Great thoughts Ram. If also feel he has this aspect of an
‘Explorer’ - one who is not intimidated by the boundaries set in
geographical, language or musical landscapes.
While he could have settled for being a successful musician in Tamil
Nadu churning out more Tamil albums every year, he set out of the
shores and ventured into the Hindi film industry. Just when we thought
he has reached the pinnacle of what every Indian musician can aspire
to be (by ruling the regional and national music industry), he
explored new landscapes in Broadway, China and into Hollywood! He is
not just content in continuing to do what works.
Even in the musical landscape, he has refused to be confined to the
patterns / song structure defined but explored new ways and challenged
us in the process to expand our scope of acceptance. It takes a couple
of listening for us to shake ourselves out of the ‘set trends’ and
beliefs but trust the explorer in ARR and he will take you into a
fresh and exciting new journey that we never thought existed! Every
album is our ticket to a magical new world with the Indian Avatar!
__________________
Cheers,
Srini
On 03-Feb-2010, at 7:46 AM, Ram Motipally <[email protected]>
wrote:
Friends,
Spurred on by this article, I have put down some of my thoughts on
why I think ARR is the great man and musician that he is. This is a
thought process which has developed over the last 18 years that I
have been listening to his music and following him in the media. A
few disclaimers upfront, I have no music background and unlike some
people in this group have not met ARR or worked with him etc. So my
perspective is purely from the outside.
1) Natural ability: He is a musical genius and this is the first
ingredient. This is a god-given gift and there is no other
explanation for the same.
2) Intelligence and Emotional intelligence: ARR is a very
intelligent man, he comes across as someone very thoughtful and
measured. This is then accentuated by his emotional intelligence.
Why is this critical ? - ARR composes music primarily for movies,
this means his music sense has to combine with a Director's vision
of the movie and the two must match. Only then will the music truly
capture the essence and emotion of the movie. Even the great Ennio
Morricone talks about this as the bedrock of his success. ARR'
ability to feel the emotion and convert it to music is exceptional,
whatever be the emotion - love, compassion, anger, happiness, etc.
3) Ability and Passion to be world-class: This again comes from his
natural intelligence. He Ping (director of warriors of heaven and
earth) described ARR's music to this effect - "ARR blends western
instruments/music with eastern (indian) melody and creates a sound
that is unique only to him". To do this in itself is being a world-
class thought leader in music. But even more unique is to do it in
the early 90s meant ARR was being world-class even before the world
knew what it meant. He was defining a new sense of "great" in music
no past definition of greatness. This is belief in one's self.
4) Constant urge and Passion for learning and innovation: ARR never
rests with what he knows. He constantly seems to want to do more and
better. Infact from the interviews, what I could glean was that
Danny Boyle approached him only for a background score on Slumdog
millionaire. ARR convinced him to listen to some of the songs for
the movie. Danny again tells him "no cellos". Which meant he did not
want any emotional or melodious songs. Now ARR's strength is this
kind of music. But he takes it on as a challenge and gives Danny the
edgy/rough kind of score that he wanted at the same time retaining
the ARR essence. And then he wins all these awards. Even ARR will
say, he did not foresee all this, but his unique ability to push the
edge of his ability and comfort zone has brought this glory. Same
thing with RDB - the song lukka chuppi was purely ARR's idea and he
naughtily admits that he did it to fulfill a long dream to sing with
Lataji. But when the music was done and the movie is watched, that
song captures the essence of the movie in a way that is very unique.
It is very rare to see anyone push the possibilities so consistently
and so well. Numerous such examples be found on this topic.
5) Childlike enthusiasm: Hear ARR speak and you can always see a
child somewhere. He wants to learn, he wants to do new stuff, he is
never content with his achievements. no arrogance for what he has
done. Imagine he goes and learns a new instrument like the continuum
and then produces amazing music with it. That innocence and constant
energy will always give him ideas and open newer frontiers. It is
also the same with technology. ARR till date and since he started
has always adopted and mastered new technology. That is a sign of
learning and growing rather than stagnating.
6) Ability to overcome hardships at a young age: Particularly in one
of his interviews with Simi Garewal, ARR talks about the hardships
he had to endure while as a kid his family was struggling and they
could not afford him to go to school but work and support the
family. This itself is stupendous. But, what I find even more
impressive is that he is not and has never been bitter about it. He
does not have any self-pity. He talks like a child, but there is a
very old and wise man inside when he says, thats what I had to do
and that is what I did. For people of his genius and intelligence
when you add the quality of taking and overcoming hardships at a
youn age, that becomes a very potent combination. Everything else in
life looks easy. See his interview with simi garewal on youtube if
you want to see this aspect of his character.
