‘Ilaya Nila’ fame ace guitarist Chandrasekar is no more

R. Chandrasekar. File photo
| Photo Credit: M. Vedhan

Noted guitarist R. Chandrasekar, who contributed to songs such as Ilaya Nila, Paadi Vaa Thendrale and Paadum Vaanampadi under maestro Ilaiyaraaja, died on Wednesday. He was 79, and is survived by his son Sanjay, a music director.

“Ilaiyaraaja is an ace guitarist. As a composer, he wanted to highlight the guitar’s beauty. The C sharp minor chord sounds like an added chord, and in that song’s third background, the open E string sounds beautiful in the combination of notes,” Chandrasekar had said, while discussing Ilaya Nila from the film Payanangal Mudivathillai in an interview to The Hindu.

Ilaiyaraaja, in his condolence message, said Chandrasekar was his favourite musician.

Chandrasekar was the elder brother of drummer R. Purusothaman, who also worked as a conductor for Ilaiyaraaja.

“We were all musicians who entered the film world from the stage. His playing of guitars and use of synthesisers have secured an unforgettable place in the minds of people,” Mr. Ilaiyaraaja said.

Natives of Mannargudi, Purusothaman and Chandrasekar came to Chennai when their father Ranganathan, an electronic engineer, shifted to the city. Chandrasekar’s mother Rajalakshmi was a trained carnatic singer, and he learnt from her. He and Purusothaman started working with Ilaiyaraaja from his first film Annakili.

As for instruments, both Chandrasekar and Purusothaman were self-taught musicians. Chandrasekar, an engineer by training, started his career with music director P.S. Divakar. He was also an accomplished keyboard and mouth organ player, who introduced modern musical instruments and computers for composing music. He was good-looking and was even offered the lead role in a film by the late Sando Chinnappa Devar. But he did not take it up due to opposition from his family. It was Chandrasekar who recorded the music for the film ‘Hey Ram’ in Hungary.

He and Purusothaman worked for music directors including K.V. Mahadevan and M.S. Viswanathan. While Purusothaman remained in the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja, Chandrasekar worked in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He was a favourite of R.D. Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Bappi Lahiri.