A R Rahman The Legend

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Seven months after the UPA cruised to a comfortable majority in the 15th Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted that he had never anticipated the victory.

“I was doubtful whether we will have a working majority,” Singh said. But he said he took the victory in his stride: “I have taken things when they happen and when they don’t in my stride. I am neither too pleased with success nor too despondent when success is not there.”

The PM was speaking at the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2009 Awards, held in partnership with Hindustan Times.

A.R Rahman, the nominee from the entertainment category, won the award.

Obliquely approving of India’s announcements that it will voluntarily cut its carbon intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) the PM made a plea for sustainable development.

“Humanity’s approach to climate change has to be need-based, not greed-based, as Gandhiji taught us,” he said, referring to the Copenhagen summit. “So I sometimes reflect on whether we should follow the same unsustainable path the industrialized countries took to develop and modernize their societies? Ecological disaster of whatever cause or origin will have far greater consequences in India than in the west. We should… have an informed and rational debate on what is in our enlightened self-interest.”

Singh said 2009 had been a good year for India.

“2009 was a remarkable year for us. The rest of the world was in recession. We are affected, but still the second fastest growing economy,” he said.

He added that the world today relished India as a living model of a purposeful market economy with the rule of law.

Asked if it was good for the country that an economist was heading it in difficult times, Singh said jokingly: “Yes.” As if to emphasise the point that India’s global stature was on the rise, Singh said while congratulating the Indian of the Year 2009 winner Allah Rakha Rahman: “When I heard him sing in the White House, you cannot imagine my sense of joy.”

• Animal Spirits

If things would have gone as planned by the makers of ADA...A WAY OF LIFE, the film would have released in the middle of last year itself. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the film continued to be delayed and is now hitting the screens on 18th December.

One wonders how frustrating it was for the film's debut leading man Ayaan Ahmad who had to wait for such a long period of time?

"Well, it's indeed a feeling of mixed reaction. I am glad though that finally our effort would be out there for people to see. However, there is a nervous thing to it. The movie did get a little delayed and something like that is never welcome", says Ayaan who is paired opposite Nauheed Cyrusi (last seen in KURBAAN) in the film.

When quizzed about the reason for delay, Ayaan divulges, "We were waiting for A.R. Rahman to do the background score of the film. He was quite caught up with SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and quite a few other events pre and post Oscars. In fact he was gracious enough to allow a different composer coming in but my dad (Tanvir Ahmad) who has directed the movie wanted him only to do it."

Why did they choose this route when it was resulting in so much delay? After all the soundtrack had already hit the stands and completion of background score by another composer could have finished the job sooner.

"See, ADA is a musical journey and we didn't want to compromise by any means", clarifies Ayaan, "According to me as well as others who have heard Rahman's background score, it is one of his best works ever. After such a long wait when I hear the score today, all my frustration goes away.

Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman makes his first foray into composing music for an American comedy feature with Universal Pictures’ forthcoming romantic comedy, Couples’ Retreat. The soundtrack will be released by Saregama India Limited digitally and in all retail outlets nationwide on November 30.
The music has sounds of a tropical island fusing with “the laidback rhythms of island music” according to the press release. Rahman has created a score that goes with the film’s light-hearted tone blended with his signature “Indian” sound. “There are so many musical avenues to be explored,” says Rahman. “I’ve wanted to try new things for a long time and had hoped to have the opportunity to venture into American comedy. This film presented a lot of creative challenges and was deeply rewarding for me as composer.”

Couples’ Retreat is directed by Peter Billingsley and stars Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Faizon Love.Based on an original idea by Vaughn, the comedy has four mid-Western couples, visiting a tropical island resort, one to work on their marriage, and the other three to enjoy. What follows is a hilarious look at the problems faced by all couples.

AR Rahman is scaling one milestone after another. The 'Mozart of Madras' performed at the White House in front of President Barack Obama and Indian PM Manmohan Singh to mark the latter's three-day visit to the US.

