What would happen when two superstars feature in the same film and their characters go head to head? Just like for filmmakers, even technicians tend to find it difficult to create an output that satisfies the fans of both actors. At least, this holds true for composer D Imman while working on 2014's Jilla, director RT Neason's film, starring Mohanlal and Vijay as a father and son, respectively. Imman recently spoke about how he dealt with the challenging task at the time.
Speaking to Mathrubhumi, the composer said that "it was a task" to come up with a background score and soundtrack for the film because of the presence of the two superstars in it. He revealed that even the choice of singers for the film was made after careful consideration because the two stars were there. Referring to their star presence and the 'Pattu Onnu' song, the music director said, "It would be magnified onscreen only if we chose Shankar Mahadevan and SP Balasubrahmanyam for the song."
The music director also said that he considered the fact that the film starred a Tamil superstar and an equally big star from Kerala while composing music for it. He revealed that his task was to arrange the tunes properly in the aforesaid song so as to reflect the respective actors' background and stardom. "The 'chenda melam' was there to ensure that it did not become too Tamil Nadu-centric in terms of flavour," the composer revealed. "The idea was to keep up the balance. It was a challenge to do that film," Imman said, referring to the task of scoring music for both stars' hero elevation scenes.
Jilla is the only film to feature both Mohanlal and Vijay in lead roles.
