Music composer D Imman has said that as a fan of music, he is astounded by veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja's works.

Imman won a National Award last week for the 2019 Ajith Kumar-starrer Viswasam, and in an interview with Cinema Express, he delved into his life, musical career, and more.

Asked if Ilaiyaraaja's music influenced his own work in his earlier days, Imman said, "I always oscillated towards music and I used to enjoy all the 70s and 80s music when they were played on television. However, it was only after I became a composer that I wanted to improve myself as a musician and I started to explore the likes of KV Mahadevan sir, MS Viswanathan sir and, of course, Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja sir."

He added that he was astounded by how Ilaiyaraaja's tunes could bring out an emotion, even when sung without any backing instruments. "It was only when I started listening to Ilaiyaraaja sir's music that I started noticing all the nuances and details in arrangements while creating a tune. He can make a simple tune without any instruments and just vocals, and that tune will be captivating to the audience. I locked in on that aspect and started to look into how I could achieve that."

Imman further added that like his career, even Ilaiyaraaja had a lot of village-based, culturally-rooted films and that he learned how to compose music for such a setting over the years. "He has catered to so many different generations of audience, and that's inspiring as well."

Watch the full interview of D Imman here: