http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/06/09/stories/2008060950690100.htm
Substance and ada You
canÂ’t produce good mood without a peaceful mind, says A.R. Rahman
ItÂ’s the story of a
spiritually inclined father, a noble mother and a gangster son. ItÂ’s about not
compromising on a unique storyline for the sake of finances from interfering
financiers. ItÂ’s about a son, pooling in all his resources to produce his
father’s film. It’s about A.R. Rahman and his music journey. It’s about “Ada…a
way of life”, a film directed by Tanvir Ahmed (of Akarshan and Aag Aur Toofan
fame) and produced by his son Kazaan. The film, to be released in July, has
newcomer Ayaan as the protagonist and Nauheed Cyrusi as his love interest. The
film has 10 songs, including an instrumental version. Says Rahman, “Tanvir came
to me when I was composing music for ‘One, Two Ka Four’
(2001). He told me about the filmÂ’s shoestring budget. Because of budget
constraints, I employed some new voices instead of depending on expensive,
established ones, started scoring music in 2004 and completed it in 2008. So,
each song is very different from the other as they were composed in different
years. That’s why they named it as my musical journey.”
West to East
Rahman has employed new singers
Rashid Ali and Parul Mishra in Ada… He adds, “Rashid is actually a guitarist
with a U.K. band. I saw him singing in a concert in London. He and I have
similar taste in music. But, it took him some time to learn the Indian style as
he belongs to a different school — Bryan Adams type you know.” His second find,
Parul, who has sung the female version of “Ishq Ada” has won a Delhi talent
hunt contest.
Rauqeeb Alam, the filmÂ’s lyricist, was introduced to Rahman by P.K. Mishra
who gave the soundtrack for Roja.
Rahman is among the very few music directors who donÂ’t discourage small-time
director-producers but take them as blessings, “Yes, it is difficult to bring
something great out of the box when you have limited resources. You canÂ’t get
good songwriters because they have no time. But the lesser the number of high
profile people, the more the musical freedom. The best thing that has happened
to ‘Ada…’ is that Nokia is promoting the songs through iTunes and BIG Music has
released the album. Otherwise often I put in a lot of hard work and it gets
wasted due to lack of promotion,” he adds, quoting Tehzeeb and a “lot of Tamil
films” as examples. “Those who don’t promote music are musically challenged,”
he says.
But he has no qualms with new directors. “They know what they want. More than
us (music directors) itÂ’s them who have to live with our music. They have to
listen to it again and again and shoot the scene accordingly. I donÂ’t blame
them for being demanding. Its only filmmakers such as Mani Ratnam and Ashutosh
Gowarikar who dare to accommodate classical music in their films.”
He has no complaints with today’s music scenario either. “Through iTunes and
legal downloads, a lot of music is popularised. The rights of the music
composer are protected too. Earlier, these rights used to be written off. This
would be beneficial for the new generation music directors.”
But he is candid about the problems of singers who come through talent hunts.
They often fall flat when given new compositions to sing. “It’s sickening to
make them sing one line again and again. But, a few sail through easily,” he
says. Feeling confident about working in Hollywood after composing music for
Shekhar KapurÂ’s Golden Age (2007), he is also relaxed after completing his
three big forthcoming films, Yuvraj, Delhi 6 and Gajni.
Aravind
http://arrahmaniac.blogspot.com
