Hai. I missed Rahmania show and I was dying to know who spoke what.
Great job by the author.
Cheers,
Nithi.
--- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, "Madhavan Rajan"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the writeup Vithur...
> I'm proud of you Vijay :-)
>
> Just a few seconds with our boss made me feel like I'm surrounded
by an aura
> of modesty! You are blessed to be with him and my best wishes for
KM
> Music...
>
> I'm waiting for the first KM album from Rashid Ali soon!
>
> Cheers,
> Madhavan.R
> I live in a musical kingdom and A R Rahman is the King.
>
> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 8:39 PM, Vithur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Dear Rahmaniacs,
> >
> > VIJAY IYER ( our co-owner and moderator of Yahoogroups) was in
air today ,
> > sharing his experiences with Raihanaji on Aaha FM 91.9. A brief
of what he
> > discussed with Raihanaji is as follows :-
> >
> > " Hi. This is Vijay. I am from Mumbai, just moved to Chennai. I
was a big
> > fan of AR, then became a friend of him, and its my good fortune
that I work
> > for him now. I am based in Chennai now. Rahman has announced his
new music
> > label, which is called KM Music. Its a music company. I manage
the Label. I
> > also do other things like managing the content of his website ,
lot of
> > creative stuff etc .
> >
> > Km Music has been Rahman 's dream, and he has mentioned this in
a lot of
> > his interviews. The Kind of music he likes... Nowadays, if you
see, all sort
> > of music is commercialised. and music sales is not that much.
Basically, a
> > film which has 4 or 5 Kutthu songs are become the pick of the
day ( This was
> > told by Raihannaji), and thats what sells ( told by Vijay) .
There needs to
> > be a market for true Music Lovers, and Rahman shares that
feeling, and this
> > label of his will give an opportunity for him as well as other
musicians to
> > explore what is not within commercial parameters.
> >
> > Almost from the time, Roja got released, I have been a fan.
Actually, I
> > dont know, if I could take you through that journey, I used to
tour Chennai
> > , in my vacation during my school days. That time Roja cassette
had
> > released, and my uncle had bought me the same. On the return
journey to
> > Bombay, I didnt listen to the Roja cassette. My sister was
listening to it
> > in her walkman. And then she used to say, " Its verynice; very
nice ". But I
> > nevr heard it. Then , I was surfing Tv Channels. Then I heard, "
Netru
> > Illadha Maatram ". Then I went back to Roja, and thats how the
journey began
> >
> > Then in 1994, when I came to Chennai, I saw this movie " Duet".
The song "
> > Anjali Anjali" with awesome interludes and awesome song. In
fact, right
> > after the movie, I made up my mind, that I want to meet Rahman.
I dont know
> > if you would remember or not, when I called up the studio, ( the
house ) ,
> > you answered the phone, and it was you who guided me to the
place. So,
> > Anjali Anjali is a very good song. I also love the song, " Lukka
Chuppi" and
> > want to dedicate to my mother. Rahman 's duet with Lataji. For
the past some
> > years , you listen only to Love duets, and this is first of its
kind, where
> > a mother and her son talk to each other in this manner, and its
really nice.
> >
> >
> > *Experiences as a FAN *
> >
> > At that time, there were only cassettes, because the Cds were
expensive.
> > That too, I was in Bombay. Very rarely, do you get Tamil
cassettes there.
> > There used to be a store called, " Giri Stores", where we used
to get Tamil
> > cassettes. and I was little far off from this place. At those
times, we
> > never used to know , when Rahman is releasing a track, as the
internet was
> > not that prevalent. I used to call the Giri stores almost daily,
to find if
> > any new release of Rahman had got released. For getting a
cassette worth Rs
> > 50 /-, a lot of phone calls used to be made, and the shop keeper
used to
> > reply, " No Sir. nothing has come ". But, I used to make it
sure, that
> > whenever the cassette got released in Bombay, I used to go 45
minutes by
> > train, and get the cassette. In fact, right from Pudiya Mugam to
> > Sakkarakatti, I still remember, how and when I have gone to buy
the
> > cassette. That was fantastic.
