If you've been to Tirupathi, you'll know the scene. You waited and waited with
bated breath, and finally when your turn came, all you got was a fleeting
glimpse of the deity. You went with a hundred things in mind, but instead you
had to contend with those surly god's own men snapping, "Jaragandi,
jaragandi... " ("Move on, move on... "). You came away with a hole in your
heart.
Despite the markedly different audience (plush environs of a star hotel),
waiting for A.R. Rahman in a long queue of eager-beaver journos, aspiring
singers, hopeful producers and directors, friends and fans was something like
a Tirupathi moment. "Each of you get five minutes," came a voice, which carried
with it an air of overwhelming generosity.
What does one ask in five minutes to someone who redefined Indian film music
and the world's perception of it? That too to a man who has such a huge body of
work to his credit and seems so frightfully reticent? But the mild-mannered
Rahman allayed all apprehensions and graciously said even after my five minutes
were up: "Go on." In fact, he even offered me a second chance a precious 10
minutes!
A trailblazer
Rahman is truly amazing for the manner in which he stormed into the Indian
film music scene even before establishing his regional credentials. With his
debut film Roja in 1991, he became a national phenomenon, bagging the Rajkamal
for it. Rahman acknowledged that it was all part of a conscious design. "I
wasn't too happy with the I-don't-want-to-listen-it attitude of our youngsters
towards film music. Why can't we get our guys to listen to our own music rather
than Michael Jackson? I didn't want us to lose the market out to the West. The
music had to be cool, it had to be rooted, and yet had to branch out. It was
like the wild imagination of a child... but it worked... It did travel beyond
Chennai and had people," explained the gifted composer.
And having a studio of his own has helped him in a big way. He has had the
freedom of working on his tunes day and night, for days, months and years (he
worked almost for a year on the Rangeela song and worked for a good six months
on Roja's "Tamizha Tamizha"), until he was fully satisfied with it. " I have
rubbed many a producer on the wrong way by disturbing the schedule, but it has
paid off."
In the case of his blockbuster
album Vande Mataram too, he was fully aware of what he was doing. If it changed
the image of India from a peace-loving country to a nuclear powerhouse, it was
intended. Rahman and his friend Bharat Bala conceived it as a flag-waving,
jingoistic declaration, a mantra of every kid in the country. "It had to be
unlike the one that has been played on the radio for years, a muffled kind of a
sound. I wanted a sound that would connect me with people and capture a
collective energy."
But going by Rahman's style, which has a visual texture to it, his version of
"Vande Mataram" doesn't capture the celebration of Indian landscape in Bankim
Chandra's poem. "It wasn't intended that way," came the concise reply. With
Vande Mataram, Rahman, who gave Indian music a global feel, also re-asserted
himself as a gizmo freak. (In fact, he is said to spend most of his money on
acquiring new electronic gadgets.) Not that he has made only foot-tapping
numbers; he did classical pieces such as "Kanna mucchi yenada" in Natakuranji
for Kandukondein Kandukondein and he did sweeping melodies like "Uyire" for
Bombay along with songs like "Rukkumani" and "Mukkala Muqabala". "Somehow,
people just put all my melodies on the backburner and remembered me for only
rhythm-driven songs. But things have changed since Lagaan. They have woken up
to the other aspects in me." Rahman remembered how on his way to Gulbarga from
Hyderabad, he was playing a soft song and the car driver
threatened to fall asleep if he didn't play a fast one. But during one of his
trips to Germany, an admirer came up to him to say how much he liked the songs
in Zubeidaa, a film that failed at the box-office. "I take all criticisms
objectively, though I believe in elevating the tastes of the listener," he
maintained.
Back to roots
Nevertheless, to the layman, Rahman has always been someone with a strong
Western orientation, unlike Ilaiyaraja who with all his veneration for baroque
music, has strong oriental roots. The manner in which Ilaiyaraja rendered
Tyagaraja's krithi "Tulasidala" in a western idiom and his current orchestral
symphony Thiruvasagam stands testimony. Rahman too is working on a project
called Conference of the Words, a book based on a Sufi tale of self-discovery.
This will be turned into an orchestra and will be premiered in Birmingham. And
like his true self, "I'm going to take a very long time on this."
Despite confessions such as "I feel abnormal when I talk", Rahman loves to
connect to people, of course in a different medium. Talk of the Airtel ad, tell
him it was quintessential Rahman with a good balance of melody and rhythm, and
he will tell you that after a two-year stay at London for the Broadway
production Bombay Dreams (he accepts that it got "bad reviews"), "there was
this desperate need to reconnect. And that's why I agreed to star in it as
myself too."
Rahman has broken several moulds in his career spanning 15 years. He tried to
break away from the predictable, unthinking perfection of film music in using
raw, untamed voices and also bringing in an element of dissonance, even while
he rendered film music hot and happening. But over the years, with every new
composer wanting to be a Rahman, he has become a cliché. "I think it is very
important for a composer to have his own identity, which is becoming less and
less. I only hope things will change," said the unpretentious genius.
Right now, Rahman is working on
Shekar Kapur's film Buddha. That he is making music for this film is apt in
more than one sense. He is, after all, a deeply spiritual man whose calm face,
like that of the Buddha's, never sees a frown. Also, industry folklore has it
that the composer is up and working when the world sleeps!
* * * India Classic Arts, a New Jersey-based organisation, dedicated to the
advancement of Indian Arts and Culture, is bringing A.R. Rahman for the 3D Live
concert on October 8 at the Palace Grounds. Top singers are expected to
participate in this huge musical event.
Moreover, Bangalore will be the only Indian city included in the composer's
world tour that includes London, Sydney, Melbourne, Colombo and Toronto.
[As On 19-07-05]
arr_raghu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Bergin
It must be an interesting find!
Its tough to find on net as there was hardly any
activity on internet in 1991.
Only way is to drop into some central library in chennai.
You must be in DC area..right..Ask your friends in TN to
collect for you.
May be Gopal already has a scanned copy ;)
Raghu
--- In [email protected], "Bergin Roy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Folks,
>
> If you find / have, can any of you share Roja movie / music review?
> And specifically from Ananda Vikatan ?
>
> I'm eagerly searching for it..
> Want to see, how the critics reacted to ARR's music at the first shot !
> may be i'd have read, but wanna read again now and feel how it was.
>
> Please help !
>
> Cheers,
> Bergin
>
Sriram.N
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