Indian music enters another dimension September 12, 2005
Composer A.V. Rahman pushes the sound barrier, writes Philippa Hawker. It's not every day that a theatre audience gets to don 3D glasses. But A.R. Rahman, one of Indian music's most celebrated and influential composers, isn't your average performer. His show features 65 singers, musicians and dancers, and combines innovation, dance, spectacle, 3D effects and even a cricket connection - he is from India, after all. "It's a big experiment," he says from his studio in Chennai. The 3D effect is intended to give the audience a more intense, close-up experience in a concert that will be a representation of his broad musical styles. His show will include new songs and classics, including numbers from his Broadway show Bombay Dreams. Proceeds from the tour will go to Udayan, the Indian centre for children with leprosy that has a celebrated Australian patron in the former Test cricket captain Steve Waugh, whom organisers say is hoping to attend one of the performances. The tour is being organised by Charindaa, a non-profit foundation set up by two Melbourne men, A.V. Mohan and Mohan Krishnamoorthy, to combine charity work with the promotion of Indian arts and culture in Australia. AdvertisementAdvertisement Rahman, 39, softly spoken and self-deprecating, has a high profile in his homeland. He is constantly sought for movie soundtracks in a culture where, as he says, "nothing else exists". Cinema is phenomenally popular in India, and film music is the dominant musical form. As a composer, he welcomes a challenge, the expectation that he will come up with something different: "The only problem," he says, "is when directors want me to replicate what I have done before." Rahman has a degree in classical music, is at home with jazz and pop, has a voracious interest in musical styles, and has embraced new technology. He has built a huge recording studio in Chennai and is, he says, still paying it off. He is a workaholic and his albums sell millions - but in India, he points out, he is not paid royalties, just a composer's fee. Lately, he's been broadening his scope, composing music for a Chinese film, Warriors of Heaven and Earth, and working on Bombay Dreams. The show was the brainchild of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who became a fan of Rahman's work after watching some of his films on TV, and intended to weave the musical around some of his existing songs. But the composer, not one to rest on his laurels, created plenty of new material. It ran for six months on Broadway, "three months more than I was expecting". The Time film critic Richard Corliss called it "the most vibrant, varied, new score in ages". Another Rahman project, going into rehearsal next month, is a stage version of Lord of the Rings, on which he is working with a Finnish folk group. He is also composing a piece for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, having conducted them recently. Rahman's father, who died when his son was nine, was also a film composer. Rahman began his musical career early, supporting his family as a performer. He was a successful jingle writer before he composed his first film score in 1992, for Roja, a Tamil movie directed by Mani Ratnam. "I was lucky," he says. "I worked with one of the best directors in India and it was a wonderful experience." Just as this new show is a challenge for the performer, it's also a big step for the two men who have organised Rahman's visit. Mohan and Krishnamoorthy share a love of cricket and a commitment to the arts: Mohan is a classical music fan, while Krishnamoorthy has a taste for more popular music. They and their volunteers have organised smaller-scale Indian musical events in the past. Rahman himself contributes to a number of charities - "If you can do something to help, why not do it?" - but his work is the key. "Music itself," he says, "has a healing power." A.R. Rahman is at the Sydney SuperDome on Saturday. http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/indian-music-enters-another-dimension/2005/09/11/1126377204387.html?oneclick=true "We neglect our cities at our peril. For, in neglecting them, we neglect the nation." -John F. Kennedy ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iuUuID/dnQLAA/n1hLAA/iyUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic. Only at arrahmanfans.com - The definitive A.R.Rahman e-community. Homepage: http://www.arrahmanfans.com Admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arrahmanfans/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
