And why did Rahman accept this film as his first post-Oscars project? May be just for the heck of it!
On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 3:55 PM, mohammed sajin <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Rahman under-used in flop film > > Early this year, A R Rahman was discovered by Hollywood and America. He may > have worked in the Indian film industry for nearly two decades, composing > some of the most memorable songs of our time. But it took one film - Danny > Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire for him to gain fame in the West. > > Now, after a couple of Oscars, a Golden Globe, television appearances and > several articles, Rahman has bagged his first post-Slumdog project. Rahman > has composed the soundtrack for a new film Couples Retreat, written by Vince > Vaughn and Jon Favreau, the writing-acting team that brought us hit films > like Swingers, Iron Man, The Break Up and Wedding Crasher. Unfortunately, > Couples Retreat — the story of four couples on a peculiar, new age-like > retreat, trying to straighten out issues in their marriages — is a dull, > unimpressive film. The dialogues are boring and it is mostly not funny. > > A still from Couples Retreat. A R Rahman has composed > soundtrack for the movie > That is too bad because with a cast that it has, Couples Retreat could have > been a fun film for the fall season, just before the studios start to burden > us with a deluge of the Oscar potential movies. Sometimes even films with a > lot of promise do not work out. We can search for answers, but there is no > sense in it. The film should do well in its opening weekend, the big name > stars are a draw, and then it will disappear fast from the theatres. > > I went for the press screening of Couples Retreat because of A R Rahman. > Having had a taste of his music in the US, from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay > Dreams, to slick stage shows and then hugging friends at a bar near Times > Square when his Oscar wins were announced in February, this was the moment I > was waiting for. This was going to be the mainstreaming of the genius > musician. He had worked on this project for three months, first in London > and then in Los Angeles. > > I spent some time listening to the film’s soundtrack on its website. I knew > that this was not going to be an Indian soundtrack. > > Rahman recently told the Associated Press that after Slumdog Millionaire, > he has started getting work where he can set his own artistic terms. “Since > the Oscars and all the appreciation, people come for what I am,” he said in > the interview. Meanwhile, the online site OneIndia quoted the composer as > saying: “I’ve reached a stage where I’ve to do new things. There’re so many > avenues to be explored. So Couples Retreat will be their (Hollywood) kind of > music with my touch, done in my way.” > > The music, as we hear on the film’s website, is mixed with Caribbean sounds > (although most of the film is shot in the Pacific island Bora Bora), but > Rahman also uses some Indian touches, a few instruments and voices, > including that of Kailash Kher. > > The movie was unimaginative, but Rahman has often done great work for films > that are flat out bad. If nothing else, we could say that the songs were > good. But while watching Couples Retreat, I forgot about Rahman’s > compositions. It is so much in the background, that it is barely audible. > His music does nothing to enhance the situations in the film. It is a > complete waste. > > Last year, Boyle told me that he admired the loud soaring sounds in > Bollywood movies. In Hollywood films, the music tends to be subtle and > quieter, he added. That does not help Rahman’s case in Couples Retreat, > where his talent is almost unrecognisable. > > Why did Rahman take three months, composing sounds which hardly matter in > the film? Why did the producers hire him from the pool of composers in > Hollywood? Was Rahman supposed to add prestige to what was perceived as a > weak project? And why did Rahman accept this film as his first post-Oscars > project? Was it just for money? And is money that important for Rahman at > this stage in his life and career? > > These are questions that all of his fans should be asking. > > *Aseem Chhabra is a freelance writer based in New York who has previously > written for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer and > Time Out, New York* > http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=56&contentid=2009101120091011000754187481e865d§xslt > = > > > > > > <http://sig.graphicsfactory.com/> > * > * > ------------------------------ > > > > -- Cheers, Madhavan.R Be a Music Fan; not a Music Pirate!
