"Does he mind if sometimes his music is thought to be a flop? Rahman shrugs. "I didn't know about that. I only know that I make music. Like there was this movie made by Mani Ratnam called IRuvar, for which I composed. People suddenly realized that they music was good one year after the film released! So, you never know. What is flop for one, works for another. As for me, if I haven't invested in myself wholly and felt satisfied about my music, then I term it as a flop.""
This is one of the main reasons why I love ARR so much. This response right here says it all.....his detachment, his pure love for music, his passion and compassion, his humility. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@...> wrote: > > Jade Tete-a-tete > > Jade February 2009 > > From creating a revolution in INdian film music to composing for international plays and films > A.R.Rahman has done it all. As we go to press, his original score for the critically acclaimed > Slumdog Millionaire has won him the Golden Globe Award. > > Vee Jay Sai gets to know the man behind the acclaim. > > A bylane in Kodambakkam, Chennai, is filled with people holding boquets, candles and cakes. A > sleek car pulls up, a man hops out with a wide smile on his face. Greeting the crowd that mobs > him. He talks, smiles at clicking cameras and then spots an old lady in torn cotton sari, > standing silently in a corner. He rushes across leaving everyone behind. She flashes him a > toothless smile, gives him a rose and kisses him. "I am so honoured you came," he says. > > In the living room, a Yamaha CLAVINOVA electronic piano sits in the corner. THere is a ROland > D5 editing console, the size of a TT table. A glass-enclosed case holds dozens of awards and > citations. > > Slumdog Millionaire > > "So sorry to keep you waiting," says A.R.Rahman. "But lets sit and talk now." Outside the glass > door are a hundred eager faces watching him. Bagging the Golden Globe award for Best Original > Score in Slumdog Millionaire, has his whole office excited as his fans across the world. Rahman > talks about how the assignment happened. > > "I got a mail one morning from Danny. He said that he knew my music and wanted to work with me > on a project. I had no clue who he was or what he did. I did a Google search and found out that > he was a well known director. Slumdog Millionaire is about suffering, hope and redemption. > Danny was very sure what he wanted from me and what he didn't want. The way he projected my > music is terrific. I don't think any other city has been portrayed as vibrantly as Mumbai has." > > > So, what didn't he want? "Oh, he didn't want romantic and sentimental stuff. He likes edgy > music and that's what we worked on, so it's like a terrific discotheque." > > And the response to his music? "They loved it. LA is a place that people in the entertainment > industry say things that they don't mean. So, I thought they were just being polite. But then I > found that those biggies of Hollywood actually meant every word they said. Although some of the > songs are in Hindi, it didn't seem to matter. Jai Ho, O Saya and Ringa Ringa are all in Hindi, > but they responded to them wonderfully." > > How important is the knowledge of classical music for a composer? "Well, knowing is good. But > then not knowing is also good. Knowing and pretending not to know is also good. When one knows, > ones pride often takes over and doesn't allow one to proceed with one's work. When one doesn't > know, there is no pride and the constant process of learning keeps bringing out one's best. > Either way, the quest for learning must go on." > > Early Times > > Born as Dileep Kumar, he converted to Islam after the illness of his father was miraculously > cured with the healing of a Sufi saint. His father was a musician who "almost killed himself > working. In those days, he did 90% of the job and almost all of it went unrecognized or under > someone else's name. What was worse, he used to be called an 'Assistant'. This sort of a > treatment never let him live a peaceful life. His health deteriorated till he passed away. His > life has taught me not to take on too much work. I get lots of offers every day. But I am fine > doing two or three films a year rather than running around doing twenty. One learns from > life..." > > After the death of his father, the family survived by hiring out the musical instruments which > their father used. This continued till young Rahman started making music himself along with > some close friends. > > He had a band called Magic, in the 1980s, which included Sivamani, the drummer, TV > Gopalakrishnan, mridangam and Deva on the drums. They released a private music album called > Disco 82 which was popular with the young crowd. > > The Sufi philosophy > > Having grown up with problems, one cannot help notice how down to earth Rahman is. Trying to > understand life philosophically helped him heal. He says, "I took to Sufism for the one > question that we all ask. The eternal question: who am I? What was I created for? And in this > search I started opening up and found light and