> >
> > Towards 2000, when the Internet became popular, we formed a Fan
Club on the
> > Internet. It was Gopal ( he is based in Bangalore ), who started
this Fan
> > Club . And world over members started joining, and the
activities kind of
> > increased. Before, all this, we used to feel that it was we who
are big fans
> > , and after coming into the community, we could realise, that
there are much
> > more crazy fans than us. Every Interview of Rahman, Photos of
rahman ( My
> > cupboard.. I used to paste photos ) , Cassettes, Cassette
covers, Rare
> > songs, Ad Jingles, were there with everyone. This community was
a good
> > forum, for rare information exchange.
> >
> > Vijay sings a song, " Tere Bina ". ( Very nice singing from
Vijay... :-))
> >
> > *Transformation into a Friend of Rahman *
> > **
> > Its an interesting story. In 1994, when I came to Chennai,
through you, I
> > met Rahman. After that, I wasnt been able to be in touch with
him, as I was
> > in Bombay, and he was in Chennai. There were no cell phones or
emails at
> > that time. After my studies, I took up a job. I was lucky
enough, as in one
> > of my jobs, I used to frequently travel abroad. That was the
time, in
> > 2000-01, when Rahman was doing Bombay Dreams in London. so, one
day, when I
> > was travelling to London. I saw Sir in Bombay Airport. I ran
towards him,
> > and asked him, if he remembered me, when I had met him up in 94,
and he
> > told, " NO.". So, i thought that this was the opportunity, as no
one would
> > disturb him, in the plane. No Directors, nor producers. For the
full 8 hrs,
> > I spoke with him, in the similar manner as I am speaking with
you now. I
> > told him abt how I bought his cassettes, Internet Community
etc . Next day,
> > in London airport, I told him, I was free the entire day. If you
dont mind,
> > can I come with you. He just saw me and he thought that this is
a crazy
> > fan, but was really convinced, that I was really genuine. I had
the fear
> > that many like me, would have gone to him, seeking his
autograph, photos
> > etc. But I think, there is some connection. It can be said as
Destiny. He
> > agreed, and he took me with him to the place where he stayed in
London. he
> > was happy, by seeing the Internet community, and he himself gave
his email
> > id, and his phone number and said, " Keep in touch". and then,
we were in
> > touch regularly. Whenever he used to come to Mumbai,. I was
lucky enough to
> > drive him to the studios, been there for recordings etc
> >
> > We became close friends. This is really Blessings of the
Almighty. There
> > are millions of people waiting for a chance like this. I dont
know, how I
> > got a chance like this. Right from the beginning, the
fascination to be with
> > him, and do anything for him has been there in my heart. At that
time, he
> > was planning to open a new studios in Chennai by name A.M.
studios. He was
> > looking for someone to manage the studios. So, he asked me to
come to
> > Chennai, have a look at it. But that didnt work out. After that,
we did a
> > lot of write ups, and convinced him on making a website. I used
to keep
> > telling him, " Sir. I want to do something for you, with you. ".
Its a
> > passion, thats why.
> >
> > One day, he called me and said, " Meet me at 5 in the morning".
I went at 5
> > in the morning. He said, " I am planning to start a new music
label , and I
> > think you can do it. You come to Chennai". So, I came to
Chennai.....
> >
> > First of all, thanks to Aahaa Fm, and you, Its an honour.
Chennai listeners
> > are lucky, as they are in the same place where Rahman is. In the
coming
> > days, there are a lot of opportunities, coming up in KM Music
Conservatory,
> > and utilise it . All the best.
> >
> >
> > Vijay.... Have I missed anything... This was an awesome
interview. Heart
> > touching. Thanks for being in the show. Hopefully, we would get
to hear
> > Gopal next time with Raihanaji...
> >
> > Gopal... Pls ..
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > regards,
> > Vithur
> >
> > ARR -- The Sweet Cube always
> >
> >
> >
>
