A.R. Rahman steps out of the studio and takes his show on the road
June 3, 2007
BY MARY HOULIHAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A.R. Rahman is not a household name in the United States, but to millions
of South Asians in India and abroad he's the superstar music man behind the
sound of the sprawling, lavish Bollywood films they love. There, where the
soundtrack is often considered more important than the plot, Rahman has
broken all sorts of records -- he's scored more than 70 films and sold more
than 100 million albums.
But Rahman says he had no intention of "cashing in on what I've already
done." In recent years, the prolific composer also has scored Hollywood
movies and written the music for two high-profile musicals -- "Bombay
Dreams" and now "The Lord of the Rings," which opens June 19 in London.
ยป Click to enlarge image
"I'm the bandleader ... and I sing a little," says the modest A.R.
Rahman, whose musical showcase includes 45 musicians, 12 singers, 20 dancers
and a laser light show.
A.R. RAHMAN
*When:* 8 p.m. Saturday
*Where: *Sears Centre, 5333 Prairie Stone Pkwy., Hoffman Estates
*Tickets: *$40-$155
*Phone: *(888) 732-7784
The busy composer also occasionally performs his music in concerts that
are heavy on Bollywood spectacle. That "wow" factor will be present when
Rahman makes his Chicago debut Saturday at the Sears Centre in Hoffman
Estates.
"I'm the bandleader," Rahman said, modestly. "And I sing a little."
An eclectic spectacle
Dig a little deeper, though, and the full spectacle of the performance is
unveiled -- 45 musicians, 12 singers and 20 dancers, plus a laser and 3-D
light show. It's all a showcase for Rahman's eclectic world music, which
fuses folk music from China, India and Turkey, as well as pop, rock, jazz
and classical, into an intriguing mix.
Rahman's popularity is evident in the three recent world tours, which took
him to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, Dubai, the United Kingdom,
Canada, the Bahamas and a handful of American cities.
At first, he was reluctant to perform on stage.
"I'm more of a studio person," Rahman, 41, said. "But I'm getting used to
the live performances. They've been good for me and put me in a different
state of mind."
It's been a sweltering day in Chennai, India, and A.R. Rahman is settling
in for a phone conversation just before heading into an evening of work at
his home studio. Stuffed with the latest mixers, synthesizers and computers,
it's arguably Asia's most sophisticated studio and a far cry from Rahman's
meager beginnings.
Raised in a lower middle-class family in Chennai, Rahman began playing in
bands as a keyboardist when he was 11 in order to help support the family
after his father's death. It was a hand-to-mouth existence he's never
forgotten, but one that also guided a young boy into the future.
"I was very young when I realized music would be my profession," Rahman
said. "I've worked at it ever since."
After receiving a degree in Western classical music from Oxford
University, he worked for many years composing advertising jingles and music
for popular Indian television features. Rahman's big break came in 1992 when
he teamed with Bollywood director Mani Ratnam on the hit film, "Roja."
Ratnam was looking for a new sound for the movie and he felt Rahman was the
man for the job.
"Actually, I thought it would be my first and last movie," Rahman said,
laughing. "But the overwhelming response drew me back into it."
India's film industry, centered in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), is
the most prolific in the world, with around 1,000 movies a year aimed at a
global audience of 3.6 billion. The movies, with running times averaging
around three hours, are stuffed with musical numbers that often break out at
the oddest moments.
And just how important is Rahman to the look and feel of a Bollywood film?
One glance at his entry on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) offers a
clue. His name is attached to more than 12 current films, either completed,
in post-production or filming.
Rahman also made an expected transition to Hollywood in 1998 with Shekhar
Kapur's "Elizabeth," starring Cate Blanchett. More recent films include
Andrew Niccol's "Lord of War" and Spike Lee's "Inside Man."
'Bombay Dreams'
When Andrew Lloyd Webber heard Rahman's work in 1999, he said it was the
most beautiful music he had ever heard. He asked the composer to collaborate
on the musical "Bombay Dreams," which opened in London's West End in June
2002 and sold more than 1.5 million tickets. Later, a Broadway run was
less successful.
Musical theater was a completely new experience for Rahman. At first, he
wasn't sure how to attack it but he knew with an old hand like Webber behind
the project everything would work out.
"It was an unpredictable project," Rahman recalled. "We weren't exactly
sure what it would be. Should it be English or Hindi? How would it sound?
The challenge was to find a balance between my Indian music and the Western
musical."
The $7 million production had a pedestrian story line -- a poor young man
of the slums dreams of being a Bollywood movie star but must fight the Mafia
to achieve his goal. Yet, thanks to the music, it proved to be a lively
tribute to the Bollywood phenomenon. And the music, well, that was the best
part. Rahman managed to create a new vocabulary in musical theater that
contained the sly nuances and crisp rhythms of Indian music.
"Musicals had become predictable," Rahman said. "I think Andrew saw a
Bollywood musical as something very new for a Western audience."
Rahman's most recent work on John Nathan's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's
*The Lord of the Rings* was another story. Director Matthew Warchus and
musical supervisor Christopher Nightingale wanted to break from the typical
musical style with an ethereal, world-music score written by Rahman and the
Finnish group Varttina.
Throughout his career, the classically trained Rahman has absorbed the
music of different cultures to create songs that are not easily forgotten.
The story in "Bombay Dreams" was woven around songs that almost wrote
themselves. But the challenge of "The Lord of the Rings" was much different.
"We knew the value of the books," Rahman said. "The goal was to do
something different but at the same time something that would appeal to an
audience of Tolkien fans. It was a great task that took almost 2 1/2 years
to complete."
After so many years, does Rahman have a recipe for a song that works?
"A successful song relies on a memorable melody and good lyrics that have
a special feel," Rahman said, pausing. "And sometimes it's just how you work
with the director and the whole team that is part of the inspiration behind
its success."
http://suntimes.com/entertainment/music/classical/411014,SHO-Sunday-fine03.article