love. THe turning point is to question one self > and start the inward journey to find the answer. At some point, all your intellectual pride > crashes. You feel a power from within. It's this power that drives you." > > A devout muslim, Rahman never misses his namaz five times a day however busy the schedule he > has. It was after his first pilgrimage or the Haj that his son was born. And as if it were a > true blessing, the father and son both share the same birthday! It's the strong Sufi > inclination that gets him to creates his unforgettable melodies. > > Revolutionary music > > Rahman brought about a revolution in Indian film music. There are rumours about the way that > Rahman composes his music, from accusation of plagiarism to the practice of mysterious rituals. > " I love classical music. I love Bach, Beethoven, Verdi. Classical music is like an ocean. All > the other genres of music are mere droplets in it. So there are bound to be influences of > classical music in my work. I also attend music concerts where I can. My favourite musicians > are L. Subramanian and L. Shankar. There are the real heroes of Indian music if you ask me. > It's mind boggling, the phenomenal work they did of taking our music to the world, In those > days when INdian music did not have any global exposure. As for secret rituals..." he laughs. > "It's just that I need complete peace and calm when I compose , so I do it in the night. > Another thing is, I am a father of three kids, they often fight, and I am summoned to make > peace between them in the day time. So, all this is avoided at night." > > Rahman scores music across geographical boundaries by composing for languages like Hindi, > Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Does he mind if sometimes his music is thought to be a flop? > Rahman shrugs. "I didn't know about that. I only know that I make music. Like there was this > movie made by Mani Ratnam called IRuvar, for which I composed. People suddenly realized that > they music was good one year after the film released! So, you never know. What is flop for one, > works for another. As for me, if I haven't invested in myself wholly and felt satisfied about > my music, then I term it as a flop." > > The inheritance of music > > As for music legacy, Rahman doesn't believe in it. "I think music has to change time and again. > RD Burman became himself not because he tried to be his father. Similarly, I dread to be anyone > else or have anyone else take over from me. I keep worrying about my children having a father > like me. People start expecting from them what they see in me. You can be influenced, but you > have to make your own music in the end. " > > Other than film music, Rahman has done a great deal of work in non-film music. "I have been > working with the Hamburg Orchestra, to compose a great Sufi mystic Fareed Al din Attar's > Conference of the Birds. It's not an easy thing. I mentioned it to them and they immediately > commissioned it. It's only after I started working on it, that I realized what I was getting > into. I haven't done much work on it. I feel I need to be spiritually ready for it. > > Are there any specific music directors or singers that he likes. "Mohd. Rafi, Whitney Houston, > Ofra Haza, the Jewish singer, Kylie Minogue..." He also takes time out to watch a film once in > a while. "A good movie I saw recently was Takwa, a Turkish movie and then I saw Waris Shah - > Ishq da Waris by Gurdas Mann, on the Sufi saint Hazrat Waris Shah. I loved them." > > The Philanthropic Composer > > It's difficult to practice Sufism without constant detachment and charity. It was this > philosophy that got him to start the A.R.Rahman Foundation. > > "I was inspired by the El Systema project in Venezuela. They take poor kids from the slums and > train them as classical musicians. This is a movement. There is immense participation and in > the end they come out with some of the best music. So, the foundation I set up is on those > lines. It works to make poverty history in India. If we all put our heads together, we can do > it. We only plant the seed and water it with good intentions. What it grows into is not in our > hands." > > He came up with his first English composition "Pray for me Brother" to raise funds for the > foundation. "I feel that more than anything every person in the world needs love. I hope the > song will create awareness and make a difference in the life of underprivileged children." > Rahman's formula for love and his Sufi philosophy also got him to endorse the famous "Free > Hugs" campaign started by Jason Hunter. > > Rahman took time out along with his old buddy drummer, Sivamani to compose Jiya Se Jiya, the > popular track and video that promotes this campaign. "Believe in the power of love and love > your fellow humans. This is what the world needs now." > > A.R.Rahman chooses top 5 romantic favourites > > 1. When I fall in love by Celine Dion > 2. Theme music of Kal Ho Na Ho > 3. Chopin's Hungarian Rhapsody > 4. Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso > 5. The Theme music from Love Story >