The US president Barack Obama hosted a state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the South Lawn in the White House. The first ever after the Obama was sworn in as the President.

The 338-long list of celebrities was from various fields like entertainers, business moguls, noted politicians and friends of the President graced the event.

The first lady Michelle Obama was seen in a strapless gold dress and overlaid with silver work and a matching shawl.

The Indian cooking was personally overlooked by the first lady and consisted mostly of vegetarian dishes as Manmohan Singh is a vegetarian. The food was prepared by the chief Chef Williams.

The scheme for the dinner was green and purple, to symbolize peacock the national bird of India.

A huge tent was construction for this purpose at the South Lawn with magnificent views of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial which held chandeliers and beige carpets on the floor.

The President welcomed the Prime minister in Hindi (Aapka Suwagat Hai meaning You are welcome).

Some of the celebrity guests where Stephen Spielberg, Governor Bobby Jindal, Mukesh Ambani, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, New York Mayor, actress Jennifer Hudson, Deepak Chopra, S S Sathwal, Sanjay Gupta, Amirtya Sen, Indrya Nooyi and not to forget our very own Oscar winning music composer A R Rahman. The highlight of the evening was the music by the Mozart of Madras.

It is worth a mention here that Manmohan Singh was invited for the state dinner for the second time, the first one during the Bush regime.

He sang two tracks -- Jai Ho and Dreams on Fire -- from his Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

As part of an initiative by the government authorities, Rahman performed with Indian and western artistes to welcome Singh in the US.

A source said, "It was an electrifying performance celebrating brotherhood between India and the US. Rahman set the mood for Manmohan Singh's three-day visit to the US. High level government officials of both countries witnessed this performance."

Rahman has a great fan following in the US. "He was the best person to have during this crucial meeting of the two country's heads. There were bhangra performers too at the event. Rahman also teamed up with musician Taku Hirano with whom he had performed at Time magazine's gala event that had crowned the 100 Most Influential people of the world in New York City."

Katrina Kaif is supporting a noble cause that is being looked after by her mother Suzanne. The actress has in fact signed up the Oscar winner AR Rahman to compose music for a video that will be used to raise funds in support of the cause. Katrina, apart from donating Rs. 50 lakhs, will also star in the video.

The funds, according to our sources, will be used to inaugurate the children’s wing adjacent to Mercy Home in Chennai.

Several other Bollywood stars are also expected to star in the video but the official announcement is yet to be made.

Initially, Katrina was only supposed to be part of the music video but now after watching her progress at the box-office, Katrina has been asked to sing a few songs in the album. It was initially suggested that Katrina sing Rahman's compositions in English but now she will be seen singing in Hindi. This despite the fact that she has a heavy British accent and is just beginning to learn Hindi.

Katrina says, "Why not? I'm always game for new challenges. Singing in itself was a challenge because I've never sung professionally. Singing in English would've been a convenient challenge. But I'd rather take the uncomfortable route. So why not me singing in Hindi?"

For someone who couldn't speak a line of Hindi when she came entered Bollywood Katrina sure has come a long way.

She adds, "Somewhere down the line, I got tired of people commenting on my Hindi. I guess I've been working hard on it."

As Katrina gears up to sing for AR Rahman she has already started practicing. Hard.

As usual he stunned his audience with his music which included US President Barack Obama and our Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh. The Oscar Winner A R Rahman was felicitated in White House where he performed for the guests and became the star attraction for the evening.

The fuction , hosted by the US President himself and his wife Michelle, Rahman was one of the invited guests from India. He performed his Oscar winning song Jai Ho for the audience. Both Obama and Man Mohan Singh felicitated Rahman.

OSCAR WINNING musician AR Rahman’s prestigious KM Music Conservatory is reportedly proposing to launch a preparatory program in various instruments.

The conservatory is proposing to offer this two to five years program in French Horn, Saxophone, Flute, Double Bass, Trumpet, Oboe, Trombone, and Clarinet. There are no age restrictions for admission into this specially designed program. This program is currently offered in Harp, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Cello, Hindustani and Western Voice, Guitar and Viola.

