Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le, Cheeni Kum And More Bollywood Gems By Ilayaraja That You Must Listen To!

It’s not an easy feat for someone to give music in 1000 films. Ilayaraja did it two years ago.

The doyen of film music in South India, Ilayaraja is best known to Hindi music buffs for his work in Kamal Hassan, Sridevi starrer Sadma. One of the songs, Ae Zindagi Galey Laga Le, was also used for Shah Rukh Khan’s Dear Zindagi last year.

But the maestro has many more laurels in his career. AR Rehman started his career as an assistant to Ilayaraja. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London once performed a symphony crafted by him. He has bagged five National Film Awards so far.

When the music for his 1000th film came out in 2015, Rehman tweeted, “Dear Maestro Ilayaraja, thank u fr composing quality music for 1000 movies n inspiring us. May u do many more. Best wishes fm all of us.”

Dear Maestro Ilayaraja, thank u fr composing quality music fr 1000 movies n inspiring us. May u do many more. Best wishes fm all of us @ KM

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) February 27, 2016

Ilayaraja has worked mostly in Tamil films. But Hindi film music lovers, too have crooned to his tunes. Here’s a list of songs you must listen today as the maestro turns 73.

Birthday wishes to Music Maestro, Ilaiyaraja. May God bless him with a life full of health and happiness.

— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) June 2, 2017

Ae Zindagi Galey Lagaa Le is an inspiring song that celebrates finding joy in all the small things of day-to-day life, sung to perfection by Suresh Wadkar.

His other hit Hindi songs include the following:

Of course, no list of Ilayaraja songs can be complete without his breathtaking composition from the award-winning film Nayagan. Check out this melodious song in Tamil: