[arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Soch Lo
Thanks to Karthik for reviewing and recommending this cracker of an album ...haunting tunes http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2010/08/18/soch-lo-music-review-hindi-nitish-pires-charu-moohan-mehboob/ You can hear the songs here ... http://www.in.com/music/soch-lo/songs-78276.html http://www.in.com/music/soch-lo/songs-78276.html -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] ARR at number 25 among 50 most creative Indians
Chord - it does say - in no particular order :-) -A On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 3:07 PM, AJ purev...@yahoo.com wrote: http://www.naachgaana.com/2010/08/16/50-most-creative-indians/#more-50693 Frankly, ARR should be in the top ten. His creative powers remain underestimated. Vishal B was ranked higher than ARR for his films mostly. Hey! Vijay Iyer came in at number 16...higher than ARR! How about that! 50 Most Creative Indians Some are famous, some are not. You may agree with the list, you may not. But these are in our view the most imaginative men and women in the country. *In no particular order.* 1. ARUNDHATI ROY Voted third on Forbes' list of `30 Utterly Inspiring Role Models', the author of God of Small Things is a voice you ignore at your own risk, one as audacious as it's eloquent in raising questions. 2. VISHY ANAND The first Indian world chess champion, formidably fast on the board, inventive with tactics and strategy. He has grown better with age, and there remains no perceptible weakness in his game. A master of player psychology, in the past two world championship matches held recently, he spontaneously adapted his game to the man across the board. 3. AMIT HERI Audiences at the Berlin, Montreux, London and Paris jazz festivals have been bowled over by this guitarist-composer. He's jammed with Angelique Kidjo, Robert Miles and Zakir Hussain, but oddly enough this Bangalore artiste's jazzy riffs remain alien to most Indian ears. For a desi listen, try Jhoola, his album voiced by Kota, Mizo and Uttarakhandi chanters. 4. JITEN THUKRAL AND SUMIR TAGRA Pop went the easel, video and installations in the hands of this Punjabi duo, affectionately dubbed TT. Ever since the 2005 debut of these communication designers, they've artfully trotted out enough material to turn even Elton John into a TT collector. The duo, who've shown at London, Berlin, Sydney and Shanghai, explore HIV and consumerism with safe-sex chaddis and dinosaurs designed from strawberry-syrup bottles. 5. SACHIN TENDULKAR Sachin was the cherub of the team when Kapil Dev took up a bet with him: You must play ten years for India. He played 20. He is still playing. Earlier, bold strokes were Tendulkar's unique selling proposition (USP). Now, it is the way he rations his experience, body and skill to climb peaks only he can. 6. SABYASACHI MUKHERJEE When he graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in 1999, he was heralded as the future of Indian design. In subsequent years, he has lived up to expectations by crafting a series of stunning collections. By using indigenous techniques like bandhani, gota work, block printing and hand dyeing, Sabyasachi creates modern silhouettes that carry a rich aroma of India in them. His kalidaar kurtas, lehengas and saris are in heavy demand across the world, and his label thrives in countries like the US, UK, UAE, Greece, Germany and Singapore. 7. SIDDHARTH BASU The original quizmaster of India, he made general knowledge fashionable among youngsters. Starting off with Quiz Time on Doordarshan, he went on to host and produce programmes like Master Mind India and India Child Genius. Basu's biggest success came in the form of Kaun Banega Crorepati , a show that not just marked Amitabh Bachchan's debut on the small screen, but also redefined TV viewing in India. Through his company, Synergy Communications, Basu is now working on various reality TV formats like Dus Ka Dum¸, India's Got Talent and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. 8. PRASOON JOSHI As a poet, lyricist, award winning adman and Aamir Khan's chief creative officer, Joshi wears many caps. His `Thanda matlab Coca-Cola' campaign, which won a Golden Lion at Cannes, was fizzy enough to guarantee his role as his advertising mentor Piyush Pandey's spiritual successor. 9. JAGGI VASUDEV Some say he's the coolest spiritual guru since Osho. `Sadhguru', who often swaps his trademark beige robes and turban for denims and Orkleys, and enjoys the occasional volleyball game, dubs his brand of spirituality `inner engineering' and `software for the soul', making him the go-to saviour of sanity for millions of stressed out infotech professionals in South India. Now, his Isha Foundation is taking the franchise route to reach a suburb near you. 10. DAKSHA SHETH Over the last 45 years, Daksha Sheth has created an entirely new dance vocabulary by blending Mayurbhanj Chhau, Kalaripayattu, Kathak and the spectacular aerial techniques of Mallakhamb. Not one to shy away from the unknown, Daksha enjoys moving into fresh territory. Some of her famous works include Search for My Tongue, Mahisasur Mardini, Kalia Daman and Sarpagati. 11. SUBODH GUPTA Bihar once had Nalanda. Bihar also housed this artist from Khagaul until he stormed the art world with his cowdung installations, steel katoris (bowls) and kattas (country revolvers). With a sensibility shaped by his home state, Gupta's
Re: [arr] Addicted to Enthiran!
Yes ..and that equates to the album being bad ...right? Its a flop album ...right? hmmm . :-) -A On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 5:52 PM, chelva kumar chelva1...@yahoo.com.sgwrote: My inbox was soo full when VTV was released. Amazingly, its not the same since Enthiran release. Wonder y.hh --- On *Wed, 11/8/10, pratap pratap_elen...@yahoo.com* wrote: From: pratap pratap_elen...@yahoo.com Subject: [arr] Addicted to Enthiran! To: ARR FAN CLUB arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, 11 August, 2010, 9:38 PM I never expected this to happen but I'm addicted to Enthiran especially to Irumbile Oru Idhayam! Had very low expectations for this album actually but I'm totally impressed. One of the best Shankar/ARR combo in terms of a fun album. Youth friendly album:) Totally enjoying it! http://indian-music-bgm.blogspot.com/http://www.facebook .com/pages/ Indian-Movie- BGMS/14614695539 9503http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indian-Movie-BGMS/146146955399503 http://indian- music-bgm. blogspot. com/http://indian-music-bgm.blogspot.com/ Please do not add me in YM. I only use this account for the group... -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Enthiran - And Perfect Gym Music too ....
A plenty has already been written about the music ..some good some bad so I am not going to speak to any of that ... Just feel that its a perfect album for the Gym - thumping beats, the fast paced rhythm ... Try it :-) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] [Non ARR] Aisha by Amit Trivedi
a) Puli songs are not out yet ...are you talking abt the 30 sec promos? b) Aisha is brilliant stuff yet again by Amit T ...definitely recommended. c) 2 brilliant albums by this man in less than 2 weeks .and an ARR album on its way. Music is in the air .. -Anil On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 8:53 AM, kishore parayath kishore.paray...@gmail.com wrote: Go and listen to PULI man! On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 3:37 AM, Indmov Buff indmovb...@yahoo.com wrote: thoroughly recommended! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] [Non ARR] Aisha by Amit Trivedi
Its just impossible ...even worth trying to reason or make some of you understand what we are trying to say here :-) Its not about appreciating Amit Trivedi or making his fan club out here. He is a kid ...a kid who idolizes ARR his efforts are worthy of being noted and appreciated. Some of us out here are here not just because we appreciate ARR's music but because we appreciate music in general - a divine art form - where ARR is the King. So no one is comparing him or for that matter anyone else to ARR ...!! Try and get this point people and you will enjoy music even more !!! -A On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 10:41 AM, kishore parayath kishore.paray...@gmail.com wrote: ARR songs are EXTRA-ORDINARY. We discuss extra-ordinary music here. Amit's songs are good, but ORDINARY. Noteven a single composition of his is EXTRA-ORDINARY. PPL simply overhype him! He is comparable to Shankar Ehsaan Loy. But not AR RAHMAN.. Pls stop Amit Trivedi promotion here! Puli's 30 sec promos itself are ROCKING; and most of us are on an infinite loop here! Pls dont promote ordinary stuff in between. Let us discuss about some brilliant numbers like Maaralante, amma thaale etc! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] I look forward to a day ...
when an ARR album comes unannounced, catches as unawares and catches us all by an absolute surprise. The last time this happened with me at least, was with the album Boys - oh what a joy that was ...no expectations ...no idea what the album was ...and oh ..what a wonderful experience that was Not that I don't enjoy any bit less any of his announced albums but ...just a wish ... Alas ...that might never happen again . -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] ARR - Bay area concert ...Jun 26
Anyone from this group attending this concert ?? Would love to meet up with other fellow Rahmaniacs Drop in a mail and we could try and meet up before the concert . -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] The Week interview
Quite a decent one this ... -A http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?BV_ID=@@@contentType=EDITORIALsectionName=TheWeek%20EntertainmentprogramId=1073754907contentId=6990355 http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/theWeekContent.do?BV_ID=@@@contentType=EDITORIALsectionName=TheWeek%20EntertainmentprogramId=1073754907contentId=6990355 Music to all ears - Two good: Rahman and lyricist Gulzar, after being felicitated by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar for winning Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire *PERSONALITY A.R. Rahman opens up to THE WEEK about ?his work, life, international projects and much more By Nikhil Raghavan* A. R. Rahman. What more to say? Right from his arrival with Roja in 1992 for which he won the National Award, so much has been written—at times ad nauseam—about Rahman. But one just can’t help it. News keep unfurling along with his life. And the maestro started 2010, too, with a bang. On January 6—his 44th birthday—Rahman received a doubly sweet gift: two Grammies for Slumdog Millionaire. The Padma Bhushan followed. They joined his list of over 50 major awards and titles, including four national awards, six state awards, two Oscars, a Golden Globe and 25 Filmfare awards. His sister and composer Reihana aptly puts it: “It’s a way of life now.” But, what’s different now is that the humble and shy ‘Mozart of Madras’ is opening up. “There is a popular saying—'What can’t be achieved through a thousand rallies can be achieved through one song’. My aim is to do songs of great value,” says Rahman. And now, he is experimenting more and churning out unique compositions, like the ones in the recent Tamil film Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya. “The songs are all in a non-structured format. I sensed that the listeners wanted something different. Everything was becoming beat oriented. I wanted to return to melodious stuff with complex chord structures,” explains Rahman. Teamwork is the key, he says: “I want my team to enjoy the work that we do. Only then will there be more creativity and total satisfaction.” With Slumdog, Rahman became a truly global name. He now travels abroad more often, especially to the US. Indeed, Los Angeles is gradually becoming his second home. “Hollywood’s heart beats in Los Angeles. I did Couple’s Retreat [in 2009], which I think has a lot of creative music in it. It has given me a new direction towards international projects,” he says. “After the Grammy, the producers of We Are The World asked me if I would be a part of it. Would anybody in his or her right mind say ‘No’? I sang with Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, Santana The song was conducted by the inimitable Quincy Jones, and we recorded in the same studios where Michael Jackson did the original version.” immediate future In India, Rahman is currently working on the theme song for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. “[Filmmaker] Bharat Bala and I want it to be something which has never been attempted before,” he says. He is also giving the finishing touches to Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, Shekhar Kapur’s Paani, Shankar’s Robot (Enthiran). In the US, Rahman is producing a song for Nicole Scherzinger, after the success of the Jai Ho version sung by her band, the Pussycat Dolls. Also, international studios such as Universal have been approaching Rahman to spot talent and produce albums for them. “I am also talking to film production companies for doing background scores,” he says. As cool as ever With a firm head on steady shoulders, Rahman has never got swayed by fame. “I have never foreseen the future. I still don’t do it. Life is more exciting that way. But, you should have a positive attitude towards everything,” he says. “In a way, in a corner of your mind you should have a vision. I am always 50 per cent positive and 50 per cent negative. Then, you don’t get disappointed. If you have too many expectations, you would get disappointed. “Your cycle of life should never stop. Even if you lose everything, you can be sure that there is something better coming up. And when you get everything, you should be careful to not lose your reality.” However, one can’t say he has not changed at all, admits Rahman. “I have changed in certain things, about 180 degrees I would say. I lead an almost Sufi life, unattached to things, though I am in a most attached world—the film industry. Whether it is sadness or happiness, I try to separate it from my being,” he explains. “Also, I never thought I would start a school, which is the greatest responsibility now. These are the changes which I have never perceived before. I feel very good and elevated.” playing guru Rahman is on a mission to unearth talent and teach organised music to students through his KM Music Conservatory. “My role as a musician is changing from that of a composer to a teacher. I am looking forward to the day when we can have our own orchestra. My target is to be fully functional within the next three years,” he says. “It
[arr] ARR on Lift Kara De - youtube links
Part - 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qjN7nljwIE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qjN7nljwIEPart - 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MXOBUlX2Efeature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MXOBUlX2Efeature=relatedPart - 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r31luSlbEmwfeature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r31luSlbEmwfeature=channelPart - 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SZmiKidOrYfeature=channel Part - 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uNKebk91Ufeature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SZmiKidOrYfeature=channelPart - 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJo1fRUA0cEfeature=channel Part - 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7PDCZP9eX4feature=channel Part - 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkrtpcDgKzAfeature=channel Part - 9 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juYMe-OpdYIfeature=channel Enjoy . -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Request to VTV reviewers (and music reviewers in general)
I have a request to all music reviewers who have reviewed VTV till now.. Can you also post your reviews on sites like Amazon or Itunes or wherever VTV music is available to buy? I have read some amazing reviews of VTV here - Chord/Gayathri to name a few .and I think it only makes sense for these reviews to be present on the website of such online retailers - Not only will it help popularize ARR's music, it will also help folks out there looking for good music in General (and of course ARR's new found fan base after Jai Ho ensures interest in his music) As a person who goes by Amazon reviews for almost anything and everything, I believe that a user review (and a plethora of them) makes a huge difference when it comes to making that final buy decision - especially in this age (and in this country). Agree? -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: (non arr) Some song recommendations
More than agree Sreekar. Amit Trivedi is special This is one more who I have started throwing into this category latelyMickey J Meyer. And of course both of them are ardent devotees of AR :-) That helps ... Good one chord ...pretty decent this ... -A On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:54 PM, sreekar8191986 sreekar8191...@gmail.comwrote: i dont know how many of you agree with me..but after rahman .. i feel its happening again with Amit Trivedi...the same kind of excitement with his each song.what a composer!!...i am eagerly waiting for his full album... --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, ichord purev...@... wrote: Just heard some songs from the movie Striker composed by various MDs/artists. I liked several of the songs. If you get a chance listen to Cham Cham sung by Sonu Nigam, Haq Se (Yuvan's Hindi Debut), Yun Hua Raat (Vishal B - sounds a lot in mood like Kaminey Title Song), Maula, and Pia Saanvara (Sunhidi Chauhan). Very interesting and engaging music!!! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Aus Concert - parramatta news article and good pics
http://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/news/story/photos-jai-ho-ar-rahman-thrills-masses-at-parramatta-park/ http://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/news/story/photos-jai-ho-ar-rahman-thrills-masses-at-parramatta-park/ Photos: Jai ho! A.R. Rahman thrills masses at Parramatta Park - NEWS http://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/news/ - LOCAL NEWShttp://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/news/list/category/local-news/ *16 JAN 10 @ 10:38PM** BY STEVEN DEARE* [image: Photos: Jai ho! A.R. Rahman thrills masses at Parramatta Park] A.R. Rahman sings during his free concert at Parramatta Park. PICTURE: MELVYN KNIPE RAIN did not spoil the musical parade of Indian superstar A.R. Rahman as he thrilled tens of thousands of people in his concert extravaganza at a packed Parramatta Park. Part of the Sydney Festival, the free concert had everything from Bollywood jive, hip hop-influenced grooves and traditional Indian sounds as (see photos here) Rahman and his entourage of colourful dancers captivated the crowd from start to finishhttp://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/ar-rahman-concert-at-parramatta-park/ on Saturday night. That finish to the two and a half hour production came in the form of crowd favourite `Jai ho’, which saw fireworks light the sky while concert-goers danced and chanted the chorus. The Slumdog Millionaire composerhttp://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/indian-superstars-free-concert/ addressed the crowd before the finale on what he had earlier in the night called ``one of the most historic concerts of my life’’. ``Thank you for being part of change,’’ he said, a reference to his wish to end the attacks against Indian students in Victoria. ``I want all of you guys staying here to bless the children of India with love.’’ Rahman also asked the crowd to spare a thought for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. ``Life is just like that. Anything can happen,’’ he said. ``So Jai ho, God bless you all.’’ They were words of wisdom to his adoring crowd, (see photos here) mostly expats from the subcontinent who came from across Sydney and interstatehttp://parramatta-advertiser.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/ar-rahman-concert-faces-in-the-crowd/ . The crowd stretched over 500 metres through a tree-lined corridor in the park, many families seated on picnic rugs. Most people stayed to the end of the concert, albeit some with umbrellas. Black clouds loomed overhead and light rain fell a couple of times but few revellers left early. Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh commented on the mammoth crowd in his welcome speech before the concert. ``I’ve never seen so many Indian people here, it reminds me when I was in Calcutta,’’ he told concert-goers. He asked Australians to embrace all people who come to their country, and called Rahman ``the Sachin Tendulkar of music’’. A spokesperson for NSW Police said there had been no reports of major incidents on the night. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] My opinion on VTV
Great review. And - as if the movie version was not enough to haunt us..now these Unplugged versions are out - God Save us all ! I think in a few days we are all going to be roaming around like Zombies humming these songsin our sleep ...as we work (if not already :-)) -A On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 5:41 AM, Srini saint.si...@gmail.com wrote: A nice review. I'm just enjoying this festive season! Not pongal, I mean this release. Just Mindblowing! This is a treasure. At first I felt hosanna was my favourite of this album, but now I can longer pick one. Nan adi pogiren. Sukku nooragiren! Thank you Mr. Genius. Take a bow. It's gonna be a struggle tomorrow juggling between VTV and watching Jai Ho on TV. Cheers, Srini On Friday, January 15, 2010, Neetika Raina music...@indiatimes.com wrote: I happen to come across a mail written by our fellow friend who claimed that he now takes a longer route back home in order to have some time alone with the soundtracks Not HE, Its SHE..and dats me.. lolz.. Am happy to knw that u read through the lines and could relate to it.. Now a days am facing a new problem.. Am getting up earlier than usual timing in the morning to listen to the songs... In sleep Songs are being played (especially omana penne..)..and as soon as i open my eyes I play the music to give rest to my soul..I wonder if my Childhood has come back, or ARR added some special magic from his pocket ... And our YG is noless than a magic.. Gayathri, am amazed by ur review. Its like you have written my heart out. Thank you so much for penning down those feelings. Its like a magic, while listening to songs if I think about something, in few minutes I find the same talked about in YG.. Amazing to have this family.. ~ Love Music Love Life Neetika ginal Message - From: Gayathri Chandrakasan gayathri_c...@yahoo.com To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 2:56:03 PM GMT +05:30 Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi Subject: [arr] My opinion on VTV Though it has just been two days since I bought the cd, nevertheless for some reasons, I feel as if I've been having an age old relationship with the album. To tell the truth, when I first heard the songs, I did like the album for the overall presentation. However, as the songs kept playing in my cd player, I noticed that there was something extra special about this album. The more I listened to it, the more I'm engrossed with it. And the more I'm engrossed with it, the more I'm unwilling to part from it. In fact, I happen to come across a mail written by our fellow friend who claimed that he now takes a longer route back home in order to have some time alone with the soundtracks. The moment I read it, I just couldn't help but smile...because that's exactly how I felt when listening to the album myself...to spend some time alone with the album and to uncover the truth of what's making it so spellbinding! The followings are merely my thoughts on my new-found friendship with VTV. I'm not a professional commentator nor do I have a profound knowledge as far as music is concerned, thus kindly pardon me if there's any inaccuracy or mistake in the expressions and words used below. 1. Omana Penne Omana Penne starts on a blissful tune coupled with the soothing voice of Benny Dayal. I've always preferred Benny in soft melodies rather than in fast beats or folk numbers. And as expected, Benny has done a wonderful job here. The first saranam was given an under-water-singing effect which reminds me of Blue, nevertheless the similarities ends there. The Kerala portion on the other hand, has a heavenly rhythm which leaves you asking for more. It's always a privilege to hear ARR's usage of ethnic music, even if it's only for a few seconds and he has done an excellent job here as well. And needless to say, Kalyani Menon was the perfect choice for this. On a further note, the nadaswaram used throughout the song was just mind blowing. Initially I had my doubts if the real nadaswaram was used for this particular number nevertheless clarifications given by fellow friends and a quick check with ARR's official website cleared my doubts. Kudos to ARR and Natarajan for churning out an essentially ethnic and yet modern tune. Omana Penne is definitely here to stay! 2. Anbil Avan The techno sound at the prelude seems to have traces of Santhipoma of Enaku 20 Unaku 18. To tell the truth, I didn't find this song to be particularly astounding at first. However, repeated hearing has made me to change my mind. Trust me, this song is highly addictive. Devan did a great job, needless to say. I couldn't think of any other singer who would have given the song the same level of energy that Devan accomplishes. Nevertheless, I must say that Chinmayi was a revelation. I've
[arr] Amazon delays VTV audio delivery date (to March)
I was supposed to have the CD in my hands today and Amazon sent me a mail today that the Order will be delayed all the way till March :-( A company like Amazon should have been able to provide this info much earlier on - i.e. when I placed the order. A sad day today :-( -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Amazon delays VTV audio delivery date (to March)
Well ..I think I will check out some CD Stores here in the Bay Area this weekend. Hopefully one of them might have it. The joy of holding an ARR CD and that too something as special as VTV is just something else :-) Till then Youtube and streaming zindabad ... -A On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 5:40 PM, wiredbeats . wiredbe...@hotmail.comwrote: March!!. No wonder piracy rocks. I pity u man. Go ahead and download the juicy 32Okbps from itunes. What else can you do? Global fans need global timely distribution. Atleast for important regions. sent thru mobile device -Original Message- From: Anil Nair Sent: 14/01/2010 12:00:53 am Subject: [arr] Amazon delays VTV audio delivery date (to March) I was supposed to have the CD in my hands today and Amazon sent me a mail today that the Order will be delayed all the way till March :-( A company like Amazon should have been able to provide this info much earlier on - i.e. when I placed the order. A sad day today :-( -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com Are you searching for a reason, to be kind? b Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic. Only at arrahmanfans.com - The definitive A.R.Rahman e-community. Homepage: http://www.arrahmanfans.com Admin: ad...@arrahmanfans.com To Subscribe: arrahmanfans-subscr...@yahoogroups.com To Unsubscribe: arrahmanfans-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.comyahoo! Groups Links -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] VTV review - Behindwoods ...
http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-music-reviews/review-1/vinnaithaandi-varuvaayaa-silambarasan-rahman.html http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-music-reviews/review-1/vinnaithaandi-varuvaayaa-silambarasan-rahman.htmlVINNAITHAANDI VARUVAAYAA MUSIC REVIEW*Review by : Malathy Sundaram*Music Director : A.R.Rahman Vocals : Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon, Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayee, Karthik, Vijay Prakash, Suzanne, Blaaze, Naresh Iyer, AR.Rahman, Shreya Ghosal, V.Alphonse. Lyrics : Thamarai, Kalyani Menon, Blaaze, Kaithapram. Escape Artists Motion Pictures and R.S.Infotainment produce this movie which has Gautham Menon directing it. Silambarasan and Trisha are the lead pair in this romantic movie which also has Uma Padmanabhan and K.S.Ravikumar starring in it along with others. Manoj Paramahamsa (of ‘Eeram’ fame) handles the cinematography. The film has been shot in picturesque locales in Malta, Rome and the U.S.A. The ‘Mozart of Madras’ A.R.Rahman scores music for the album which lists seven tracks. With expectations sky-high for Rahman, and also for the unique Gautam-Simbhu-Rahman combination, let us happily check out what our Oscar award winner has conjured up this time. *Omana Penne**...* *Vocals:* Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon *Lyrics:* Thamarai, Malayalam Lyrics are by Kalyani Menon This dreamy number starts off with a touch of music that reminds you of the Far East. The feel continues, very [image: Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa] [image: Click here to find out more!] subtly, with the nagaswaram forming the backdrop playing the Bilahari raga. The lyrics are overpowered by the instruments, sure, but Rahman attempts to evoke a certain mood in the listeners with this song and he succeeds. * Anbil Avan... * *Vocals:* Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayee *Lyrics:* Thamarai A joyful union of hearts, as indicated by the lyrics, the very suggestive instrumental bit of ‘anandam, anandam, anandame’ sung after marriages in Tamil Nadu along with the merest whiff of ‘When the saints go marching in’, two minutes into the song. The chorus is cheery and the use of cello and mrudangam sounds adds depth. A lovable number, inspite of all the synthesized sounds. *Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa...* *Vocals:* Karthik *Lyrics:* Thamarai The subtle nuance of the guitars and violin need to be relished as much as Karthik’s soulful singing. A song of utter yearning, this is a number that may take time to sink in, being expressive in an unconventional way. The scale seems to be Kiravani. *Hosanna... ** Vocals:* Vijay Prakash, Suzanne, Blaaze *Lyrics:* Thamarai, English Rap lyric is by Blaaze Christian tradition defines Hosanna as the cry of adoration of the Messiahship of Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem’. Rahman has boldly adopted it to express the joy that erupts in the heart of the hero when his soul mate walks into his life. This lovely number, a mix of a few genres, is richly layered with violin, flute and many other instruments and conceived very differently too. We hear bits of Mohanam and Natabairavi notes all along. Could rock the charts. *Kannukkul Kannai... * *Vocals:* Naresh Iyer *Lyrics:* Thamarai Frantic appeals from the hero to his girlfriend to come back and heal him and the rhythms also have a fitting urgency about them. The shorter lines of the second charanam also carry the mood along. Neat notes from the strings for this number which seems to be based on the Harikamboji raga scale. *Mannippaya... * *Vocals:* AR.Rahman, Shreya Ghosal *Lyrics:* Thamarai Sabaash Rahman, for weaving some very pertinent Tirukkural couplets into this song, which has penitence as its strong underlying mood. Shreya’s voice conveys myriad moods as she moves softly through the song to the sweet accompaniment of guitars and violin. Again an unconventionally textured song. *Aaromale (Malayalam)... * *Vocals:* V.Alphonse *Lyrics:* Kaithapram Oh, this song just defies description! But it has a Rahman-esque addictive charm that cannot be ignored. Sad and pleasant moods alternate. A curious blend of guitars and malayala lyrics. The gentle rhythms that break out with the line’swasti swasti sumuhurtham’ cut into the sobriety of the song in a refreshing manner. You need some repeated listening to savour this. *Verdict:* In a rather telling interview with Nik Gowing of BBC, Rahman expressed his deep desire to bring South Indian (he sweetly included all the four states) music out of its narrow confines and popularize it all over the world because it had so much to offer. He has taken a huge step in that direction with this album. Though the music sounds global, it has some tasteful native sensibilities. Don’t look for anything conventional. How is the lay listener going to respond to this album? Will he allow his conditioned mind to expand and enjoy? Let us wait for the feedback -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] IBNLive Podcast - ARR Interview after the Indian of the Year award
Not sure if this has been posted before...He talks about Oscars, Grammy, working in LA and stuff http://ibnlive.in.com/podcast.php?id=2 http://ibnlive.in.com/podcast.php?id=2-- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: Mannipaya?
A playful Gops.good ..thats one side we rarely see :-) -A On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 5:07 AM, ~ s...@ps ~ swaps15...@yahoo.com wrote: Nicely put up! cheers! swaps --- On *Thu, 12/17/09, Din, D, Nesh dinesh.theb...@hotmail.com* wrote: From: Din, D, Nesh dinesh.theb...@hotmail.com Subject: [arr] Re: Mannipaya? To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 5:03 PM Gops, i think ur trying to share some bits of VTV, but the msgs r appearing empty. It contains nothing. :) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Anbil Avan
You are killing us Gops :-) I wish u write a line or 2 as well about the songs (if u hv heard them as well) -A On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 4:54 PM, pratap pratap_elen...@yahoo.com wrote: There he goes again. Hahahahaha. Making me more and more curious about the track list. Hmm, patience will pay soon http://indian-music-bgm.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/elensar5233 Please do not add me in YM. I only use this account for the group... --- On *Thu, 12/17/09, Gopal Srinivasan catchg...@gmail.com* wrote: From: Gopal Srinivasan catchg...@gmail.com Subject: [arr] Anbil Avan To: arrahmanfans arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, December 17, 2009, 4:49 PM -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] What are you listening to these days?
Well ..I have taken time off from listening to ARR for quite some time now. I think that makes me appreciate and heighten the anticipation for an ARR album even more(though an occasional ARR number does creep in once in a while) Hooked onto music by Mickey J Meyer (now heard 4 albums in all - and he has my stamp of approval for one of the best out there along with Amit Trivedi). Also hooked onto Gomez (a Brit indie rock band) - very very unconventional in their sounds and the way their songs are structured - an absolute joy. Waiting for VTV now ... -A On Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Jafar K gentlej...@yahoo.co.in wrote: Rangeela.. especially aiyayiyo.. wow what a song, what a sound. I have been listening to this marvelous song from yesterday morning, almost 20 - 25 times... --- On *Sun, 13/12/09, Rivjot riv...@yahoo.com* wrote: From: Rivjot riv...@yahoo.com Subject: [arr] What are you listening to these days? To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, 13 December, 2009, 11:06 AM I am listening to Delhi-6 and Sangamam these days! Of course Silent Convocations ABC remain part of my morning daily dose :P -- The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepagehttp://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_yyi_1/*http://in.yahoo.com/ . -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] NG Poll - Best Contemparary MD - no surprises there ...
Even though its just a movie/music buff's forum - I think this is one of the better ones out there ...Naachgaana.com http://www.naachgaana.com/2009/12/13/ng-poll-results-3/ [image: NG Poll Results 3] [image: Poll3_Capture_b.PNG (926×450)] -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Non-Arr] - Recco - Leader - Mickey J Meyer
I know this was mentioned as part of another post - but I think it deserves a post of its own - what an album this one is - Its one of those which gives you a goose bumpykinda feeling and is nothing short of leaving you spell bound. The first track is enough to leave you speechless - the way he has mixed the new sounds with an older composition leaves you gasping for more the moment you hear it. There are tracks sung by Nareshy Iyer, Sunitha Sarathy, Shweta Pandit all of which are brilliant. Highly recommendeddo urself a favor and listen to this album. I think I have to go back to this MD's older albums now. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] breaking - a r gets 2 grammy nominees
Thanks Vijay. Great news for the day ... Surprised though that SDM wasn't included in Category 82 (I guess the presence of MIA and the SEL number made this album a compilation and hence in Category 81) The full list is here http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx#20 http://www.grammy.com/grammy_awards/52nd_show/list.aspx#20 *Category 81* *Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media * *(Award to the Artist(s) and/or Producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album, or to the individual(s) actively responsible for the concept and musical direction and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable.)* - *Cadillac Records* *(Various Artists)* [Music World Music/Columbia] - *Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds* *(Various Artists)* [A Band Apart/Warner Bros.] - *Slumdog Millionaire* *(Various Artists)* [N.E.E.T./Interscope Records] - *True Blood* *(Various Artists)* [Elektra] - *Twilight* *(Various Artists)* [Summit Ent./Chop Shop/Atlantic] *Category 83* *Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media * *(A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)* - *The Climb (From Hannah Montana: The Movie)* *Jessi Alexander Jon Mabe, songwriters (Miley Cyrus)* [Walt Disney Records; Publishers: Vistaville Music, Hopeless Rose Music, Music Of Stage Three, Mabe It Big Music.] - *Decode (From Twilight)* *Josh Farro, Hayley Williams Taylor York, songwriters (Paramore)* [Summit Ent./Chop Shop/Atlantic; Publishers: WB Music Corp/But Father, I Just Want To Sing Music/Josh's Music/FBR Music, Meaux Hits/Hunterboro Music, Rimutaka Music.] - *Jai Ho (From Slumdog Millionaire)* *Gulzar, A.R. Rahman Tanvi Shah, songwriters (A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer Vijay Prakash)* [N.E.E.T./Interscope Records; Publisher: KM Musiq.] - *Once In A Lifetime (From Cadillac Records)* *Ian Dench, James Dring, Amanda Ghost, Beyoncé Knowles, Scott McFarnon Jody Street, songwriters (Beyoncé)* [Music World Music/Columbia; Publishers: B-Day Publishing/EMI April Music, Amanda Ghost Bucks Music Group Ltd./EMI Blackwood, Red Ink Music Ltd., Ian Dench Music/Songs of Kobalt Music, Chrysalis Music.] - *The Wrestler (From The Wrestler)* *Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)* [Columbia; Publisher: Bruce Springsteen.] -A On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 10:22 PM, vi...@kmmusiq.com wrote: For jai ho and best soundtrack,will post more details sn -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Yatra (Kailasa)
I think this is a great one to have for every Kailasa fan even if they have the 3 previous Kailasa CD's. I think most of the songs are from their previous 3 CD's except 2 new songs. Also, there are different versions of their old songs ...including unplugged versions of 2 of them. I never realized the prowess of this band until I saw them live recently and I am hooked now. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] ARR is very weak in selecting projects! What u think?
Agreed ...about Deepa Mehta and/or RDB (mind you RDB had a Aamir Factor associated to it). Delhi 6 wasn't a bad movie by any means - I loved ROM's handling of the movie. I am not saying even for a moment that Gulaal didn't have fantastic stuff from Piyush Sharma (Gulaal is one of the few non-ARR this CD's that I have bought this year) - in fact if you check the forum - I had recommended it to this group. The reference to Gulaal is just to bring up a good movie ..small budget but different ..not the usual Bollywood stuff ...Same thing with Dev D. I don't think its a ground-breaking cinema or the best ever ..but its nice ..a different approach and great use of music ...thats all. As Gomzy said, you need to check out Aamir. Music doesnt necessarily mean dances and songs always. Aamir had a fantastic score in the form of background score. Also, I am not saying that AR works with every new director ...and agreed there is lot crap out there ...its just a personal wish/opinion that he tries out different subjects .good ones though - I dont know whether anyone can judge a director just by speaking to him/her - but I believe someone can spot talent - someone in AR's camp can do that for him. Its an opinion ...good or bad ...horrible or fantastic - however be the movie ...our man delivers and I trust him - right from the Roja days to today and will do forever :-) -A On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 9:47 PM, V S Rawat vsra...@gmail.com wrote: On 10/17/2009 9:32 AM India Time, _Anil Nair_ wrote: Well actually ...I think this is a good subject or lets say an offshoot of this would be a more interesting one. A good one for a debate. Why is that AR is not typically associated with small time directors and/or projects I would love to see AR in a movie like 'Wake Up Sid' or a 'Johnny Gaddar' or 'Aamir' - I wonder if these directors never even dare to approach AR. I mean even a small time movie like JTYJN had AR in it only because Aamir Khan got him into it and the movie then became big ARR has done small movies for Deepa Mehta, so it is not that he is not associated with small time director. He was there with her right from her very first Fire when no one has heard her name. And after that first movie of ROP Mehra had flopped in the worst way, critically as well as commercially, even then ARR did RDB for him, so it is not that he avoids producers directors of failed films. And when ROP Mehra had shown his abilities in RDB to give a hit, then it is not an issue that D6 failed. btw, as per your line of thinking, I feel that you are mentioning good movies from new directors, or small budget movies, but there had been enough junk pelted out by such new directors also and in small budget films also. So, deciding to work with every new director and every small budget movie is not going to be feasible. You mention Aamir. Where was music in it? Where at all was the situation for music it? Why should ARR have done it. The movie was no way a hit also, and was more like a hollywood sort of movie with a drastically different storyline. the end was hopeless so that also puts a question mark on director's capabilities then why should ARR have done it. Similarly for Gulaal and Dev D, I think Anurag Kashyap still have a lot to learn. he starts good but gets confused en route and ending movie is not really a classic. several people liked Dev D as it has some surprise elements, but I personally find it utterly confusing, and I consider it a shame that it is clubbed with the name of classic Devdas. Devdas novel and earlier film had a panoramic vision of life of that day and time, but Dev D couldn't give the complex panoramic view of today's life. Gulaal movie also leaves a lot to be desired, there were several loose ends in it. The music became a hit on its own strength, but the treatment of songs was no way a visionary. 3 great songs filmed end to end at the end, including one at the end credits which didn't even have visuals, that is not the good treatment we can expect for our man's songs. As for Gulaal, I am very much happy with its music, and Piyush Mishra had become a new find of bollywood, so I am happy that ARR didn't do it so Piyush got an opportunity. :-) see, it cuts both ways. ha ha ha. -- Rawat There is a revolution happening in India with these Indie type of movies in India - there have been some fantastic movies over the past few years - Khosla ka Ghosla, Johnny Gaddar, Aamir, Dev D, Gulaal, Wake Up Sid to name a few. I wish AR was part of such movies as well. -A� � On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 8:20 PM, Vithur vith...@gmail.comvithurm%40gmail.com mailto:vith...@gmail.com vithurm%40gmail.com wrote: � Pls change the subject line. AR isnt weak of anything. Its just that the movie didnt click well, for various reasons. � AR does movie for the sake of the Director ( many a times) ... he is a �people
Re: [arr] ARR is in Ghent, Belgium for WSA awards
He missed the composer award Desplat won for Benjamin Button Though the Best Song went to Jai Ho http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010042.html?categoryid=13cs=1 -A http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010042.html?categoryid=13cs=1 On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 1:51 AM, Farzad Khaleel farsad...@gmail.com wrote: Wondering how he manages to travel to different places without any break ~ On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 8:02 AM, Ramesh R triscod...@yahoo.com wrote: The award ceremony is on Oct 17th, evening. http://www.worldsoundtrackacademy.com/news2.cgi?go=detailid=863lang=en -- Farshad N Mob: 055-2660114 email:farsadkhal...@gmail.com email%3afarsadkhal...@gmail.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] ARR is very weak in selecting projects! What u think?
Well actually ...I think this is a good subject or lets say an offshoot of this would be a more interesting one. A good one for a debate. Why is that AR is not typically associated with small time directors and/or projects I would love to see AR in a movie like 'Wake Up Sid' or a 'Johnny Gaddar' or 'Aamir' - I wonder if these directors never even dare to approach AR. I mean even a small time movie like JTYJN had AR in it only because Aamir Khan got him into it and the movie then became big There is a revolution happening in India with these Indie type of movies in India - there have been some fantastic movies over the past few years - Khosla ka Ghosla, Johnny Gaddar, Aamir, Dev D, Gulaal, Wake Up Sid to name a few. I wish AR was part of such movies as well. -A On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 8:20 PM, Vithur vith...@gmail.com wrote: Pls change the subject line. AR isnt weak of anything. Its just that the movie didnt click well, for various reasons. AR does movie for the sake of the Director ( many a times) ... he is a people Centric Person On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 2:25 AM, mohammed sajin mnsa...@yahoo.com wrote: Blue the last disaster in Boss's account! It is very much painful to see all these superior works gone ruin. How many time this happens!!! Except with some established directors(or Ameer Khan), AR movies could not manage success in both quality-wise and in box-office. Certainly there is lot of new talented directors in both Hindi and Tamil. Unfortunately ARR would not opt them, or viceversa. We don't want anymore movies like BLUE, Yuvvraaj, Sakkarakatti, ATM,Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, E20 U18, Godfather, Parasuraam, Anbe aaruyire, SOK, etc etc http://sig.graphicsfactory.com/ * * -- -- regards, Vithur -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Review - DNA reviews Blue - Blue is BLAH ...
So start the negative reviews http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_film-review-blue-is-blah_1299450 *Mumbai: ** Film:* *Blue* (U/A) *Director:* Anthony D'souza *Cast:* Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta and others *Rating:* * http://www.dnaindia.com/img/1299457.jpg javascript:prev();http://www.dnaindia.com/img/1299457.jpg javascript:next(); Anthony D'souza, director of *Blue*, said in an interview that it was important to keep the running time of the film under two hours (1.57hrs to be precise) so that the audience didn't get bored. D'souza couldn't have got it more wrong. Blue could have easily been shorter, or even not have been made at all. Okay, agreed that India hasn't seen an action film of this scale before. The canvas is huge, the cinematography pretty good and the making slick. Money has been spent like water and that's the closest the film comes to its theme. But even as *Blue* tries to emulate every Hollywood film in the action genre, it hardly matches up to any of them. It instead ends up, embarrassingly, like a poor B-grade film from the west. *Bad Boys* anyone? Nope, this one's just bad. If you've seen the promos, you roughly know the plot. It's another matter that even after the film ends, you don't really know what the plot was after all. Way back in 1949, the British decided to return some of India's jewels back to the country and dispatched them on a ship called Lady in Blue. The vessel sunk, untraced, in mysterious circumstances and its contents remained lost. Now businessman Aarav (Kumar, addressed annoyingly as Sarkar) wants to find the 'treasure' the ship carried and can only do so with the help of friend-cum-employee Sagar (Dutt, addressed annoyingly as Sethji). Everything else pertaining to the plot is incidental and as pointless as the premise of the film itself. Director D'souza needs to know that an action film needn't necessarily have close-up shots of a woman's cleavage and derrière repeatedly and pointless gun firing and chase sequences. It definitely should not have lengthy verbose scenes, especially when the film rests on such a flimsy plot in the first place. You pray for the story to move on, but Gulshan - played by Rahul Dev - mouths dialogues like* Apnanapan hai* and such others at a leisured pace, while scenes seem repetitive. And after all that talk about the 'treasure hunt', all that the actors do in the end is dive into the sea and its right there waiting for them. How in hell did no one else ever get their hands on all that gold! Among the 'jewels' you take back home with you is Akshay Kumar saying *Hamein treasure hunt pe jaana hoga* - or something to that effect - like it's a trip to Lonavala and back. For the actor himself, the film is a new low. Every time you step in to watch a Kumar film now, you are expecting something nonsensical, but you hope it at least entertains you in the bargain. After disappointing you every time in his last - we've lost count now - few films, this one just makes you hope that he'll finally realise that a film also needs a script! Sanjay Dutt looks bloated, and no effort goes into ensuring that the paunch is somewhat hidden. He, however, puts in a decent effort. Zayed Khan is as far from being cool as the amount of effort he puts into looking it. Lara Dutta provides the appropriate eye candy to save the film from being a complete washout. It's not that a film like *Blue* needs an Oscar-winning script or even scenes that justify the action. Most escapist entertainers of this variety rely on a racy script that keeps you on-the-edge and breathtaking action that blows your mind away. This film, sadly, has neither. So what's the point, you say? Here, it seems like the idea was to make the Hindi film industry's 'costliest' film, make a lot of noise about it, get people in theatres during the holiday season and have a 'Hit' on hands. Hopefully, the next time, all that money would be used to make something that's at least worth watching. This one isn't. Except, if you're looking for a spoof. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] The General Perception of ARR's music
Do you think the general perception of AR's music in the minds of people has changed considerably over the past year or two? Maybe more so after (or during) the Jai Ho storm? I feel that more people have turned Rahmaniacs in the past couple of years than in a long time - people understand his music better and the reviewers don't just engage in AR bashing as they previously did - this give his music some repeated listening before their reviews? Of course this excludes us Rahmaniacs who also have become more critical of his work :-) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Joginder Tuteja Reviews Blue - 4/5
its a video(audio) review... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QByGoittbEfeature=player_embedded# -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] from karthik's itwofs - Whats your RRP? [Rahman Realization point]
http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/10/14/whats-your-rahman-realization-point/ http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/10/14/whats-your-rahman-realization-point/ The 2 composers about whom I’ve gushed generously in this blog are Ilayarajahttp://itwofs.com/milliblog/2008/02/16/ilayaraja-in-my-life/ and A R Rahmanhttp://itwofs.com/milliblog/2007/08/12/15-years-of-arrahmans-music-1992-to-2007-and-continuing/. I still find my life’s choicest moments unfolding within my brain whenever I see Ilayaraja. With Rahman, its a bit different – its perhaps sheer admiration for the way he has changed film music in the country. But, from a madcap Rahman fan – yes, I used to run a website calledarrmp3http://www.geocities.com/arrmp3/ *cringe*! – to being an objective Rahman admirer who can actually trash one of his soundtrackshttp://itwofs.com/milliblog/2008/11/22/music-review-ghajini-hindi-a-r-rahman/ (personal opinion, of course!), I have come a long way. Beyond this path, one thing does stay – the first time I became aware of Rahman’s pioneering sound. I called it the ‘Rahman Realization Point’ (RRP – cheesy, I know!) in a post way back, on October 5, 1999http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arrahmanfans/message/3592, to be precise, in a post in the Rahman Yahoo Group! So, here’s my RRP. It was 1992, August 15. I was at school, attending one of those annoying flag hoisting ceremonies. When I came home, my dad told me that there was a beautifully composed and picturised song on the telly (Chinna chinna aasai – Dil hai chota sa) in a new movie called ‘Roja’, (Doordarshan had a special Chitrahaar – called Oliyum Oliyum, in Tamil – for newly released movies that day, like any other festive holiday) which was incidentally released that day. I was real mad at my school that made me miss it! Then, on Friday, I caught the first glimpse of ‘Kaadhal rojavae’ (Roja jaaneman) on TV. I didn’t even know who Rahman was….I was just gung-ho about Maniratnam’s new movie because I have been a big fan of his work. I had read about his break-up with Ilayaraja and that he was working with a new composer. Then, I heard this song and went absolutely bonkers! The song was unlike anything I’ve heard before! That was the first time I asked ‘Who is this A.R.Rahman?’. There are other moments, later in my life, when, without knowing the composer’s name, I’ve been able to say that the music is definitely by Rahman. For instance, Gang Master’s ‘Hello hello premalekha’. It used to play on Zee TV’s Telugu music feed on weekday evenings, back in the 90s. And the minute I heard this song for the first time, I had an instinct that it was certainly by Rahman. So, I immediately got a pen friend (befriended via the youth magazine of those days, Target!!) in Chennai to get me the cassette couriered to me. These days, of course, with the internet, we’re far more clued into film credits, so all this exotic exploration goes out of the window. So, what’s your Rahman Realization Point? -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: Right to opinion - do you think these songs lack soul?
Brilliantly put Gayathri ..its so true ...the fact that ARR never ceases to surprise us ...makes us happy ...and the fact that so many of us ...we grew up with them. At every juncture in our life, there is some ARR tune that we can relate to ...remember those days with that movie song that came out at that time. I think thats what makes ARR so special ..he has given so many of us those moments ..those special moments that makes our life tick ... -A On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 7:54 PM, Gayathri Chandrakasan gayathri_c...@yahoo.com wrote: Dinesh, I understand your point as I too grew up listening to ARR's songs all my life. Without meaning to sound disrespectful to MDs like Ilayaraja, Jatin-Lalit and others, I wish to state that I never had much interest in Indian music before Roja. I found that most of the tunes to be repetitive, predictable and at most times distasteful (at least to me). And the only time I actually listen to these songs was when they are played in the movie. So much so, that the thought of purchasing the audio cassette never occured in my mind. And then, Roja came. It swept me like a fresh breath of air. The blissful Chinna Chinna Aasai still gives me goosebumps today! Movies like Gentleman, Puthiya Mukham, Thiruda Thiruda, Duet followed suit and by then, I was hooked to ARR's music. The first cassette that I bought in my life was ARR's Gentleman. (I actually saved my allowance money for months to purchase the cassette). The first cd that I bought was ARR's Minsara Kanavu. In short, it's safe to say that my life revolved around ARR's music. I grew up with them...I grew up in them. Therefore, it came as no surprise to me that he went on to make major changes to his music. Why should I? The revolution he made was the sole reason that generated me to listen to Tamil music in the first place. Thus, I'm proud to say that I love Guru, Rang De Basanthi, and Blue as much as I love Roja, Gentleman and Puthiya Mukham. I would go on to say that the new genre he creates, the new tunes he invents is as priceless as any of his previous compositions. And that is the reason why I beg to differ with Sriram's and your opinion. When you say (and I quote) And i too truly believe the lack usage of carnatic raagam is the sole fact of his lack of soulfulness albums nowadays, naturally, it would irk some members' feelings. You have rights to your own opinion of course, nevertheless, stating your opinion as a fact is totally uncalled-for. I agree when some say ARR has reduced the usage of carnatic music in his recent songs. But to quote that as the reason for the lack of soulfulness in his recent albums is definitely debatable. To begin with, carnatic music is not the only genre in Indian music. History states that carnatic is the sub-genre of Indian classical music. The other being Hindustani music, which have also played a major role in all indian music (and I truly believe that Tamil films are no exception to them either). Therefore the limitation of a particular genre of music will definitely not be a reason for lack of any soulfulness in any music, let alone ARR's. In your previous mail, you mentioned about a gentleman who is well versed in carnatic music. Your mail suggested that you agree with his view that the lack of carnatic music is the reason why many feel that ARR has lost his touch, and that's the sole fact. Allow me to pose a question. Do you know what raga was used to compose En Veetu Thothatil from Gentleman, or Ennavale from Kadhalan? Truthfully, I didn't know that pure carnatic music were used to compose these masterpieces. To me, they were film songs and more accurately, ARR's songs. I never bothered to analyse the genre of the songs...not back then and not even now. And I believe many don't analyse them either. They simply enjoy the songs for the way it has been created. The same goes for Rehnuma in Blue. I love this song...I've been hearing them for the umpteenth time now. What genre of music does this song generate from? Again, I have no clue. I just love it for the way it has been presented. And to think about it, does Rehnuma which seemingly a western song lack the soul of Ennavale, a classical based song? In my opinion, they don't. If Ennavale was composed today, using western music and western instruments, I believe it would still be soulful. Because soul doesn't lie in a particular system of music...it lies in the way the song is presented. People who are inclined towards carnatic music might find songs like Fiqrana and Rehnuma as soul-less. Likewise, those who love western music might find songs like Sowkiyama from Sangamam a-little-too-hard-to-digest. But ARR's music was never catered to fulfil a certain section's need. The beauty of his music is that he never left any stones untouched. There's always something for everyone. That is why he, a Tamilian, could create a storm in the Bollywood, a territory
Re: [arr] Re: Musings of a Rahmaniac!
