July 16
Bangalore
Part I
That day morning, I woke up from my sleep, realized that today is the
day ARR would be in Bangalore for the Press meet. I was not sure
whether to try and meet him. But I decided to give it a try. I had
called up ICA on 14th morning, only to be told that the Press Meet was
postponed to 16th. I called them up a few times on Friday, and
finally, even though hesitant, ICA folks asked me to come down to the
hotel at 3pm on 16th, but they did not assure of giving me a pass.
They letting me come to the venue itself was a good sign, so I packed
up my Cams, and headed off to the hotel.
I was at the venue by 2pm, and called up the ICA person again. I was
asked to come to the conference hall on the Ground Floor. With help
from certain quarters, I was given a pass without much problems there,
and I was finally into the conference room.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 3pm. But it got delayed. At
3.45pm, ICA announced that the meeting would start in 15 minutes, and
played a short film consisting of the clippings of the previous
concerts. It was a 14 minute video, and once that ended, the wait was
over. Wearing a dark blue shirt with light blue stripes, black color
pants & a light grey suit, came in AR, surrounded by press
photographers, clicking away to their content. He walked straight to
the place where their chairs were, and took his seat, with all the
press photographers around still clicking snaps.
Finally, everyone settled down.
The meeting started off with a brief intro by Roopa Iyer from ICA,
explaining about their ICA, and what their organization is all about.
The function was presided over by Bangalore DGP Mr. Sanyal , who had
to say some kind words about AR.Rahman. He also pointed out that Vande
Mataram was an album that he loved, and he praised Rahman for his work
in VM.
Participants of the press meet: A.R.Rahman
Deepak Gattani , MD, Rapport Global
Ravi Rajagopal, President , ICA
Roopa Iyer , Senior VP , ICA
Deepak Gattani then gave a brief description about the 3D concert. He
said that this concert would be the first of its kind with visual 3D
effects, being done on such a large scale. But he also pointed out
that the hero of the show is AR.Rahman and his music.
Next, it was our Boss' turn.
A.R.Rahman, as usual, with his charming smile:
"Good evening everybody. Namashkaara.
Sorry for the wait. The flight landed a bit late & the usual (Prayers).
Bangalore is one of my favourite cities in the world actually. I have
worked her 20 years back for Mr.VijaiAnand and Dwarkish. So, when I
come back here, it brings me all those fond memories.
Being the 1st show in Karnataka, it gives me great pleasure to see all
of you all for this 3D concert. I hope all of you support this.
God Bless."
The session was now open to the Media, for the Q&A.
I had recorded this in a Cam, and have tried my level best to capture
the questions asked by the Press, as some of them did not use a mic to
ask questions, the sound might be feeble.
Q & A
Press : What is the news / progression on "Lord of the Rings"?
ARR : We have just finished the work, and going for rehearsal in a
couple of months. Its going to open next year.
Press : Are you looking at any other international project other than
"Crouching Tiger…"? (Journalist meant to mention "Warriors of Heaven
and Earth")
ARR : Right now, a lot of things are keeping me quiet busy. Because
LOTR is a stage production, it needs so much of my time.
Press : The process of re-inventing goes on, you see that from
project to project, can you share with us how you go about this?
ARR : Because you will all complain if I do the same thing. (Laughs)
So, I have to. Also, I think, after a point in time, you have to shred
all your favourites, and then get new favourites, whether it's a sound
or a singer or anything. So that people can get a whiff of fresh air.
And, that's it…. (Smiles)
Press : For the London concert, aren't you worried about the Security
threats and stuff like that?
ARR : No, I am not. The whole idea of doing this concert is to
spread peace and to give a message of security, that human minds can
be at peace and there could be civilized people in the world. So, in
that sense, I think this concert, you want to prove I again and again,
rather than getting afraid of threats.
Press : But, will you have special arrangements made or something like
that?
ARR : Hmmm…. Yes, I think. But only God has your own life I think.
Nobody else can take it away. I believe in that.
Press : Could you please tell us something about this concert in
Bangalore, how about the tickets for the concert? What will be the
price tag, and when will it be available?
Ravi Rajagopal : That's a question for us at ICA. Concert In
Bangalore is scheduled for October 8th, 2005. The tickets will be made
available to the public by end of August, and we will update it on our
website. There will be multiple occasions made available for the
people in Bangalore, and the tickets will be in varying dimensions to
cater to the various strata of economy, because everyone is a fan or
AR. So, we want to make sure we will make it possible for everyone. So
we are looking at a wide range of ticket pricing, so that it is
accessible to all the economic strata in Bangalore.
Press : Mr. Rahman, Could you elaborate on this 3D? Is this the first
time we are going to see this?
ARR : Hmmmm… I think … Deepak will have a word … (Smiles & passes Mic
to Deepak Gattani)
Deepak : Like I said earlier, this is going to be the first of its
kind. The only artiste who has done this before is Mr. Peter Gabriel.
Mr. Peter Gabriel had done a performance, but that was strictly in a
confined environment. As a lager concert, this would probably be the
one of its first kind.
Press : Mr.Rahman, The world saw a wonderful concert recently in
Live8. Why wasn't a Rahman there as well, you know, putting in &
pitching in for India?
ARR : There's still time for that. (Smiles). As you know that I am an
ambassador Stop TB partnership, and there are some talks regarding
that. There is a song already made for this, but it has to be
released.
(After a pause) In fact, I did a concert like that with Michael
Jackson in Munich.
Press : Mr. Rahman, what do you hunt for in music – classical or fusion
?
ARR : Basically, every composer has a soft corner for melodies and
classical music. But, each film pulls you into its own circles, i.e.
if it is a young film, they want something young, then if it's a
period film, we go back to the ancient roots of folk and stuff like
that. So, its something that depends on the film, not of my personal
taste.
Press : Could you explain more about fusion music?
ARR : Fusion music ... hmmmm (thinks)…. I hate the word 'fusion',
because the moment you say the word 'fusion', picture that comes into
my mind is some drums, some violin player playing and a "Raaga" on it.
I think we have gone beyond it. I'd have an instrument as an
instrument, rather than a very deliberate attempt to say that I am
going to mix both and make it work.
Press : You once said that you would like to record flawed voices.
Could you explain that?
ARR : What it means is (thinks for a second or two), sometimes, you
have a voice which has an extraordinary soulful character. He/She
might not have a pitch sense. But, because of technology, you can
correct that aspect and then you can give that to the audience in a
nice way. If you listen to 'Mangal Pandey', Kailash Kher, the way he
sings in the beginning are takes which are not corrected using
electronics or anything. We wanted it to sound a little loud, a little
folkish and a little raw, rather than having a very finished, polished
production. So, the "Mangal Mangal" song which you hear, gels well
with the character of the song.
Press : Could you tell us something about the Australian tour in
September?
ARR : Hmm… I think it is for … (passes Mic to Deepak)
Deepak : Yes, the Australian counterpart is called Charinda (charity
for India) , and its an association with cricketer Steve Waugh, who is
supporting both the art and the organization which is based in
Calcutta. And the Australian concert is going to be held on 10th
September in Melbourne and 17th September in Sydney.
This August, Discover the Birth of Your Independence
and The Magic of A.R.Rahman's Music in
Mangal Pandey - The Rising
http://www.risingthefilm.com
http://www.mangalpandeythefilm.com
Music released: Jul 14, 2005 Movie releases: Aug 12, 2005
Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic.
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