Dhanush is a rare actor who did a successful crossover from South cinema to Bollywood before the Baahubali era. He was seen in a couple of interesting Hindi films, which made him a popular name even in the Hindi-speaking markets. Now, he is all set to deliver possibly the biggest Pan-India film of his career.
According to sources, the National Award-winning star is all set to play Isaignani Illaiyaraaja in his biopic. Sources added that the movie will go on floors in 2024 and will release in 2025. This is likely to be a huge project given that it is about one of India’s music legends and has uber-talented Dhanush playing the role. The project is said to be produced by Connekkt Media, which is also producing Mohanlal’s pan-Indian film Vrushabha.
The source said, “A few months back, Yuvan Shankar Raja had said that he would love to see Dhanush play his father Ilaiyaraaja in his biopic and the stars seem to have aligned. This is the first biopic Dhanush will be seen in such an iconic role. The Captain Miller star is one of Ilaiyaraaja’s biggest fans and this role will definitely bag him some prestigious awards.”
We tried connecting Connekkt Media. However, there was no official confirmation of this development till the time of going to print.
Ilaiyaraaja, aged 80, has a record of composing over 7,000 songs in over 1,000 films and also performing in over 20,000 concerts. He began his career in 1976 and has composed songs not just for Tamil movies but also for Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi films and also one English movie. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour and the Padma Vibhushan in 2018, the second-highest civilian award, by the Government of India. He has even been honoured with five National Film Awards — three for Best Music Direction and two for Best Background Score. The title ‘Maestro’ was conferred on him by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
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