It would also offer a foundation program of one to two years and a degree program of three years, in affiliation with Middlesex University in United Kingdom. Many faculty members have degrees from USA and UK. Sound editor Joe E Rand has given lectures here at this conservatory and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra has also performed here.

The music school also plans to offer a two year masters program and a year long “Diploma in Indian Music and Music Technology”. It also ensures that students study music icons in an indepth manner, like Michael Jackson.

Founded by Rahman, who is also its Principal, the KM Music Conservatory in Kodambakkam area of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, envisions expanding the horizon of musicians in India, by offering education in both Indian and Western music besides music technology. Its mission is to provide students with a strong artistic, intellectual and technical foundation. T Selvakumar is the Managing Director of this international school of music as it strives to achieve its motto, "Become the Future of Music".

Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed has applauded Rahman for creating a bridge between the music of east and west and for strengthening the worldwide market and stature of Indian music. Zed, the chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Friday, November 27, urged Rahman to help nourish the next generation with the richness of Indian music.

Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called “Mozart of Madras'' by the Time magazine. Rahman sees music “as a way to connect to spirituality and embrace it” and for “creating harmony in troubled times”.

The Rs100 crore film is out. And it’s no better than a second-rung Hollywood action flick. The crores have gone in to create some visual wizardry and thrilling stunts under water. Akshay Kumar wears some great shoes and clothes too. But Anthony D’Souza’s Blue lacks sorely in good writing, good performances and good storytelling, pretty much all the things that make a film crackerjack.

First, the very predictable story: Aarav (Akshay Kumar) is a shipping magnate somewhere in the Bahamas. Sagar (Sanjay Dutt), who Aarav calls “Sethji”, works for him. Mona (Lara Dutta) is Sagar’s lover and arm candy. Sam (Zayed Khan) is Sagar’s errant brother, who is fond of motorbikes and races. Nikki (Katrina Kaif) is the love interest of two of the leading men.

Ocean’s 4: The film’s cast swam with sharks in the Bahamas.

The actors have some really puerile lines, and some of the dialogues are sexist as well as racist. The film begins with Aarav boasting about his two hot recruits, Ebony and Ivory (the women recruits, his toys, wear skimpy sailor uniforms). In the middle of a blustering gun encounter between the villain (played by Rahul Dev) and Sagar inside Sagar’s house, Mona screams, “Stop it, stop it, everything can be solved by talking!” Mayur Puri, who has done the screenplay and dialogues, is a writer without imagination.

D’Souza, a debutant director, has said in interviews that he wanted to make a “never-seen-before film” and so it had to be shot under the ocean. Taken literally, he has achieved what he sought out to do. Visually, the underwater sequences of Blue are spectacular. Directed by James Bomalick, a Hollywood stunt director who has worked in some of the Die Hard films, inMr. & Mrs. Smith and Fast and Furious, the stunts are set against the cobalt blue water and multi-hued marine life, some at least 50ft in the water. Sharks abound in the sea too.

Kumar performs the stunts with amazing ease; he is undoubtedly the best action hero we have. He has the agility, attitude and confidence to take on physically demanding roles. But sadly, most Hindi movies in the genre are notches below the best of Hollywood, and Blue is no exception.

But because of its length—a tight 1 hour and 57 minutes— and if action movies are your thing, it’s worth a watch just for the marine spectacles.

