by VIjay Prakash all the other songs in this movie again reuse previous Ilayaraaja tunes from different movies and they give a contemporary modern twist to it.
My favorites in this album are the title track which is a rendition of the Tamil Song Mandram Vantha Thendralaukku from the 1986 Film Mouna Raagam and the song Jaane Do Na which is a rendition of the Kannada Song Jotheyali from the 1983 Kannada Movie Geetha. Both the songs were sung to such perfection by Shreya Ghoshal.
5. Paa : This another banger from the R Balki and Ilayaraaja duo. This film features Amitabh Bachchan , Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan in the lead roles.
The film features the life of Auro ( Amitabh Bachchan) A child suffering from a rare disease which makes him look aged. The film is about Auro and his bonding between his parents played by Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan respectively.
This film is a rare film where the real life Father and son duo Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan play together and Amitabh plays the son of Abhishek Bachchan.
This film also features remakes and renditions of previous Ilayaraaja songs. The song Gumm sum Gumm is a remake of Sangathil Padatha kavithai. Ironically this is the second time Ilayaraaja is remaking this song in Hindi as he had already remade this song earlier in the film Aur Ek Prem Zindagi as given above.
The songs Halke Se Bole and Mere Paa are remakes of Puthum Pudhu Kaalai from Alaigal Oivathillai and Kaatru Vizhi from Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam respectively.
But my favorites in this album are Mudhi Mudhi itefaq se and Udhi Udhi Itefaq se sung by Shilpa Rao so beautifully. They are the most classy tracks from the Maestro’s career.
6. Shamitabh : This is the last collaboration between R Balki and Ilayaraaja and unlike their previous films this movie has many original tunes and only one song is a remake which is Stereophonic Sannata. It is a remake of the song Asaiya Kaathula Thodu Vittu from Johnny
Other than that this film has many original gems and it has many techno , electro and rap based songs. This album and the movie are masterpieces which is very underappreciated to the core.
Do listen to the entire album as it is a banger to say the least. And the background scores are pure gold.
7. Happi : This Pankaj Kapur starrer had been in developmental hell since 2010 and it released years later in 2019 in the OTT Platform Z5. This is the most best and underrated works from the Maestro.
The songs are so melodious and mellifluous to say the least. This album is so feel good and heartwarming.
Do give it a try and I will guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed.
CONCLUSION
The Maestro has given amazing albums in Hindi but they are unfortunately mostly underrated and underappreciated. Here is my list of the best Hindi works composed by the Maestro. Pls do give a listen to it as these are amazing works of music in my opinion. Do tell your opinions in the comments below.