7) Finally, but most importantly he is a genuine human being: His
integrity is beyond question. His concern for well-being of even the
smallest of artists who work for him is genuine. His concern for
worldly problems like poverty is again very genuine. His love for
his mother, sisters and family is very genuine. With such a great
human being, all people will want to love him and support him. There
is no other way. This also helps him collaborate and work with many
people.
These 7 factors in my opinion make ARR an exceptional human being
and a genius of a musician. The combination is something out of this
world and both aspects feed into each other. May God bless ARR !
Rgds,
Ram
On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:44 AM, Kalyan K <[email protected]> wrote:
Wow!! Beautiful Article Vithur!! Thanks for sharing.
Kalyan K.
On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 2:47 PM, Vithur <[email protected]> wrote:
Success thro’ Excellence
An inspiring story of A R Rahman
http://shamimrafeek.blogspot.com/2009/03/ar-rahman-inspiring-story-of-success.html
Few weeks back I wrote an article on M.S Dhoni and the lessons from
his unique leadership style. We have another role model who has
mastered excellence in his profession and brought the whole world
under his feet - The Music Legend - A.R Rahman.
Is there any thing common in these two youth icons of our country ?
Yes,commitment to excellence is their DNA. Winning is their habit
and they always perform at ' WOW '! Aiming for perfection and
winning the competitive edge are the things for what they crave
constantly and add them to their attitude. The next thing is
performance. During any moment of the day, their performance is
EXCELLENCE. Performance is their language and they understand the
language of result only.
If you pick up any newspaper or see the web or watch the news these
days, chances are that you will find an interview of A.R.Rahman. He
is all over the place after his OSCAR achievement and he really
deserves it! All of us have been seeing videos of his arrival back
to India and his press conferences with excitement.
Today, A.R. Rahman is one of the world's most successful musicians.
With a brand name like Rahman, movies rake in millions. But it isn't
just Rahman's exceptional enthusiasm that's so contagious, but also
the quality and success of the work he's churning out. The man has
redefined contemporary Indian music and has become an icon for
millions all over the world.
Like everyone, I have known him and his music right from the time
'Roja' was released in 1992.. that's a good 17 years! Everyone
speaks of his music, and what he eats, sleeps, drinks and what he
does when he is free and so on so forth. But really, there are
things much beyond that one needs to know and learn from the legend
that A.R.Rahman is. With so many people who speak so high of him at
all times, there are some things that are unsaid and certain things
that we so easily ignore about Rahman, that makes him stand apart
from the clutter.
The musical genius that Rahman is, most of that comes from his being
and principles. Rahman's success presents some valuable tips to us
which can be applied to our professional lives and achieve our
goals. And on that note, with the little that I know of him, let me
share some of the learnings from A.R.Rahman.
1. Family - Respect your Parents
It might be very easy to brush this fact aside, but the truth is
Rahman has always loved, respected and adored his parents. With his
father R.K.Shekar leaving for heavenly abode when Rahman was nine
years old, Rahman's mother Kareema Begum, gave Rahman a new ray of
hope and fresh lease of life. She painfully raised the family, and
is one of the driving factors of why Rahman is a legend today.
Remember what he said when he received his first OSCAR award, " Mere
paas ma hai, which means I have nothing but I have a mother, so
mother's here, her blessings are there with me. I'm grateful for her
to have come all the way ". Which other music composer or for that
matter which other media/entertainment/corporate personality do we
know who follows this principle. How many of us will openly show our
love and respect to our parents like him. That makes him truly unique.
2. Belief - Be Spiritually inclined
A.R.Rahman believes in god and spiritualism. Its not about the fact
that he follows Islam, and offers prayers 5 times a day…its much mor
e than that. I believe there is a huge difference between being reli
gious and being spiritual, of which the latter is what Rahman is mad
e of. In a recent interview Rahman revealed that, "Religion sounds v
ulgar these days, I am more of a spiritual person. And I believe in
being consistent with my spirituality. As one grows in life, one rea
lizes the magnitude of spirituality. It is the most beautiful passio
n. It raises you above all the negativities. For me and my music, sp
irituality is the most important element and I don't think I can cre
ate the kind of music I do, if I don't practice spirituality."
Spirituality has not only made him connect to his music, but has
also made him connect to humanity. When he received his second
OSCAR, he said " all my life I had a choice of hate and love and I
chose love and I am here, god bless " . That's the powerful message
of his spirituality!
