Lata Didi is Everywhere ~ A R Rahman

When the Nightingale of India’ lends her voice to the Mozart of Madras’, the result is bound to be magical as seen in Dil Se’ and Lagaan’. As A R Rahman gets ready to perform at the Times of India Jai Ho concert to be held at Balewadi on Sunday evening, TOI met the maestro and Lata Mangeshkar, and their interaction too turned out to be as magical as their songs on the eve of the show.

When TOI requested them to pose together for a photograph as it was a historical moment, Latadidi as she is fondly called said: “Together? I’m nothing before him.” Taken aback by the compliment, Rahman shook his head vigorously, saying, “No… no”.

Lata told Rahman that she has a lovely photograph of his in which she is seen singing in his ear. “Oh! She must have been teaching me music… sa re…,” Rahman smiled. Asked about their first meeting, Rahman said, “You don’t meet Latadidi. She is everywhere”. Recalling their first meeting at his home for the recording of their first song together, Rahman said, “I think it was Khamoshiyan Gungunane Lagi, was it?”

“No it was Jiya Jale..,” Lata reminded him, to which Rahman added, “Yes, actually both the songs were recorded in a span of a week.”

Oprah off to India with A R Rahman

The long list of honors  including the two Oscars,  a Golden Globe and making it to Time magazine’s  choice of the 100 most influential people in the world, has not changed anything in namma Chennai’s music maestro A.R.Rahman. The down-to-earth musician has plans to build a team of young creative professionals and develop innovative, refreshing scripts that are a far cry from existing stereotypes.

When I was featured along side Obama and Oprah in Time, I casually asked her if she had ever been to India? She said no and asked if I would be willing to bring her here. I replied in the affirmative. If she does make that trip, I would take a week off from work and show her around. I admire and respect Oprah for the woman that she is and for voicing her concerns on various global issues.

I’m not collaborating with any composers in Hollywood. I’m just doing independent films with a few renowned names in Hollywood. Some of them are getting released this Christmas.  I will certainly reveal the names later. And no, it’s not the new James Bond film quotes ARR.

The Golden Boy of India ~ A R Rahman

He’s the man who helped make “Slumdog Millionaire” an international hit, scoring the soundtrack of the Oscar winning film. Despite his performance at the Oscars ceremony and being caught up in all the glitz and adulation, Rahman is a reluctant star.

He’s worked on films since he was a teenager, taking over the role of family breadwinner after his father died and followed in his footsteps as a composer.

While he had stints writing advertising jingles in India, composing for films has been his life’s work so far, yet from his studio in Chennai he admitted to CNN he didn’t want to score films.

“I kept saying next year I’ll quit, next year I’ll quit. And finally because I was sucked into it more and more, now I have the Oscars,” he said. His Oscar performance and acceptance speech was one of the most memorable at this year’s awards.

“I thought if I get it I’ll be quiet, if I don’t get it I’ll be quiet, so I was training my mind not to get over-emotional. So when I first got it I didn’t feel it at all, it was like a rehearsal for me. When I finished my performance then I felt at ease and then I became very philosophical as you know, and I chose love over hate and all this stuff,” he told CNN.

Feted by many in media, his hit “Jai ho” was covered by the Pussy Cat Dolls, but the softly spoken Rahman doesn’t find it hard to remain grounded.

Passage ~ A R Rahman’s next Holly Flick

Shekhar Kapoor is on cloud nine. He has just finished a short film in Argentina, for which the music was by A.R. Rahman, and has been asked to sculpt a structure inspired by the film that will join likes of Salvadore Dali and Picasso in a museum in Europe.

Speaking about the music of Passage, Shekhar Kapoor quotes “Rahman composed a classic opera song that he recorded in India in an Indian female singer’s voice from his KM music institute in Chennai. When I played the song in Argentina, they said, ‘Oh My God, what a great opera and an operatic voice ‘ Their jaws fell open when I said both were Indians”

The 25-minute film “Passage” stars Haley Benett, Lily Cole and Julia Stiles.

Synopsis : Three estranged sisters reunite one night when the oldest, Ella, comes back for her two younger sisters after leaving them years before in mysterious circumstances. Ella’s absence has taken its toll and the two younger sisters now struggle to find their way in the world without her.

Farhan Akhtar to sing for A R Rahman

Farhan Akhtar can’t stop smiling these days. Don’t blame him. He received a call from Oscar winner AR Rahman, who asked him to sing for him for the film Blue.

Caught completely off guard by the call, it took time for Farhan to realize that it was indeed Rahman who was talking to him on the phone.

A source said, “Rahman told Farhan that his voice suits a ‘cool’ number that he wanted him to record for Blue. Farhan, of course, agreed immediately. It was too good an offer to resist. In fact, Farhan and Rahman met two days ago and spoke at length about the song.”

Farhan, who is currently shooting for Kartik Calling Kartik, is looking forward to the recording.

Confirming the news, Farhan said, “I am damn excited about singing for Rahman. I have been a great admirer of his work and have thoroughly enjoyed his music.Our meeting was wonderful. Rahman said that he decided to use my voice for his composition in Blue after he heard the Rock On!! album.

He was extremely soft-spoken and humble and spoke about how the past few months have been a whirlwind ride for him. He also briefed me about the song but I don’t know whether it will be right on my part to reveal anything about it.”

A R Rahman ~ Straight from Dil Se !

Nothing’s changed about the man. If anything, Allah Rakha Rahman is still the shy and humble person he was before Slumdog Millionaire happened. The only difference is that with two Oscars and a BAFTA and Golden Globe each, the security cover around him has thickened.

