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.

The Insiders of A R Rahman Team

Meet the reclusive managers, technicians and singers who make up Team Rahman.

The Insiders of A R Rahman Team

NOEL JAMES, MANAGER

Over two decades ago, Noel James was playing the piano as a lounge musician at a hotel in Chennai when a certain jingles composer walked in. “Rahman heard me play and asked if I was interested in working with him.” James agreed. That was the beginning of a partnership that has lasted to this day. James has since grown to become Rahman’s manager and chief public relations officer. He occasionally assists the composer in stage shows and handles much of his coordination — with musicians, clients, talent and even the media. The road to Rahman, it could be said, goes through James.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, James got hooked to music at an early age. After graduating from Loyola College, Chennai, he got a degree in violin from the prestigious Trinity College of Music, London. “I played in a band called Jumping Jewels, handling the vocals and guitar. That was before I went solo,” he says. He worked part-time with Rahman initially but became a permanent member of the team, singing the jingles and helping him with production.

Being Rahman’s manager has meant that James does not get much time for his own music—except when he plays at church. He has no regrets though. “God sends messiahs to earth, whether it is Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed. It has been quite a while since He sent someone. I believe A.R. Rahman is such a messiah who works through his music,” says James, for whom familiarity has only brought more appreciation towards Rahman, the musician and the man.

A R Rahman Live Concert in Kozhikode on May 3, 2009

Ace music composer and Oscar winner A R Rahman will be performing live at Kozhikode on May 3 to express solidarity with HIV Positive orphaned children.

The show titled ‘Jai Ho’ is the’first mega music show’ by Rahman after he won two Oscars for’ Slumdog Millionaire’. Over 50 well-known musicians, besides Rahman, will be participating in the event, which is being organised by the NGO Global Kerala initiative’Keraleeyam’ for rehabilitating HIV positive orphaned children.

Rahman said he was happy to be associated with”the cause”. He said he had been wanting to perform in Kerala for the last 15 years.

Though he had cancelled at least seven shows, which were to be held this year in various parts of the country as he would be in the US for at least six months. He however, wanted the Kerala show to be held as it was”irresistible”. Malayalam singers are gifted, dedicated and their foundation very strong, he said.

Rahman said his late father, R K Shekhar, who was composer and music conductor of Malayalam films, gave his soul to malayalam film music. Works of music directors like S Dakshinamoorthy, late Devarajan master, A T Ummer and his father, were the ones he liked.

Pussycat Dolls with A R Rahman for Jai Ho

Much before A R Rahman won his Oscars for his music in the multiple Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, Ron Fair, chairman of Universal Music Group’s Interscope Geffen Records, decided to release an English-language pop version of Jai Ho!

“I watched the movie a year ago for the first time and watched it two more times since then and immediately I realized the potential of Rahman’s music and its universal appeal,” Fair told Financial Chronicle. The remix version, titled Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny), with a rough English translation of the Hindi lyrics, is sung by Nicole Scherzinger.

According to Fair, the producer of the remix, he was ready to have the release immediately after the Oscars whether or not the original won at the ceremony. True to his promise, the day after the Oscars, the remix version was released by the Santa Monica-based record label and Fair is hoping Rahman can conquer the US pop-music charts.

Stop comparing me with my Guru ~ A R R

Comparisons are merely present only in India, especially in Bollywood and Kollywood where you don’t get to see even a single media channel ending it’s day without pulling one’s legs by raising one’s name above them.

Now it has turned to be a hot topic in South India, especially the Tamil Film Industry where many have been debating the issue of who’s greater between ‘Ilayaraja’ and his protégé ‘A.R. Rahman’. None are least or greater than anyone. If you ask us, it would be the apt reply. Perhaps, we’re sure there isn’t any big reason other than this.

A.R. Rahman was bit distressed addressing the throngs gathered for his felicitation on Sunday Evening where his mentor Ilayaraja and M.S. Viswanathan were present. Speaking on the occasion, he said, ‘I was bit disappointed watching media channels especially certain websites that were continually passing abusive comments by comparing Ilayaraja sir with him. He’s the great master of all times and I’m nothing when compared to him… Elder Musicians like him laid the foundation and I’ve represented them for these awards’.