Legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja took fans by surprise when Netflix India released a new promo for the hit American series Stranger Things, with a new, alternative background score composed by him. Ilaiyaraaja — fondly known as ‘Maestro’ and ‘Isaignani’ by fans — is seen on a beach along with an orchestra in the Stranger Things universe’s Upside Down, as he conducts the score. Social media users heaped praises on the composer for retaining the essence of the original track, while also adding his own twist to the composition.
In the over 2-minute-long video, visuals of Ilaiyaraaja are seen along with sequences from the series. Netflix India also announced on Wednesday, May 25, that the series will be available to watch in Tamil and Telugu shortly. Sharing Ilaiyaraaja’s version of the show’s theme music, Netflix India wrote, “MAESTRO ILAIYARAAJA'S VERSION OF THE STRANGER THINGS THEME HAS TURNED OUR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!Stranger Things is coming soon in Tamil and Telugu.”
The fourth season of mystery drama Stranger Things is set to stream on Netflix from May 27. The first eight minutes from the fourth season was unveiled by the makers earlier this month. Created by the Duffer brothers, the series revolves around a group of children witnessing supernatural forces and secret government exploits. Set in Indiana of the 1980s, the show tracks how the friends end up unraveling a series of extraordinary mysteries.
Meanwhile, celebrated music composer Ilaiyaraaja recently courted controversy when he drew parallels between Dr BR Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the foreword to a recently launched book titled Ambedkar & Modi: Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementation. In the book, launched on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, the foreword by Ilaiyaraaja says that there were parallels between Ambedkar and Modi as both of them “saw poverty and stifling social structures from close quarters and worked to dismantle them.”