Thank You Rahman: You have done us proud A couple of days before Pongal which also incidentally is the first year that we will be celebrating (by government order) Tamil New Year on the first of Thai, A.R. Rahman gave us the perfect reason to celebrate. The Mozart of Madras is no longer the Mozart to Madras alone. We knew that it would come, but were not sure when it would happen. International recognition in the form of a reputed award is perhaps the only thing that has eluded this prodigiously talented musician from our part of the world. He has done almost everything that a composer might want to, Indian movies in many languages, Broadway musicals, Hollywood epics, live concerts and much more, only official recognition remained. It has come and it is just one step below the biggest awards of all, the Oscars.
>From a field that consisted of internationally reputed composers, two of who were former winners of many honors and one surprise entrant, the legendary actor, director and now also a composer Clint Eastwood, Rahman was picked. The honor is indeed great and it is also proof that music in true Indian style can actually be accepted and liked by an international jury. Slumdog Millionaire (if you have heard it) has music of an Indian sensibility, a style of music that we all are familiar with and can instantly fall in love with. In fact, a piece from Slumdog Millionaire has been compared to a more than decade old Hindi superhit. The 'Jay Ho' refrain is instantly inspirational in an Indian way and yet, it has managed to impress the Golden Globe jury and get the better of some world class competition. Rahman's journey has been special and we know all about it, no point going over it all over again. It is what lies ahead that interests. No one has ever doubted his abilities on the international stage having seen and heard his amazing body of work and we are also sure that this award will be a tonic for the man to enthrall us even more. Winning the Golden Globe was special, but what is more special is that he is the first Indian to do so. Few others would have been so worthy a representative of Indian art and music because few others have held the whole of the country in a thrall with their creations like Rahman has. Rahman maybe the first music director to break through the Kollywood-Bollywood barrier and become the unanimous favorite of India. In films and music, Indians' favorites are dictated by regional and linguistic preferences. Only Rahman has managed to transcend all such preferences and that speaks a lot about his abilities and it is the same ability that has helped him enthrall an international audience while remaining true to the traditions of Indian music. [image: A.R Rahman] Rahman does not get easily excited, not even when he wins the Golden Globe. His acceptance speech was a studied list of thank yous to many people who mattered a lot, but the biggest of all was reserved to the billion people of India. To Rahman we say, 'Thank you, you have done all of us proud. This was the perfect Pongal gift. And, about the Oscars, well, we hope you do and we are sure about it too. http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-08/rahman-14-01-09.html -- regards, Vithur