3. Country First - Be Patriotic
Though Rahman acknowledges his accomplishment, after receiving
OSCARS he quickly points out that this is a COLLECTIVE INDIAN
VICTORY. He says, he is more happy because this is the first OSCAR
for an Indian work and the whole country was waiting for this with
bated breath and hence he wanted to get it. He says, now all Indian
artists will be looked upon with more respect as we have shown what
we are capable of. His patriotism is evident in all his patriotic
songs including the latest " Jai Ho ". The way he sings ' vande
mataram ' injects some kind of positive energy into our blood stream !
4. Roots - Don't leave your Soul
Mumbai the mecca of Indian films and the entertainment industry, a
place where any and every musician will find a way out to survive
and earn enough to feed him for the day. It would have been so easy
for a musician like Rahman to go and settle in Mumbai and work for
acclaimed filmmakers post " Roja and Bombay ". But the man preferred
not leaving his home, his roots to a place where instant fame,
recognition and money was assured. Of the many ignored facts,
Rahman's major success lies in working from his home. Home is where
your heart, mind, body and soul is.
With no distraction whatsoever, he has all his energies focused on
doing quality work from the comfort of his home. It means a lot to
be based out of the place where your family is, where your soul
is..your home, your hometown.
5. Focus - Let your work speak for itself
Yes, let your work speak for itself. Many a times, there are
instances where one will be criticized for the way he is, his
dressing, his upbringing, his economic background. One will be made
fun off, and will be called names. One will not get the support he
expects to receive from his seniors and so on….But at the end of all
this, if you have a strong will power you can overcome all these, a
nd prove yourself with your work.
There was a time when Rahman was being humiliated by some critics,
directors and producers over the kind of music he had scored, and
all this when he was at the peak of his career. He could do nothing
about it, and preferred to remain calm and unmoved. And when ever
his work was released, it got an outstanding response and was
embraced by the masses. This overwhelming response and success was a
slap on the face of those critics, producers and directors. This
tell us, all we need to do is to focus on what we are good at, not
on the success it can bring. Success will follow us, our work will
speak of itself.
6. Service - Consideration for others
Not many may have noticed that Rahman has introduced maybe a hundred
new young singers to the Tamil and Hindi screens – his faith in the
youth of India is evident in his statement that he would like youngs
ters to take a different view of music after his winning the OSCARS.
Rahman has done what no other music director has done for the cause
of music-starting a music school, the KM MUSIC CONSERVATORY. His ob
jective for starting this school is to make Indian musicians have a
global orchestra of their own. This is such an innovative idea and R
ahman is spending a lot of time, money and energy towards realizing
this noble musical mission!
Rahman is the UN ambassador for the campaign fighting against
poverty and he has associated himself with many social causes. When
he was in a state of probably disillusionment - one of the things
his mother said to him was "why don't you live for others and then
you will find a meaning to life". Rahman stuck to that and he does
music to make people happy and to enrich their lives.
On the night he returned to India after receiving the OSCARS, his
request that his fans ought not to disturb his neighbors in the dead
of night attracts attention to a long forgotten quality in India—con
sideration for others.
7. Humility - Be Humble. Be Honest. Be Simple
With all the above in place, being humble, simple and honest is all
that one needs to do to ensure a great life. With so much of stardom
and attention after the Golden Globe and OSCARS, Rahman could have
got carried away with the success, however he always chose work over
publicity.
After winning the OSCARS, he was asked by the press, " what's left
for you to achieve? " He replied in a polite way, " Well, I have not
achieved anything. I have not ended poverty level. I have not
stopped wars happening.For me these are achievements. And in my
opinion, I am just a small musician who has got an award that is it
" !
He carries no weight around him, and that makes him completely
approachable and genuine. His childlike smile can pacify ones fear
and anxiety of meeting him in person. Its like his smile speaks a
thousand words. It depicts the purity of his heart and soul. Each
and every success makes him more humble, honest and simple. What
more we can learn from this winner!
Regardless of season he march towards rock climbing success. Even in
tough time his eyes do not move away from excellence. Commitment,
giving 100 percent, focusing on performance is the key ingredients
to his success. Meeting challenges and riding over obstacles are in
his blood cells. Transferring stumbling stones into opportunities
with conviction and leading towards 'WOW' level is the essence of
his success.
Through his eternal value and simple living A.R Rahman presents us
with opportunities for professional success provided we learn from
them, adapt them to our own situations and implement them
appropriately.
He convey a message to all of us silently especially to the youth -
" humble origins need not prevent us from aspiring for and achieving
great success ". How does he convey this message ? Dil Se !
Shamim
--
regards,
Vithur