Truly captures the essence of a Rahmaniac. Gopal - one more to forward to ARR ...nothing better than this as a Thank you note :-) -A On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 2:14 PM, ichord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: So beautifully written, Vinod, and this so much expresses what we all feel! Three cheers for you Fantastic writeup!!! --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Vinod R Iyer vinod.ramamoor...@... wrote: Couldn't help but write this .. I know this is nothing new for everyone out here .. But after CR , I just couldn't hold on to my fingers. It is not a review of CR. I have given up reviewing Rahman's music! http://myworldofmnm.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/musings-of-a-rahmaniac/ Musings of a Rahmaniac I don't know where to start. And I am sure there would be no ending. People follow music religiously. And there are others who take up music as a profession and/or as a hobby. They learn music in different forms. Perform in various stages. Make a living out of it. And there are others who just listen to music. People have different tastes when it comes to music. Some like classical, some like rock, some like reggae and some like jazz. But there are a set of people who would listen to anything that comes their way. But when it comes to listening to a man's composition, they would leave aside everything else. These people would dedicate their lives for one cause – being a Rahmaniac. There is only one religion that they follow – Rahman's music. They call him Boss. And no points for guessing who their God is. I know, it is crazy calling a human being God. But craziness comes to them naturally. The amount of pride these people take in being a Rahmaniac is bewildering. They would have first hand information of his compositions. What movies he has signed, what song is coming next, researching deep into each one of his compositions – they take all this up as their duty. Following Rahman in his concerts, buying original CDs on the first day of music release, posting their thoughts in various groups are all part of their duties. They do it blindly. Once you are a Rahmaniac, there is no looking back. You have to catch up with every composition of his'. And defending every composition of his too when people accuse that the songs are not up to Rahman's standard. It is mighty hard for them to accept that any Rahman composition can be ordinary. Ask them what the one thing is that you want to do in life. The answer would be simple –Meet the Boss! One of the things you would notice about rahmaniacs is all of them would have their status message reflecting his song names/movie names etc. It is not to show off their craziness. They do not know any other way in which they can express the happiness, bliss, eternal piece they feel while listening to a his album. And the pleasure you get when you play the CD for the first time, is unmatched. The CD would be played in loop. And on each round of listening, the music grows on you. Slow nectar, they call it. There are other songs/compositions too which would be like cocaine – would shoot up to the brain straight. These people need no drugs to follow the music. His music in itself would take the effect. So what is bringing out this huge outpour of emotions into words. The Oscars ? The Golden Globe? I guess not. Something better has happened in the year 2009. It started with a certain song called Arziyan. Life had a new meaning to it. People say you have to die to go to heaven. I tell them I have been their atleast a thousand times – each time I hear Arziyan. I thought that had to be the best composition of the year. But along came Passage. The moment I heard Tango, I was paralyzed. I could not understand the emotion that I was going through. From happiness to fear to anger to sorrow, I felt them all together at a single point. And by the time the harmonica, violin and the keyboard had stopped playing, I was transported. I did not want to open my eyes. I did not want to come back to the real world. But then I had to. Since I knew that more was coming my way. A (re)treat was coming my way. And today, the day on which Couples Retreat is unveiled, I thank God, the real one, for having had me live in this era – The era in which A.R.Rahman lived. And to Boss – all I can say is Un isai mattum illayendral, naan endro endro irandiruppen Signed A Rahmaniac - Have Fun, Vinod R Iyer http://the-other-side-of-mirror.blogspot.com http://myworldofmnm.wordpress.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: Unveiling the soundtrack of Couples Retreat
Wow !!! There goes my Gym plans for the evening :-) Thanks Gopal and of course Thanks ARR -A On Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 8:20 PM, Arun KB Ganesh ergu...@gmail.com wrote: B-L-O-W-NA-W-A-Y !! Sajna got me emotional :-) Feeeling so happy after a long time.. Thank you ARR .. Thank you , thank you, thank you :)) On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Vinod R Iyer vinod.ramamoor...@gmail.com wrote: huraaay .. Life just got better :) Let's Play !! Cheers On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 8:34 AM, Arun KB Ganesh ergu...@gmail.comwrote: I second you Chord ! Truly great stuff ... On Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 8:29 AM, ichord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: Oh MY GOD!!! Gopal! Thanks so much! I wish every ARR soundtrack could be unveiled like this! The MUSIC IS ABSOLUTELY MINDBLOWINGCOMPLETELY BLOWING AWAY MY EXPECTATIONS! Check out the sounds guys, the instruments, the beauty of ARR right here!! Great, I was just about to fall asleep, and now I can't Thank you, thank you --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Gopal Srinivasan catchg...@... wrote: http://www.couplesretreatsoundtrack.com/ -- Have Fun, Vinod http://the-other-side-of-mirror.blogspot.com http://myworldofmnm.wordpress.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Ph.D. Dissertation on Rahman's music?
Well ...at an Stanford event couple of years back where ARR was honored - one of the presenters who was doing her PhD in Music (an American or European lady), I think her thesis or research subject was on Indian music and she definitely had studied ARR's music all the way from Roja up until then. I don't remember her name though but if there is someone else who attended that event and remembers the details, probably they can spell it out. -A On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 11:06 AM, ichord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: We all know ARR is now a doctor 3 times over with his 3 honorary doctorates. He is truly deserving of these degrees. However, wouldn't it be cool if someone did their Ph.D. dissertation or thesis on his music? Would that be even possible? I think it is! Imagine someone pursuing their Ph.D. in anthropology of music or ethno-musicology. The phrase anthropology of music is most closely associated with Alan P. Merriam's 1964 landmark book bearing this title. In this prescriptive text, influential through the 1980s, Merriam defines ethno-musicology as the study of music in culture in relation to the mutual interactions of sound, behavior, and concepts. Above quote taken from: http://science.jrank.org/pages/7893/Music-Anthropology.html#ixzz0RffZiTPx Someone could easily pick AR Rahman's music from India as a theoretical dissertation topic, highlighting how Rahman's music not only represents the broad diversity of Indian culture, but how his music, like India, absorbs various world influences to form its coherent identity from a conceptual basis and its subsequent impact on human behavior and culture. Rahman has enough of a volume of both domestic and international music for someone to really study and create a dissertation. It would be absolutely fascinating! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] strength of FIQRANA
Lets try and turn the weak points into some strengths ..shall we? 1) blue theme - an adrenaline rush ...this one. A sure shot club song in days to come if not already. The way he has made 6 people sing ..each with a specific purpose - theres only one man who could make it work - ARR. 2) yaar mila tha - a modern twist to an old styled hindi song of the 60's or the 70's. Slow as they come but tremendous improv by ARR 3) Bhool Tujhe - The lyrics ..u r forgetting the lyrics. Coupled with the music and the voice, makes for an interesting and of course great number. 4) Chiggy Wiggy - Noisy yes ...but listen to the instrumentation in the background specially the part where the shehnai comes in. 5) Aaj Dil - The piano of course fantastic - didn't u notice how ARR has made Shreya and Sukhvinder sing in this song. The wavering, the way one voice stops and the other starts and of course everything put together. Amazing ... 6) Rehnuma - Familiar to what? I think enough has been written already about the beauty of this song which leaves us with Fiqrana ...u got that one right ..its one helluva song :-) -A On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 3:22 PM, chandrasekaran guruprasad gurudutta1...@yahoo.com wrote: Follwing aare the week points in blue songs other than fiqrana 1. blue theme - Sounds well as a BGM but as a song it is of short duration 3 min.. 2. yaar thila - Too slow 3. Boola thuje - melody is not enough though guitar sounds good 4. Chiggy wiggy - Noisy at bangra phase 5 Aaj dil - Except piano nothing special 6. Rehnuma - Noisy and tune looks familiar... But FIQRANA outbeat all others and stands number one.. --- On *Sun, 9/20/09, ichord purev...@yahoo.com* wrote: From: ichord purev...@yahoo.com Subject: [arr] Re: Sounds Of Blue!!! To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 6:17 PM Agreed! Blue has lots to offer! --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. comhttp://us.mc522.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, praka_here praka_here@ ... wrote: hi friends, have been listening to blue for one week...what to say..it is a super album with lots of sounds in each song... many unheard sounds are still there...some sounds just come and go for a few seconds..!! wow.. this album is a real treat to the ears!!! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Got the CD finally ....Blue is ARR unleashed ....
