“Oh wait… coloring books”.. Rahman’s gift

Recently, six winners of a “Sakkarakatti” contest organized by Sony at Music World, including a father and his cheerful little kid, got the chance to meet A R Rahman personally. As they were preparing to leave, Rahman suddenly said, “Oh wait… coloring book!” As everyone looked mildly confused, he picked up a bright green children’s coloring book from one of three neat stacks on one side of the room and gave it to the child with a smile.

And as this reporter watched in amusement, the remaining young adults in the room promptly lined up to get one themselves. Moral of the story? When A R Rahman hands out something, you go pick it up. Even if it’s a pea-green coloring book for five year olds.

Sakkarakkatti became famous for its song `Taxi Taxi’, which was an instant hit. Its sheen and popularity even compelled the filmmakers to re shoot the original video. A R Rahman, before starting to compose for this film,promised that his work in this film will make everyone undergo the same pleasant feeling they had when they listened to him for the first time in Roja. Well, the maestro has fulfilled his promise.

Rahman’s Yuvraaj will be out on October 17th 2008

Super Cassettes Industries Ltd aka T-Series will release the music of Subhash Ghai Film Yuvraaj on October 17th. “It is a pleasure for us to make the announcement of the release date of the music,” said a T Series spokesperson. “We are proud of our association with Showman Subhash Ghai for all Mukta Arts ventures. Since October 17 is an auspicious day, we decided to go in for the release on that day.”

Yuvraaj is produced and directed by Subhash Ghai, starring Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Katrina Kaif, Zayed Khan and Jawed Sheikh. A R Rahman has teamed with Gulzar Saab for the Music of the film. The film is Subhash Ghai’s next much-awaited musical after the stupendous success of Taal in 1999. When a company has the music rights of a film’s songs composed by the Mozart of Asia A.R.Rahman, then there is no need to get worried about the success of sales of the music.

Talking about the music of the film, veteran director Subhash Ghai says “The music of Yuvraaj has an international feel. It blends both Western music with Indian classical music and folk music. It has some peppy numbers and some excellent melodies. It has a larger than life feel to it. Rahman has done his best”

Rahman ready with Delhi Marathon Theme

A R Rahman is known for doing anthem’s that go on to stay in public memory for years. Well, his latest anthem is out and this time its for the Airtel Delhi half marathon 2008. It sounds familiar yet refreshing. Rahman was in the capital to promote this album.

He was in Delhi recently to promote a marathon race. He emphasised on the need for such events to be organised and said, “These days when a lot of unnecessary divisions and fragments are being created in society in the name of religion, caste and region, such events hold great importance. When we run along with hundreds of others, we forget what our religion or region is.”

And is he planning to take part in the race himself as well, we asked him. “An event like this where people run together will make me feel ecstatic. It is like a music concert. Like music breaks all boundaries and proves to be a unifying factor for people from across the borders who stand together and enjoy the music without thinking about its source. Here as well, we are expecting people from all walks of life to take part. I have never been a part of such an event, and who knows this year I might run too,” signed off Rahman.

Rising Star of Rahman ~ Benny Dayal

The Rising Star, the latest find of Rahman is the voice to watch out for in the music business.

Most of the songs that he has sung seem to reflect his personality to the Tee fun, confident and passionate. Twenty three-year-old Benny Dayal has had the dream start in the music industry that many dream of. His debut was with A.R. Rahman and from then on he has gone on to wield the microphone for the likes of Harris Jayaraj, Vidyasagar and G.V. Prakash.

His first song to hit the airwaves was Maduraikku Pogadhedi, from the film ‘Azhagiya Thamizh Magan’ in which he has also sung Nee Marylin Monroe Cloninga, both of which can get you to shake a leg or two. But it wasn’t just luck, there’s a lot of practice and exposure that earned him the call from Rahman’s studio.

Based in the Gulf, Benny came to Chennai to earn a graduation degree from MCC. That’s when he participated in SS Music channel’s talent hunt contest and became a part of the then-famous S5 band. A few years later, he was also spotted in Vijay TV’s ‘Paadum Office’, a singing competition between professionals working in corporate offices and is a part of a Rock and Roll band called “Rainbow Bridge”.

Rahman’s Soul stirring Musical notes

For all his achievements, A R Rahman is humility personified. The ace composer now wants to nurture youngsters with a passion for music. And his KM Music Conservatory, an International School of Music and Music Technology, is a step in that direction.

“We hope to expand the horizons of musicians in India by creating awareness about Western music and Music Technology, while continuing to respect and strengthen the art of Indian music. Aspirants will be trained to reach high standards of proficiency as musicians with good grounding in the technology that goes behind the process of making music,” explains the enthusiastic founder and principal of the Conservatory.

When it comes to acknowledging good work, Rahman is second to none. At the recent audio release function of the film Saroja, he heaped praise on music director Yuvan Shankar Raja. “Yuvan was seven or eight when I was working with Ilayaraja. I have seen him grow as a music director. I am happy that he is among the best composers in the industry right now. I am sure he will reach greater heights,” he says.

Rahman fans ~ Strongest community in Orkut

For the 3,00,000 strong A R Rahman Fans community in Orkut, virtual space is for meeting and organizing. The community is used as a platform for the planning of their outdoor activities, which include free food distribution for the poor, concerts, and aid for the disabled kids. It also serves as a platform for raising money for these charity works by selling Rahman tees, Pray for me Brother color books, etc.

