Music composer Dhina, who's also the President of the Cine Musicians’ Union, met the press at Nungambakkam in Chennai this afternoon and spoke afterwards:
The meeting is to share the feelings of Ilayaraja, a senior member of the Musicians' Union. We are talking to you a month after the injustice done to Ilayaraja by Prasad Studios management.
Many of the studios that existed then do not exist today. We have failed to maintain them. All of them have been converted into commercial enterprises. Prasad Studios refused admission to Ilayaraja where he has lived with his music for the past 45 years. The stalemate lasted for eight months and he had to seek the court's assistance.
The court granted permission to take Ilayaraja's belongings for which men were sent. However, notes and other material related to his songs that he had composed for the past 45 years
along with awards presented by the central and state governments were found to be damaged and piled up as though it was garbage.
The Prasad administration could have sought other dignified measures to end the stalemate but they didn't. The central and state governments have stayed silent while such a legend was being humiliated. This wouldn't have happened had Jayalalithaa amma been there. We are like orphans now.*
Dhina told reporters today that the musician, who has earned international recognition for his work in Indian cinema for the past 50 years, is upset over the issue and is in the mood to return the awards given to him by the Central Government.
*Translated from Thamizh (Tamil)