• Chiggy Wiggi

• Fiqrana

• Yaar Mila Tha

• Rehuma

• Bhoola Thujhe

• Blue Theme

• Aaj Dil GustakhHa

The Border Security Force (BSF) jawans will now march to the beats of Oscar winner A R Rahman. The music composer, who enchanted the world with his `Jai Ho' number, has composed the theme song for the paramilitary force. The five minute song — `Hum Seema Suraksha Bal... Veeron ka hai ye dal (We are the Border Security Force... it is the force of the brave)' (which is originally composed by Rahman as ‘Aazadi’ for the 2005 bollywood movie ‘Bose – forgotten hero’), praises the strength and valour of the force which is responsible for guarding the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders. "The credit for the song goes to Meghalaya governor R S Moosahary, who is a former director-general of the force. He helped us get in touch with Rahman, who composed the song without charging any money for it," BSF chief M L Kumawat told reporters on the occasion of the force's investiture ceremony here on Thursday. After being formally released on the occasion, the song, which also captures the emotional tribulations of a jawan guarding the border while leaving his family behind, comes with a video — titled `Borderman' — showing BSF men in action along the border, undergoing training and the famous `change of guard' ceremony at Wagah border. Kumawat said: "The song and the video capture the true spirit of the force. Rahman has also promised to come and spend time with our men to boost their morale." [ This track is originally composed by A R Rahman as ‘Aazadi’ for the 2005 Bollywood movie ‘Bose – the forgotten hero’ .Now its reused, but with different lyrics.


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Chennai, May 13: Music maestro A.R. Rahman, whose compositions in "Slumdog Millionaire" made him the first Indian to win twin Oscars, is critical of political parties using for a poll campaign the song "Jai Ho" that he composed for Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches drama.

"I was like in the bed, I was dehydrated, exhausted, and then all these things happened, somebody told me these people are using it. I hate politics. I just want people to serve the people. I want governments, whichever government comes in, to be unbiased and say there should be justice in the country and that's my purpose in life," Rahman said in an interview on CNN's Talk Asia. 

The interview will be aired on CNN May 20 and there will repeat telecasts May 21 and May 23. 

The Congress had bought exclusive rights to the song "Jai Ho" for its poll campaign but the jingle was later dropped as the party's theme song. 

In the interview, the shy composer also explains how his accolades for "Slumdog Millionaire" are also a recognition for India. 

"I got very emotional when saying this is for India, when you guys truly deserve it because there are so many different film industries in India, so many different markets, Hindi film industry, Tamil film industry, Malayalam, then Bengali, so in a way I think it culminates all their aspirations and so it's here," he said. 

Before he shot to stardom with the film "Roja", Rahman used to create radio jingles. He has since collaborated with international music superstars like Michael Jackson and Kylie Minogue. 

When asked about his next project post-Oscars, he said: "I have a couple of offers from Hollywood. Pure American movies which I thought for the heck of it let's do it and a couple of other surprises that you'll know very soon if it works out. Big surprises I think." 

American song and dance team The Pussycat Dolls have teamed up with A.R. Rahman, Jimmy Iovine and producer Ron Fair to produce a single and music video for their English language version of Jai Ho, the award winning song from Slumdog Millionaire. Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny) features A.R. Rahman, the song’s original vocalist, Nicole Sherzinger and the Pussycat Dolls dancing in a railway station based in a Vienna tramway museum. The official Universal Studios YouTube version of the video has had 2,346,165 views since being uploaded on March 17, 2009.



The Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)

After making it to the Top 20 of the US music charts, Rahman has made another appearance on the international music scene - this time in Akon's new music video 'Beautiful'.

Taken from this album 'Freedom', it features Kardinal Offishall and Colby O'Donis, who appears on the track. Rahman's appearance in the video comes as a surprise as the music maestro is usually shy of appearing in videos and doing cameos. According to online music magazine Blender (www.blender.com), Akon met Rahman during his visit to Mumbai. During his meeting, they had discussed Akon's new album ‘Freedom’ and Rahman had even heard a few rough cuts of his tracks.