A speck of the spotlight

Fans themselves come under the spotlight as they rally support from their communities to help their stars shoot high in online polls. Adding to these are the numerous games related to the stars that are available online. An SRK application in Facebook has 624 monthly active users, while another game on Aamir Khan attracts 205 users every month.

As a fan flaunts her pictures with the star, much to the envy of others, or another one brings out a link to a rare snippet on the star, the fan too gets a share of the star’s glamor. It’s all about show biz, indeed!

Slum Dog Millionnaire ~ Rahman goes West again

Maestro makes it to Hollywood again. This time Bollywood’s super singer Sukhwinder has recorded a song for Danny Boyle’s film Slum Dog Millionaire. Starring Irfan Khan and Anil Kapoor, its music is given by AR Rahman. “Lyrics of the song were amazing. It is written by Gulzaar saab and music is naturally peppy, the way all Rahman songs are. I loved singing ‘Jai Ho’ and I must have sung the song so many times that eventually Rahman got really perplexed. Now they are wondering who would edit all the versions and which version is the best,” laughs Sukhwinder.

Film is based on a true story, and it’s about a kid from the slums of Mumbai, who has nothing – he’s ill educated, he’s illiterate – and he goes on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ and wins it. It has tongue-in-cheek humor. This film is written by Simon Beaufoy.

As for Sukhwinder Singh he is all set to ride the Hollywood wave after winning over Indian audience with his voice and melody. His other Hollywood venture as a music director and singer is Steven Spielberg’s next film.

For this film Sukhwinder is recording a ‘kutch’ song. “I chose folk because it will stand out in the crowd.

Karthik’s experience with A R Rahman

This post is dedicated for you Yali. I am sorry. Singer Karthik reveals his experience with A R Rahman in a show called “Memories” in Jaya TV. Karthik in his earlier days of college life was a regular participant in IIT Sarang. He was an absolutely crazy Rahman fan.

Being asked had he ever thought of getting a chance to sing for Rahman, he replied “No No. I just wanted to see him at least once. I was such a crazy fan. I used to call the studios so many times and usually the studio manager or someone picks and keeps the phone. It was one of my cousin who was close to singer Srinivas who got me that golden opportunity to meet Rahman. It was purely by God’s grace. When I met him, he asked ” Do you sing? ” and I said yes and sang a song in front of him.

He then immediately said, “You have a nice voice. why don’t you choose singing as your career”. That was the moment, I left everything else and again started practicing daily. I was so happy to hear that from him. But I didn’t get a chance immediately. It was an interesting incident and unforgettable even now – The opportunity that I got to sing for Rahman. That day was one of my friends birthday. So we a gang of friends went out to a snooker parlor and decided to spend till midnight and give a surprise birthday gift to our friend. Those days Cellphones were not that popular and only one of our friend had. Rahmanji was looking for some fresh voices to do a chorus and Singer Srinivas was trying to reach Tippu, Harish Raghavendra and Gopalrao.

Rashid Ali thinks everything’s gonna be Okay

Call up a film buff these days and chances are their caller tune will ring Kabhi Kabhi Aditi… But while the song from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na has become really popular, not many are aware of the man behind that youthful, fresh voice.

It’s easy to get slotted here and given that Bollywood is all about cliques and camaraderie, one is tempted to go that route with Rashid Ali as well. Rashid is the flavor of the season (apart from the boy-wonder Imran Khan) given that his song ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’ from the film Jaane tu… is a chart buster. And yet the NRI singer is untouched by the feverish aspiration of making it big in tinsel town; he’d rather simply be a busy musician for now.

Rashid was spotted at a concert in London by A R Rahman about six years ago. Rahman walked up to him for a casual chat, although Rashid did not know much about him except for his work in Rangeela. “We got along and I became part of his troupe for a while as a guitarist,” he says. He worked with the maestro on the Bombay Dreams project in 2002 in the formative phase, only to quit soon when the schedules became too manic. They traveled together across India on the 2003 tour titled Unity of Light. There, he improvised on ‘Ooh la la la’ by infusing it with jazz, and played the title track of Rangeela as well. “Jazz gives a musician rigor. You have to fuse the various elements of music very subtly, pretty much like Hindustani classical music. If you master that, you can improvise on any kind of music.”

A R Rahman answers specially for his fans

In an interview for Leading Tamil Magazine, Music maestro A R Rahman answers to the questions of his crazy fans about Political leader’s to his best music composition ever. Here we go…

Do you consider you have achieved in the field of Music ?

Music is not a running race. Its a spiritual journey. If some people, say, its good, it cant be believed, and if some say its excellent, then too it cant be believed. The future generations have to make a garland out of the beads, whichever is suitable

Who is your favorite Political leader ?

After the period of Umar Nabigal Nayagam, there was a person by name Umar, who ruled. He behaved like a servant, by lying down in a bed made of ropes, and lead a very simple life. I came to know of all this, after reading his bibliography. After him, I like Mahatma Gandhi very much. I don’t know much about World Leaders, but amongst the few people, who have had impact on me, these people play a prominent role. A good leader must have patience and forbearance. He shouldn’t have differences between the rich, poor, good and bad, and must have the benefit of the nation and the people to be at his top priority.

You have cherished your long standing dream of starting a Music College. What next ?

Starting a Music College has been my first desire, and it is over. There are a lot of faces which follow to the school, and they have to be done, and the school has to be converted into a moral school. I have the intention to transform it that way.

Which country doesn’t love Music in the world ?

There is no nation, which doesn’t love music. Music is the common language of the world. Is there a nation, which doesn’t love the language. If so, please tell me ?