Now that's what I call an interview. To be honest, one of the finest ARR interviews ever. Intelligent (and important) questions asked and equally answered.
By the way, I am a fan of Coldplay too. They are like living legends for western music. Their song 'Yellow' is my all time favorite song. I am sort of happy, ARR recognizes their effort. Susan Boyle's album is getting worldwide famous (quality wise). I don't have a clue about 'Kumar Gandharva', does anybody know? Warm regards, Pravinder. --- In [email protected], "Jahanzeb" <jahanzebti...@...> wrote: > > There is a different version of Ranjah Ranjha in the film sung by Richa > Sharma and Ila Irun. :( > > The song Ja re ud jaa re may be later added to the album, however it would > feature in the film. :) > > ARR is scoring for the Rockstar. Yuhooooo! > > - > > He is a man of few words yet his music does all the talking. Directors from > Bollywood as well as Hollywood wish to have him compose music for their films > yet his super-busy schedule allows him to green-light only a handful of > projects. Over the last couple of years, he has bagged every possible award > from the Padma Bhushan to the BAFTA's and the Grammy to the Oscars yet he > remains as humble as ever. Last week he once again gave his millions of fans > a reason to cheer in the form of the spectacular musical score of Raavan. He > is none other than Allah Rakha Rahman- the man who eats, breathes and > (whenever he) sleeps music. Bollywood Hungama's Nikhil Ramsubramaniam caught > up with the Musical Maestro for an exclusive interview to talk about the > experience of composing music for Raavan, his special bonding with Mani > Ratnam, his much talked about world tour and much more. Read on... > > 18 years after debuting with Mani Ratnam's Roja, you are back once again with > Mani for Raavan. How has the journey been? > It's all been very good and exciting. The thing with Mani is that he receives > every idea with great respect. It's not just the usual "Give me 5 tunes for > my film" We try to explore various avenues while composing the music in the > interest of the film. > > In spite of your super-busy schedule you always manage to take out time for a > Mani Ratnam project. You have composed music for all his films. What is it > about Mani that makes it difficult for you to say 'No' to him? > After a point I think you understand exactly what a person needs and what is > it that he actually wants. It's pretty much the case between Mani and I. > However having said that, getting such vibes and sharing such a comfort level > with someone is easier said than done. By the grace of God we've pulled it so > far and continue to do so in the future (smiles). > > The one word synonymous with your music is Experimentation. So what kind of > experimentation have you tried in Raavan? > I don't think in terms of experimentation in each project that I do. I just > go with a theme that will make the project sound exciting. In case of Raavan, > we have used a lot of African vocals and sounds in some of the songs keeping > with the mood and theme of the film. > > The music of Raavan released last amidst much fanfare. There are 6 tracks in > the album. Could you take us through each of the tracks in your own words and > explain the essence of songs... > > 'Beera Beera' > > 'Beera' is a song that describes the lead character played by Abhishek > Bachchan. When we set out to compose this song, we didn't want to make the > song or the character seem dark. We wanted 'Beera' to be liked by everyone. > He is someone who has a point of view, it may be wrong according to some > sections of the society but when you see the film you will realize his > justification for the same. The song is like a celebration of his character. > > 'Behne De' > > Karthik sang this song as a scratch. At that point in time, we didn't know if > we were going to retain it but everyone seemed to like the version and we did > retain it. We also added some background vocals by Mohammed Irfan to give a > different edge to the song. It's not your usual typical song. > > 'Ranjha Ranjha' > > 'Ranjha Ranjha' is an idea that I had done earlier but gave it a skip. It's > poetry of Baba Bulleshah. Though the song that you hear in the album (sung by > Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali and Anuradha Sriram) doesn't feature in the movie, > we have created another version of the song that is sung by Ila Arun and > Richa Sharma which would be featured in the film. This version has been shot > beautifully and works better for the film. > > 'Thok De Khilli' > > 'Thok De Khilli' of course has Sukhwinder at his energetic best. He is simply > a powerhouse of energy and talent. However, in this song he didn't get a > chance to improvise a lot as he had to fit his vocals to match the form of > the song. In spite