A.R. Rahman spent less than 24 hours in the city. Right from the time, he
stepped on to the airport, a stream of celebrities, politicians, bureaucrats,
wannabe singers and music lovers lined up to express their admiration for a
composer who has put India on the world map of contemporary music.
Song of the year
2006 was a happening year for Rahman with two of his songs (`Roobaaru' and
`Masti Ki Pathshala') both from `Rang De Basanti,' being chosen as song of the
year by different television channels. He has also composed the music of Deepa
Mehta's `Water,' which has won an Oscar nomination. 2007 promises to be another
eventful year for the musician. His songs for `Guru' have proved to be a
chartbuster and his `Tere Bina,' a duet with Chinmayee, revives the magic of
his earlier compositions.
In the city to receive the Swarlaya-Kairali-Yesudas Award for the best music
director, Rahman's visit began with a trip to the Bheemapally mosque where he
offered prayers. Rahman, who stayed in Kovalam, recalled that many years ago
when he had visited Kovalam, he and his friends had hired a catamaran to
explore the coast around Kovalam. Despite his hectic schedule, the music
director, who was accompanied by his mother, Kareena Begum, squeezed in time
for an exclusive interview for The Metro Plus.
Talking about his new assignments,
he says, "My anti-poverty theme `Pray for Me Brother' will be released all over
India on February 21. The function is likely to be in Mumbai," he says. The
music video by filmmaker Bharatbala is the first to be shot on mobile
cinemascope format. The project is in association with Nokia and the video will
be exclusively available on Nokia music edition.
Explaining the reason for this venture he says: "Music is my passion,
profession, and hopefully my pension as well. It has given me a great deal and
this album is my effort to give something in return. After a point of time,
money is not everything. I cannot physically remove poverty. All I have is my
music."
Dwelling on his forthcoming projects, he adds that the musical `Lord of the
Rings,' which has music composed by him, will start playing in London from May
9. "I am also working on Ashutosh Gowariker's `Jodha Akbar' in Hindi and
Shanker's `Sivaji' in Tamil."
Agreeing that he had once considered not working on period films as some of
the films he had worked on were not released, he explains that he changed his
mind as he did not want music direction to be like a "horse gamble."
"One also has to work on films that
are not backed by big directors or stars," he feels.
The success of `Guru' he says "has been reassuring. We needed it." But some of
his chart toppers have been in Mani Ratnam films like `Roja', `Bombay' and
`Alai Paiyuthe.'
New phenomenon
"The music in `Roja' became a big hit because it was a new phenomenon then.
But it is harder the next time as you have live up to expectations and yet not
give listeners something they have heard before."
He adds that it feels good to have two of his songs nominated as song of the
year. "The director wanted me to make `Masti ki' the rebel's song."
Something like Pink Floyd's
'Another Brick in the Wall'?
"Yes. Michael Jackson's `They don't really care about us' is also a song like
that. But while `Masti Ke' falls into that category, it was not influenced by
those songs," he explains.
However, it a fact that Rahman's
music caught the imagination of youngsters who were at one time plugged into
Western rock and pop only.
"I was also into a lot of western music. I wondered why that kind of music
could not be ours. The vibrancy of the tunes was catching. The negative side is
that we seem to be in danger of losing the flavour of traditional melodies.
There was a lot of criticism for my `Munbe Vaa' from `Sillunu Oru Kadhal'.
Critics felt that it was old fashioned but it went on to become a big hit,"
says Rahman.
He feels that the clones he has
spawned in the music industry can only do a world of good as "there is a great
deal of experimentation going and that is an interesting phenomenon."
Link:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/mp/2007/02/17/stories/2007021701300100.htm
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