ThatMaestro Ilaiyaraaja is a world renowned musician is com-mon knowledge. But Isaignani has an inter-esting side to him which has been kept under wraps all these years. Raja is an expert photographer and his passion was evident when some of the photos taken by him was on view at a recent exhibition of his works, titled Naan Paarthapadi, at the Art Houz Gallery in the city. who has recovered from his ill health, unveiled his works and interacted with the press at the gathering. Having started this hobby in 1978 and taken more than 5,000 pictures in various genres, Raja says he didn't hunt for these snapshots as he didn't have the time for that. "All these pictures were taken only during my travelling time. I love to take pictures of nature," he says. The ace composer reveals that whenever a new camera is introduced in the market, the next moment he is keen to pos-sess it. "Those were differ-ent times, and after every-thing became digital, I stopped taking pictures," he says. Reacting to a query whether anyone was criti-cal of his hobby, he says with a smile, "Did anyone ask me why I am compos-ing music. The same thing is applicable here. I just
pursued my passion." Among the still photogra-phers, he says Raghu Rai is his favourite, and in films, he adores P.C. Sriram and Balu Mahendra's works. "Balu and PC have appreci-ated my love for the art," he says. The Padma Bhushan awardee has strong opin-ions on how photos or movies taken on a film roll is more of a challenging task than digital photogra-phy. "When you develop the negatives from a film roll, the depth and output of the pictures are superb. This is lacking in the digital format. What can one do? All good things are being destroyed." Asked if he yearns to take pictures of any particular actor/actresses or a popular leader, pat he replies, "No, I don't like to take such pictures." Quiz him if he would extend his hobby 4 a n d turn,cine-matog-rapher, and he laughs , loudly, "Oh no! I. That's not my cup of tea. What I
know in my life is only music." Has any particular pic-ture disturbed him? "Many! More than that, I have missed out on many true moments to capture with my camera. I took a picture of a girl who was crying on the road in Bengaluru. I finished tak-ing the picture quickly and looked around for her to give her some money, and she was missing, she was nowhere to be seen," he says. The exhibi-tion which start-ed on January 15 is on till January 22. Plans are on to hold it in Kovai and also abroad, in cities, such as Singapore, Dubai and London.