of that he has done a fabulous job > > 'Kata Kata' > > 'Kata Kata' is a very typical Mani Ratnam style song. In every film of his > you have this folk celebration kind of song like you had 'Chalka Chalka Re' > in Saathiya or for that matter 'Rukmani Rukmani' in Roja. However, this time > we have given it a different feel and it was really an enjoyable process > composing this track > > 'Khilli Re' > > 'Khilli Re' has been sung by Reena Bhardwaj who earlier sang 'Yeh Rishta' > from Meenaxi. She has got a beautiful voice which suited the song perfectly. > She is a very talented singer who certainly deserves more opportunities in > the future. > > During the music launch you also surprised everyone by composing and singing > a new additional song 'Jaa Re Udd Jaa Re'. Is that song going to be added > later in the album or featured in the film? > The song was a very last minute addition. I saw the movie and felt like > adding a song to a particular situation in the film. The lyrics of the song > were ready for a while however I had to yet compose the tune. Meanwhile we > had already planned our music release for the 24th of April so we didn't want > to delay or postpone that because of one song. The song may be later added to > the album; however it would feature in the film. > > In every album of yours a striking aspect is zeroing in on the right singers > for the right song. How do you manage to do that? > Well...to be honest, I don't know (smiles). Most of the time, it's not > planned. I just look at who would suit the song and more importantly who is > available at that point of time. > > So do you have multiple singers recording scratch versions and then you > taking a call on whom to consider for the final version? > Well... No we don't actually do that. Usually its just one or two times that > we rehearse the song before recording except for directors like Abbas > Tyrewala who is very particular about getting the right voice. Most of his > songs are recorded about 6 - 7 times (smiles) > > In Raavan, you once again re-unite with Gulzar saab after the Oscar winning > score in Slumdog Millionaire. How is it working with him time and again? > There is a certain kind of affinity that Gulzar saab has for Mani and me. > When he works with us, he is always very happy. I think when you are happy > working as a team, it shows on the result of the end product. > > In June, you embark on your world tour called The A.R.Rahman Jai Ho > Concert...The Journey Home. Tell us something about that and why is it called > 'The Journey Home' > It's called The Journey Home because even though it's a World Tour, it's > going to feature a repertoire of songs from my 18 year old career. We are not > going to go with the obvious way of mainly performing English songs just > because it's a world tour. I am really excited about the tour as its going to > have some really spectacular and different production values. A lot of money > has gone into that and a lot of Western artists have been working on giving > the tour a whole new feel. The show is also directed very differently giving > a whole new perspective to my music and to our country. > > So who are the singers who are going to be a part of this tour? > There is Hariharan, Javed Ali, Shweta Pandit, Benny Dayal, Blaaze besides my > usual troupe comprising of Sivamani on percussion, Naveen on the flute etc. > > Over the last couple of years Rahmania has reached an all time high with you > bagging the BAFTA's, the Golden Globes, the Oscars and the Grammys. Closer > home there were awards like the Padma Bhushan, Indian Of The Year etc. Is > there a special section where you keep all your awards? > There is a place in the office for them but once you get an award it's a > thing of the past. You just keep marching on and look forward to the future > > Now that the music of Raavan has released, what are your future projects? > After Raavan, there is a Telugu film called Puli. Then there is Shankar's > Robot and Abbas Tyrewala's 1-800 Love. > > Are you also composing the music for Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar? > Yes...we've just started. In fact we just finished out first sitting. It's a > great experience working with a team comprising Irshad Kamil and Imtiaz Ali. > > How is your pet project KM Music Conservatory doing? > It's doing really well. We just signed up with Middlesex University to > oversee the whole education. We are expanding and going to a larger campus > very soon. > > Finally we know that you listen to all kinds of music. So what's currently > playing on your iPod? > Well...I've been listening to Susan Boyle's album, Kumar Gandharva's songs > and Coldplay. Besides I am always listening to my songs while mixing (smiles). > > http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2010/05/05/6201/index.html >
