Raaja sir gave me 5 songs in 5 days; I was stunned: Mari Selvaraj on working with the Maestro

Director Mari Selvaraj will be working with his idol Ilaiyaraaja for the first time in his newly announced film, Manjanathi . Speaking at the Maestro’s concert on Sunday, the director recalled how he used to repeatedly listen to the song Poradada ( Alai Osai ) when he was an assistant director to Ram. “This one helped me pen the scripts of all the five films I’ve made so far,” he shared.Admitting that he never found the courage to approach the composer until now, he said, “I worked crazily to create a script and started my own production house to reach him. When I finally met Raaja sir, he asked me what I wanted and in five days, he gave me five songs. I was stunned.”The film, he revealed, will be a female-centric one, contrary to his previous work. “I’m often asked why all my films so far have been about the men in our village and what about the stories of the women there. This sparked an idea to make a film about them. All my scripts are born out of the anger and the politics that’s within me. But for the first time, I’ve penned a script that’s been derived from the countless Ilaiyaraaja songs that I’ve heard over the years,” he said.Actors Priyanka Mohan, Kayadu Lohar and Kathir are said to be playing the lead roles in the film.