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Tuesday, June 06, 2006 | Entertainment
The two come together after seventeen years
Subhash k Jha
Life, in more ways than one , has come a full circle for Ram Gopal Varma. Seventeen years after he made his first film Shiva, Varma is making another film by the same name. He has also roped in Shiva's music director Ilaiyaraaja to compose the music for the new film of that name.
“Call it nostalgia, but I wanted Ilaiyaraja back in my cinema,†says the filmmaker who has worked with music composers like R.D. Burman in Drohee, Vishal Bhardawaj in Satya, Sandeep Chowta in Mast and Amar Mohile in Naach.
“I like to experiment with the sound of music in my films. When I decided to do Shiva again, I could only think of Ilaiyaraaja,†says Varma.
In spite of some popular scores for films like Sadma and Hey Ram, Ilaiyaraaja failed to establish a foothold in Bollywood.
“I never go by the salability of the star,†says Varma. “If I'm working with Ilaiyaraaja in Shiva, I'm also working with Himesh Reshammiya in Sholay. It all depends on what the situation requires. As for Ilaiyaraaja, you have to see how contemporary his music in Shiva is.â€
Varma is currently shooting two of Ilaiyaraaja songs with Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari in Bangkok. “The songs just left us breathless,†he says.