Maestro Ilaiyaraaja eventually won his fight, and the creators of the superhit Malayalam film “Manjummel Boys” compensated him with Rs 60 lakhs. The Malayalam film made considerable use of Ilaiyaraaja’s composition. In fact, the song contributed hugely to its success.
As a result, Ilaiyaraaja sought payment for the use of the music. The 1991 Tamil film “Gunaa,” starring Kamal Haasan, was widely referred to in this Malayalam film, as did the song “Kammani Anbodu Kadhalan” (“Kammani Ee Prema Lekha” in Telugu).
Hence, Ilaiyaraaja, the song’s composer, demanded Rs 2 crore in compensation for its use without his permission.
Following much deliberation, Ilaiaraaja consented to resolve the case for Rs 60 lakhs. The producers paid him the stated sum. Thus, Ilaiyaraja received a large sum of money for one of his older songs.
Click below to see the Ilaiyaraja’s composition for ‘Gunaa’
The “Manjummel Boys” version