And  rightfully so. If the crowd reaction in Hyderabad on Saturday night was anything to go by, Rahman needs a barrage of bodyguards.

In town to be part of a ceremony to honour him for his achievements on the world stage, Rahman was a picture of calm and dignity.

India’s very own Pied Piper who enjoys demi-god like adulation from zillions of music buffs across the country and who was instrumental in showing the world that music is not about language seemed overwhelmed with the love and respect shown to him. “I’ve not come here for any gold crown, but for the gold mine (Padmabhushan Dr P Susheela) sitting here right next to me,” said Rahman.

“After I came back from the Oscars, Susheela Amma called and told me that she wanted to organise a ceremony for me. I did not question her about anything. I just told her, ‘you can do any ceremony. Just let me know when to come.’ That’s how much I adore her.”

A R Rahman’s Jai Ho Concert | Live in Pune on May 31, 2009

For the first time ever Double Oscar Winner AR Rahman will be performing live in the city of Pune on Sunday, May, 31, 2009. This concert is part of AR Rahman’s Jai World Tour with over 70 artists and dancers which includes India’s best singers such as Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Blaaze, Benny Dayal, Rashid Ali amongst others.

The concert is also AR Rahman’s first concert in a major metropolis after the Oscars. The Pune concert will be hosted at the sprawling Balewadi Stadium complex which recently hosted the Youth Commonwealth Games.

To announce his arrival in the great city of Pune, AR Rahman will address the public and media in Pune on Friday, 8th May, 2009 at 5pm at the MAEERs MIT Campus, Kothrud, Pune. AR Rahman will host the Jai Ho flag amidst a large gathering and speak to the media about this new world tour and the Pune concert in particular.

The proceeds of this concert will go to the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation and the Alandi Dehu Vikas Parisar Samiti. The concert will feature all of AR Rahman’s latest super hits and is designed in a manner which appeals to one and all. The concert is also AR Rahman’s first concert in a major metropolis after the Oscars. The Pune concert will be hosted at the sprawling Balewadi Stadium complex which recently hosted the Youth Commonwealth Games.

A R Rahman thrills Calicut to the helm

At least more than fifty thousand of the Keralites was mesmerized by a show of a life time, when Maestro A R Rahman came up with his pack of the best for premiere of the ‘Jai Ho’ show, here at the Corporation Stadium, Calicut. The euphoric atmosphere at the venue lasted for around four hours, with the crowd cheering with thunderous applause’s for the maestro, his singers and his troupe in every intervals.

The galleries were getting filled even before four p.m, hours before the function, to witness one of the best of the shows of the nation. Even with a little over priced ticket rates, the natives of Calicut thus once again proved beyond any doubts that they are the best of the hosts, be it for music of Football.

A.R. Rahman made a dramatic entry to the concert stage just before eight, singing “O Saya” his Oscar nominated song, to kick off his world tour following two Oscars. In his soft voice he also thanked the support of his fans and expressed this happiness for being in the state where he was longing to perform for the last 15 years.

It was perhaps an experience of a lifetime for over 40,000-music lovers as Oscar winning music maestro A R Rahman launched his worldwide ‘Jai Ho’ tour here, holding them enthralled with a range of popular hits from Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam movies.

It was a musical extravaganza this Kerala town has never seen before as music lovers from across the world thronged the corporation stadium last night to see their idol perform for the first time after winning a double Oscar for his score in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

A R Rahman working with Apple Logic

If you haven’t yet heard at least some of the score from this year’s Oscar-winning best film “Slumdog Millionaire,” you must be trying very hard not to.

Even before it won two Oscars for best score and best song (“Jai Ho), as well as the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for best score, A. R. Rahman’s soundtrack—written on a Mac in Logic Studio—had registered with any reasonably alert listener during the film’s much-reported rise from Indian-flavored indie longshot to runaway worldwide hit.

If the soundtrack’s audio reach is in part attributable to the film’s sweeping success, its musical grasp is strictly the result of Rahman’s unforgettable melodies and rhythms. In fact, It would be as hard to imagine “Slumdog” without its script or cinematography as without Rahman’s score.

One of the world’s most prolific and celebrated cinematic composers and top-selling recording artists, Rahman has scored more than 110 films, starting with Roja (1993), which was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 best movie soundtracks. He is an equally avid student of cutting edge music and technology, and he uses both to turn out scores and songs that seamlessly combine classical Indian and Western sounds with modern vocal and instrumental styles.

In close with Rahman ~ Family of Music

He has begun to loom in the music world as one who comprehends global trends in music. Rejecting formalism with experiments in sound and texture, he has produced music that speaks to the masses and is true to their sensibilities.

At the KM Music Conservatory that he founded in 2008, he says: “I try to bring out something unique in the general spirit of the situation without benefit of experience from the past, so that each piece is a piece in perspective; new, different, free and without outside interference.”

It would perhaps be appropriate to quote the great Urdu poet Behjad Lakhnavi on his aspirations and their gratification.

Aye jazba-e-dil gar main chaahoon, har cheez muqabil aa jaye manzil ke liye duo gaam chaloon aur samne manzil aa jaye. Passion can see the realization of a dream Two measured steps and the goal is reached. Rahman has composed several pieces on political themes.

From his wildly powerful Vande Mataram to the haunting music in Bombay, his music liberates, but also provokes his millions-wide audience to feel and think along different lines. Rahman firmly believes that a career in music is a viable option. It is in this context that the intermediate courses in technology have been conceived at the KM Music Conservatory.