WOW! Carmen is one of the best known Operas of all time. It was so controversial when it was first produced in France due to its passionate content, but that is the reason the music became so popular as soon as audiences lightened up to the subject. It has a very strong flavor of Spanish Gypsy music, which can be found in ARR's songs like Mein Albeli from Zubeidaa and the more recent Rasiya from The Rising. It'll be fascinating to see how Shyam Benegal choses to approach the musical and it is potentially contoversial subject matter; All that aside, I cannot help getting excited over the scope this story will provide ARR to come up with some exotic music. And yeah, the role of Carmen could not have been given to any better seductress than Urmila! :) I guess everything does happen for the best.
For anybody who is interested, here's the history of Carmen - http://www.music-with-ease.com/bizet-carmen-history.html Hail ARR! Dasun <BLOCKQUOTE style='PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #A0C6E5 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'><font style='FONT-SIZE:11px;FONT-FAMILY:tahoma,sans-serif'><hr color=#A0C6E5 size=1> From: <i>Gopal Srinivasan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]></i><br>Reply-To: <i>[email protected]</i><br>To: <i>[email protected]</i><br>Subject: <i>[arr] Is this Chamki?</i><br>Date: <i>Thu, 25 Aug 2005 17:25:52 -0700 (PDT)</i><br> <br><html><body> <tt> Urmila to star in Benegal classic<br> <br> Matondkar will play Carmen in an Indianised version of the legendary Oscar Hammerstein<br> musical<br> <br> Subhash K Jha<br> <br> It's final. Kareena Kapoor's loss is Urmila's gain. While Kareena dillydallied over the role in<br> Shyam Benegal's forthcoming woman-oriented musical, the exacting director was forced to look<br> elsewhere. And the winner of Benegal's new venture is Urmila Matondkar who has been<br> role-hunting, herself. Urmila has just accepted the lead in Shyam Benegal's adaptation of the<br> Oscar Hammerstein musical, Carmen.<br> <br> Oh I'm so excited, Urmila said on Thursday, before flying off to the US and Canada for her<br> stage shows with Sunny and Bobby Deol. The girl in Carmen has so many shades. And Shyam Babu<br> is so good with the heroines. Look at Karisma Kapoor in Zubeida. Or Shabanaji in Ankur and<br> Smitaji in Bhumika. Wow! This is a dream come true, says the actress, who in recent times has<br> delivered great performances in Bhoot, Pinjar and Ek Hasina Thi.<br> <br> Actually I'm at a stage in my career where I don't mind seeking out roles. I actually went to<br> visit Shyam Babu and told him I wanted to work with him. We immediately clicked, and why not?<br> We worked together years ago, remember? she says drawing attention to her stint as a child<br> artiste in Benegal's Kalyug, where she played Rekha's little son!<br> <br> She is obviously looking forward to it I had heard how much grief some stars have given<br> Shyam Babu. I think he's quite disgusted with Bollywood's star system. I heard about Carmen<br> from fellow-actor Rajit Kapur who insisted I meet him. So I finally did.<br> <br> Incidentally, Urmila's performance in her next release, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, is being<br> talked about in muted tones. Those who have seen the rushes speak highly of Urmila's<br> performance.<br> The actress is just back from San Francisco's Independence Day parade, where she served as a<br> grand marshall. It was wonderful to connect with the Indians in the US. I made a speech about<br> cultural continuity which gelled well with both the first and second generation Indians. Then<br> guess what? The youngsters danced to a medley of my songs. To just sit back and be part of the<br> audience was a good change for me.<br> <br> <br> All about Carmen<br> <br> In 1942 Oscar Hammerstein, American writer and producer of musicals, adapted Georges Bizet's<br> 1875 opera, Carmen. It is the love story of Carmen, a beautiful and seductive factory worker,<br> and a soldier, Joe. When Joe kills his sergeant during a fight, the lovers attempt to escape<br> the police. But Carmen's faithlessness and selfishness cause her to eventually reject Joe for<br> another man. The displaced lover can't let her go, and his obsessive love ultimately leads to tragedy.<br> <br> "We neglect our cities at our peril. For, in neglecting them, we neglect the nation."<br> -John F. 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