Rahman’s cameo happened when he was in the US this year promoting Slumdog Millionaire and performing on various chat night shows (The Tonight show, Oprah Winfrey, etc). Rahman appears towards the end of the video dressed in a dapper suit surrounded by the models who pose with him. The video can be found on youtube.com

A.R.Rahman is all set to compose a new tune to make a new Tamil Anthem for the world Tamil people.
Lyricist Vairamuthu said recently at an audio launch, “I will be writing the lyrics for the new Tamil anthem, which is an invocation and will reach out to all the Tamils around the globe. The music for the anthem will be composed by the double Oscar winner A.R.Rahman!”
A.R.Rahman’s first composition ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai…’ for the movie Roja was written by Vairamuthu, which had fetched both of them a national award.
According to the lyricist, Tamilians living in foreign countries will have their own Tamil anthem just like our present anthem ‘Neerarum Kadaludttha Nila Madanthai’.
It was written by famous poet Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai and based on the landscapes and boundaries of erstwhile Tamil Nadu. The need for a new anthem was brought to notice when Vairamuthu and A.R.Rahman attended a function together in Malaysia and sang the Tamil anthem in their own.
Speaking about the glorious moment when Rahman bagged the Oscar and ended his winning speech in Tamil, Vairamuthu said, “Rahman’s passion for his mother tongue was evident when he addressed an elite gathering in Tamil. Also, at a time when Tamil has been declared as a classic language by the Centre, I felt proud that Rahman chose to speak Tamil at an international stage.”
A couple of days before, AR Rahman had also confirmed what Vairamuthu said in the function.
He said, “I will compose music for the new Tamil Anthem once Vairamuthu completes his work..”

New Delhi, March 14, 2009: Aam admi, Rahman’s Jai Ho and Congress party. Congress seems to have got a perfect slogan in Jai Ho for general elections. Allah Rakkha Rahman’s success in Slumdog Millionaire in being cashed in by a political party in the forthcoming general elections.

And by the way the party has bought copyright for the super hit song Jai Ho. The song is hit and it is fresh in people’s mind and so Congress party is trying to use the song in the best way possible.

But one thing is not sure and that is as to how much the song will help the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. During last general elections the BJP had tried to sell the idea of India shining.

But the nation refused to buy the catchword at that time. Now everyone is asking if Jai Ho will bring votes to the Congress or give a similar fate to the party that the BJP got in the last Lo Sabha elections.

In the meantime there are indications that besides Jai Ho Congress party will build up its election campaign around the aam admi (common man) but its allies in the UPA are unlikely to find place in the propaganda war against the NDA at the national level. The central theme of the campaign is the common man, said a party strategist involved in the campaign strategy.

The Congress in order to woo the electorate has made a three minute film. Set to the tune of the Oscar winning song Jai Ho, the three one-minute spot films highlight the advances made by the aam aadmi under the Congress tutelage. The films focus on the 60-year heritage of the party and its achievements over the last five years.

A R Rahman’s remixed version of Jai Ho by the Pussycat Dolls (PCD) has rocked the West and got rave reviews too. But surprisingly, it is now learned that lead singer Nicole Scherzinger never wanted to do this version!

Nicole, who otherwise loves everything Indian — especially dressing up in colourful bindis and dupatas, is quoted on the website Desi Hits! “I was scared, I was afraid to let people hear it, I really didn’t want to do it,” she told Anjula Achari Bath of the website.
The sexy singer was hesitant not because she didn’t like the song, but because the song was already amazing. “I didn’t want to recreate Rahman’s work,” said Nicole, who was inspired by the film and emotionally touched by the track.

Music producer Jimmy Iovine brought the idea of remixing Jai Ho to Nicole. After giving it a lot of thought and after talking things over with him, she thought it would be a great opportunity to put her own English translation into the song. She knew this was a difficult task as she highly respected the original track. “I prayed every night to do this right,” she said. She was so moved by the film that she wanted to be sure to incorporate themes from Slumdog Millionaire such as destiny and love into the song.

Nicole has never been to India but now wants to do charity work here. “I know Jessica (Jessica Sutta, another member of PCD) has already been to Rishikesh and is strongly involved with a charity that works towards improving the lives of children there and I want to go to the orphanages of India,” she said.