POPULAR Tamil cinema director Letchumi Ramakrishnan has come to the defence of music composer Ilaiyaraaja after the latter was heavily criticised online for disrespecting the director, Makkal Osai reported.
Despite his near-universal acclaim and high regard for his works, some detractors regard Ilaiyaraaja as arrogant and touchy about the respect he receives.
The latest saga started when Letchcumi apparently met the composer to discuss working on her latest film.
In the photos released of their meeting, Ilaiyaraaja is seen sitting on a large dais composing on a harmonium while Letchumi and a companion are sitting on the floor.
Viewers criticised the composer for disrespecting guests at his home by not even giving them chairs, whereas he expects the most deferential treatment wherever he goes.
Some questioned whether Ilaiyaraaja was so insecure that he didn’t want anyone sitting on a chair as equal to him. Others simply trolled the musician for apparently being too poor to afford chairs.
Meanwhile, Letchumi attempted to defend him, saying she felt blessed to be sitting at his feet.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
