It looks like Gautham Menon’s ‘Neethaane En Ponvasantham’ ( NEP) is sending the audio industry in a tizzy. The fact that the ace director is working with maestro Ilaiyaraajafor the first time with the Jiiva – Samantha starrer has made it a hot property in the music industry.

Says an executive in the audio industry, “The soundtracks of Gautham’s films have always done well in the market. And since he is collaborating with Ilaiyaraaja for the first time, there is an intense competition among top labels to bag the audio rights for ‘NEP’.”

While the production house is still talking with major labels, the makers expect the audio rights for the film to fetch anywhere between 1.5 crore and 2 crore. Gautham’s ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’, which marked his first collaboration with A R Rahman, fetched 1.25 crore in 2010, while, last year, 7aum Arivu’s audio rights (including its Telugu rights) fetched 2.1 crore. Considering that Ilaiyaraaja has a huge fan base in Tamil and Telugu, the rights of ‘NEP’ are much-contested between players in the music market.