Reinvention Tour brings Tamil cinema's top composers together

Ilaiyaraaja, AR Rahman, Anirudh, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj, Deva and Sai Abhyankkar are set to perform on the Reinvention Tour, a series of concerts the Tamil Cine Musicians Union is staging to fund a new building on its own land in Vadapalani. The composers are lending their time to the union, and between them they bring five decades of Tamil film music to one cause.

The union, which counts itself the first film industry association in the country, has long dreamed of a building of its own that could support its members. That plan is now taking shape: a ten-storey commercial complex on the union and trust’s Vadapalani property, fitted with modern facilities for film industry use, with the rental income going toward the welfare of working musicians. Its president, secretary, treasurer and members voted unanimously to hand the project to Maayaa Bazaar Hub, which will build it.

The tour, themed Music of the Millennium, was launched on Monday evening in Chennai. The money will come from concerts in Chennai, Hyderabad, Gujarat, Singapore and Dubai, with the composers performing for the union on a voluntary basis.

The launch had the warmth of a family reunion. Veteran composers Gangai Amaran, SA Rajkumar, Bharadwaj, Sirpi, Murali and Srikanth Deva turned up, as did lyricists Viveka and Snehan. Nasser, FEFSI president RK Selvamani, director RV Udhayakumar and producer G. Dhananjayan came in from the wider industry, making it an evening that celebrated the musicians behind so many films.

The first concert is set for Chennai in December, and it will be the tour’s flagship event. The union is working with the Tamil Nadu government on permissions and hopes to welcome Chief Minister Joseph Vijay as chief guest. At the launch, members invited the state’s support in making the concert a success.

For fans, it is a lineup to look forward to: Ilaiyaraaja and Rahman alongside Anirudh and Yuvan, who has his own 360-degree concert stage in the works. For the union’s members, many of them session musicians who have played on countless film soundtracks, the tour will build a home in Vadapalani that supports them for years to come.