Dear Rahmaniacs,
Murtaza Musthapha is the son of Ustaad Ghulam Mustapha Khan, who has been the Guru of Asha Bhonsle, Sonu Nigam and also A.R.Rahman. He lives in Mumbai, and on his transit in Chennai, he was interviewed for Rahmania Program. He hails from a traditional Music family. All the male members of his family used to sing, and it was like breathing for them. Uncles have been court musicians. They belonged to a respesctable Hindustan Classical Music. Music is basically improvisation. 1. Who met A.R.Rahman ?? Your father first or you ?. Rahman Bhai was in Bombay , after finishing his Bombay Dreams work. There was a friend by name Bridge Bhushan, who called up and said " There is a Music Director by name A.R.Rahman, who would like to meet you". So, we told " Ok. Lets go and meet ". Rahman Bhai had earlier known about my father and his music. Then he came down to meet my father, and we all met. Rahman Bhai asked me If I would also sing, and told me " Why dont you sing something "?. Then I started singing something in Rag Hindolam. It was classical music. After the meeting, he told my father that he wanted to learn from my father, and he became a disciple. suddenly, one day I got a call from Rahmanji's office. It was 12 years back, and I sang a song in Marcons Raaga ( Hindolam in Carnatic raaga ) . We sang some Khayal ( imagination about a particular scale ) . Rahman liked the voices of Murtaza and told Hariharanji that he is going to use my voice in a film. Basically, I came here in Chennai for some Tamil stuff. Then he gave us a CD containing this song " Piya Haji Ali", and told me to listen. I listened to it so many times, and liked it and told him that it was good. Then after some days he himself called me and told me to come to th studios. The track that was played was Piya Haji Ali, and it came out very well. Favourite Raaga - There are so many time bound Raagas . I like Malcons, Dharbari, Bihang. every raag has its own flavour. They are a beutifully framed work by ancestors. Every note can make you cry. I have been with him for so many recording sessions . One of the most memorable one was for " Meenaxi - Noor ala Noor". Rahman Bhai was on the keyboard, and the lyrics was being written. The making of the tune, and the recording was simultaneous. It was fun working on that . Even for Al Maddath Maula ( Mangal Pandey ) , the last antara was not ready. Rahman Bhai is a such a sweet person. he asked us " Is this suiting ??". *The energy levels in Rahman Bhai is so high, and he is always sweet.* when Rahman Bhai was working for the Background Scoe of " The Legend of Bhagat Singh ", Rajkumar Santoshi was present , an he called me . The reels were going on, and suddenly he told me " Murtaza. Just go inside . we will record some piece now". He was working the entire day, the entire night . He was working for Bombay Dreams, the background of Bhagat singh was going on, and also there was a Tamil producer sitting for his background score...So he was into so many things. *Only Rahman can do this multi tasking .* I have done a lot of Background scores in Tamil. Innisai ( Varalaaru ) . He said me to sing something in Hindolam. We sang so many pallavis. He said " not this. No No.. I have called you.. I want some Hindustani flavour". We didnt rememeber any tarala at that time. Myself and my brother we sat down and started writing some tharangas. It sounded very well, and it came out quite well in Godfather film. Hindi Version of Sneghidane ( Alaipayudhey , Saathiya ) - ( The starting bit was sung by Murtaza ) ( In Tamil, it was sung by Srinivas ) I also sang for dum Hara Dum hara mast for Guru ( both Hindi & Tamil ) . I also sang some improvisation bit ( Hindustani ) for Anarkali ( Kangalal Kaidhu Sei ) . I always sing with my brother Qadir for Rahmanji. Rahman's handling of Music - Basically the trend has changed after he came into the Industry. he got computers involved. Its a great gift to the Industy. he got different sounds into the music. Even though, he handles a lot of electronic instruments, still there is a soulful Indian music with him always. -- regards, Vithur AIMING TO BE A TRUE RAHMANIAC
