Accolades for the music maestro poured in from his colleagues from the film industry in Chennai and Mumbai.
Tanvi Shah, who sang part of the Oscar winning number “Jai Ho”, jumped with joy and said that Rahman had won the Oscars for the whole nation. “I’m just so thankful to God for this. Rahman deserves every bit of this. This award is for India,” said Tanvi, who watched the entire Oscar ceremony with her family. “I was crying throughout the ceremony and praying really hard for him to win. The one person our team is missing the most is sound engineer H. Sreedhar, the sound engineer who created the final copy. Sadly, he passed away recently,” she added. Madhumita, who sang “Liquid Dance” and “Millionaire” in the movie, is also elated. “Jai Ho Rahman sir! You have done our country proud. I feel so blessed right now to be a part of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and am on cloud nine,” she said. Noted Tamil film lyricist Vairmauthu, who has penned songs for A R Rahman, attributed the maestro’s double Oscar victory to his “simplicity” and “sincerity.” “I am really proud as an Indian for what Rahman has achieved in this young age,” Vairamuthu, who penned lyrics for Rahman’s first movie ‘Roja’, said. “He has made every Indian, Tamil and Chennaiite proud with his unparalleled feat.” Vairamuthu has penned lyrics for 90 per cent of the songs for which Rahman has scored music, including “Kannathil Muthamittal”, “Jeans”, “Uyire”, “Mudalvan”, “Alaipayuthae” and a number of Tamil movies. He also recalled a recent incident when he called up Rahman to congratulate him for his ‘Golden Globe’ win. “I asked him what time I can come and greet him. He didn’t say anything and kept the phone. In the next ten minutes he was at my home. That is Rahman,” Vairamuthu said. Lyricist Gulzar, who penned the Oscar-winning song ‘Jai ho’ said, “It is a great thing to be a part of this composition which has won an award. It is an extra happiness and extra thrill for me.” “My first reaction was surprise and thrill but as soon as the program started my bet was on Rahman. I am very happy for Resul, another Indian technician who brought home the Oscar,” said Gulzar, whose name was mentioned by the award presenter Alicia Keys while announcing the nominees. Lata Mangeshkar hailed Rahman saying, “May he win such an award every year. He is a genius. Rahman’s music is a blend of a little South Indian music and what we commonly call Hindi film music.” Asha Bhonsle, who has sung for Rahman in many films, said, “Rahman is a genius and has made the world sit up and take notice of Indian talent with his success. He has put the Indian film industry on the world map.” Asha said her close association with the ace music composer began in 1995 when she first sang ‘Rangeela re’ from Ram Gopal Varma’s “Rangeela.” “I have seen him grow and I am very happy with his achievement,” she said. Percussionist Sivamani, who has closely worked with the maestro since the very beginning, said,” It is wonderful. Rahman has made every Indian proud. He deserves each Oscar that he has won. He won it because of his talent, his dedication, his simplicity and humility. We all should be proud.” South Indian composer M K Arjunan, who gave Rahman his first musical break by giving him a chance to play keyboards in a film, said, “I knew that this boy would make it big in the music world.” A close friend of Rahman’s father R K Sekhar, Arjuna said besides being a born talent, his dedication, hard work and ability to pay attention to the minutest detail had helped Rahman to emerge as a musical legend of contemporary India. R Madhavan, who has featured in many of Rahman’s songs said, “This is just the beginning and Rahman you will take India and your music to great extent in the years to come.” Lyricist Prasoon Joshi said, “I think it is not his best work. He has done much better work in the past but this will lead people in the West to look up to the other works that Rahman and India have done.” http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=6126 -- regards, Vithur