Finally managed to get hold of the CD today and its being playing non-stop ever since. Had gotten tired listening to the versions online - it left such a lot to be desired. The CD finally addresses all that and much more. Not problems with the quality here - its a tad too loud but nothing that really hurts the wonderful magic that our man has created. Fiqraana has me hooked on ever since I heard the snippets a week back or so and it still continues to amaze me. Can't believe that Vijay Prakash's voice sounds so much like its ARR himself ...wow Life is good. Its always good with ARR's music ..a new album just further enhances it :-) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: 'Blue' Sound/Audio Quality - Dissapointed
Some interesting discussion this. I hope Gopal/Vijay summarize this inform AR to see if he has to say something about this (that is is ARR himself by some fluke has not read this chain already) -A On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 12:18 PM, wiredbeats wiredbe...@yahoo.co.in wrote: yes gomzi. I agree. Even i voiced a similar opinion few days ago. But on second thought i think we should compare sound quality and loudness with productions made when the CD generation took off. In the sense, Dil Se and before the mix suited cassette distribution, as in cassettes sold more than CD. Post Taal i think CDs really started to take off and future mixes accommodated the dynamic range that CDs provided. In those days cassettes used to sound louder then CDs. And CDs clearer. Now everything is messy, CDs everywhere and each one competing to be with more Oomp. There could be a business reason for Blue sounding the way it ( which is good, not the rahman best). Its a all out commercial album sitting next to similar genre of films. Rahman brand can make it fly off initially, but if the thump is missing then DJs wont play it naturally without mixing or wont become a party playlist. So i am ok with it.If Chiggy Wiggy has to be played in nightclubs then it has to sound the way it does now. Loud!! But lookin at it purely from a production standpoint its simple 1. Great production 2. Cool music 3. Can sound better...loudness is not the answer. sorry folks some of you are irritated with me i know. Remixes I Originals I Opinions at http://www.wiredbeats.com http://www.wiredbeats.com/ -- *From:* Gomzy™ gomtesh.upad...@gmail.com *To:* arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com *Sent:* Sunday, 13 September, 2009 9:10:30 PM *Subject:* Re: [arr] Re: 'Blue' Sound/Audio Quality - Dissapointed That is exactly what Arun and some of us are trying to say ! This is not the first time that ARR is using multi layers of orchestration. Take a Dil Se or Taal or WOHE. Why arent these soundtracks loud? I am sure these had more layers in them than Blue. Take the Dil Se song, and compare it with Aaj Dil Gustaka hai.* Sound Wise *. Please tell me if the audio clarity with each instrument distinctly audible is possible with aaj dil gustaka hai. Again sound quality wise.If yes, then i have issues with my ears. On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 8:07 PM, Prasad Varma svspva...@yahoo. comsvspva...@yahoo.com wrote: Anand, You have hit the nail on the head when it comes to multi layering. I did refer to specific sections of the soundtrack that had fewer layers that sounded crystal clear in my earlier mail to highlight this point. I think there are a few members who do not like the 'busy' flavor of the album which is perfectly justified. Also for my untrained ear, it feels that AR moved away from the Treble rich digital sound of the 90s towards a more warm, bass friendly analogish sound in the 2000s. For example you do not hear the sound of En Swaasa Katrea or Kabhi Na Kabhi any more. There have been several posts on this forum lamenting that AR does not make music like he used to before. Now, a decade is a long time when it comes to technology, AR overhauled his studio equipment too and more importantly he always strives to innovate. Plus his programmers have been changing and they do contribute to the sound. Sometimes these changes may be to our personal preference aand sometimes they are not. I personally was not fully appreciative of his sound in the early 2000s including Yuva and right up to Rang De Basanti especially with his Rhythm section. It all changed for me with the vibrant and youthful guitar strumming of Kabhi Kabhi Aditi. From the promos of Blue, one gets an impression that they are positioning this film as a sophisticated and slick thriller. I think Blue spent a lot of time in Post production if one can borrow that phrase and the umpteen vocoder effects and distorted guitar sounds point in that direction. There are very few sections of the soundtrack (Yaar Mila Tha) that are not heavily made up and tweaked. Given the fact that this is AR's first release post academy awards and from his own rare liner notes about expectations, I'd find it extremely hard to imagine that AR would let shoddy and inferior recordings pass muster. If the sound is not likable that is another story... :-) :-) PV -- *From:* Anand Bharathan an...@tmh.ae *To:* arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com *Sent:* Sunday, September 13, 2009 8:09:25 AM *Subject:* RE: [arr] Re: 'Blue' Sound/Audio Quality - Dissapointed Arun, I don’t post much but could not help here after noticing a slight unpleasantness in the tone of your mail. You are sounding as if ARR is doomed in the future if he does not take care of this sound aspect. I personally feel ARR is completely aware of what he and his team of sound engineers are doing because we
Re: [arr] Review - Karthik (Milliblog) reviews Blue
Well if I am not wrong ..I think Karthik likes the album too. So I guess e are all on the same page here :-) He does not think it is path-breaking but otherwise ..he likes it too. -A On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 10:44 AM, Gomzy™ gomtesh.upad...@gmail.com wrote: oh never mind himhe usually wants to post the review before anyone doeseven if it means to listen to a track only once... On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 8:49 PM, Anil Nair rhythmca...@gmail.com wrote: http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/09/09/music-review-blue-hindi-a-r-rahman/ http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/09/09/music-review-blue-hindi-a-r-rahman/Blue sees Rahman offering his massiest sound in quite some time, but – as always – with enough cues that denote his going the extra step, even within the commercial limitations. Rehnuma is perhaps the best example – starting with a compelling bluesy base, it takes on a dazzling James Bond theme tone soon! Aaj dil and Fiqrana are instantly likeable – the ones that expose a surprising layer every day; they tread conventional patterns, but still hold free-flowing phrases that one unravels rather reluctantly, given our need for symmetry! Bhoola tujhe is sedentary and routine, despite the neat orchestral nuances that Rahman adds thoughtfully. Yaar mila tha is Rahman doing a full-on masala track; but he does deviate, remarkably, in the antara! As for Chiggy Wiggy, this could have been any recent composer in Hindi and from that perspective it is rather distracting – but the track, particularly Sonu Nigam’s vivacious taming-of-Kylie bhangra portion, is addictive! The unexpected winner of this soundtrack is the hyper-energetic Punjabi blast in the Blue Theme, complete with a bouncy orchestration, incredible vocals by 6 singers and that minor, but startling ‘Bi-loo’ call! Blue is not path-breaking; but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully orchestrated soundtrack. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Review - Karthik (Milliblog) reviews Blue
http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/09/09/music-review-blue-hindi-a-r-rahman/ http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2009/09/09/music-review-blue-hindi-a-r-rahman/Blue sees Rahman offering his massiest sound in quite some time, but – as always – with enough cues that denote his going the extra step, even within the commercial limitations. Rehnuma is perhaps the best example – starting with a compelling bluesy base, it takes on a dazzling James Bond theme tone soon! Aaj dil and Fiqrana are instantly likeable – the ones that expose a surprising layer every day; they tread conventional patterns, but still hold free-flowing phrases that one unravels rather reluctantly, given our need for symmetry! Bhoola tujhe is sedentary and routine, despite the neat orchestral nuances that Rahman adds thoughtfully. Yaar mila tha is Rahman doing a full-on masala track; but he does deviate, remarkably, in the antara! As for Chiggy Wiggy, this could have been any recent composer in Hindi and from that perspective it is rather distracting – but the track, particularly Sonu Nigam’s vivacious taming-of-Kylie bhangra portion, is addictive! The unexpected winner of this soundtrack is the hyper-energetic Punjabi blast in the Blue Theme, complete with a bouncy orchestration, incredible vocals by 6 singers and that minor, but startling ‘Bi-loo’ call! Blue is not path-breaking; but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully orchestrated soundtrack. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Did anyone notice the whistling sounds in Dil Se Re, second half?
Yep ..the magic of ARR. Had noticed it probably when I heard Dil Se on my walkman for the first time...thats something that even though sends a chill down my spine (in a nice way). Similarly in Tehzeeb - Meherbaan Meherbaan ..there is a particular note that starts around 4:24 and then separates out and then merges back at around 4:36 and then plays alongside pure magic :-) Heard that? Its little things like this that make our man so unique ...so damn unique ... -A On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 8:32 PM, ichord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: They're in the background in the mix, but definitely there. It's a loop. Only ARR could do something wild like that! I've known about this sound in the song for a long time. Has anyone else noticed it? It starts right when the second music interlude begins. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] (non arr) album recommendation
Holy Cows ..from where and how did this one happen. Its actually quite a good album. Thanks for the recco Chord ... -A On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 4:38 AM, ichord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: I hesitate to recommend anything Himesh related, but his latest album Radio is a really good one. I'm surprised. It's right up there amongst the best of the year so far. Gotta give the guy credit, even though I'm not a Himesh fan. Anyway, back to AR! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Semi-Arr] - india's got talent - prince dance group
Amazing performance this and as some might know this group won this competition as well recently http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HopNp2pClao The music used in the Performance..Bombay Theme (which version is this though - any idea anyone ???) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: Blue tracklist
I wonder if the track Rehnuma mentioned here is the same tune as the Rehnuma from Udhaya. That was a cracker of a song nevertheless - so great even its being reused -A On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 2:38 PM, jahanzebtippu jahanzebti...@yahoo.comwrote: thanks Gopal. 3 songs by Shreya and 2 by Sonu, i must say wow, this made my day. also it seems Farhan could not take time to sing for our boss, if it is true then his loss. And thanks God no Shark shark, My yatch will go on... etc :) - Jahanzeb --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Gopal Srinivasan catchg...@... wrote: On www.arrahman.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] When you cut through it all, AR is the best tunesmith out there!
Chord - didn't see Amit Trivedi or Vishaal B in your mentions. Amit Trivedi continues to impress me with each passing song. Aamir, Dev D and now this song from Wake Up Sid - Iktara. Sheer genius. He might be just 2 soundtracks old but he displays an amazing range ..be it is music or his singing itself. ARR, Vishal Bharadwaj and now Amit T - thats how my top 3 would look like these days. -A On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 7:16 AM, purevibz purev...@yahoo.com wrote: Let's cut through all the sounds, arrangements, bells, whistles, what have you and just look at the raw melodies that AR has been churning out for years.just the tunes. When is comes to the slower numbers esp., there is nobody else out there IMO who creates as strong and impactful melodies, pure tunes, as AR. And each time, he does it so originally and freshdon't know how the well never runs dry, except that his creative process is truly divinely influenced. There are lots of other MDs out there whose tunes I love.MM Kreem, Moitra, Bharadwaj, SEL, etc. etc., but as far as the sheer strength and impact of pure melody, AR is second to none. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Kailash Kher sets Delhiites grooving at Ra hman’s concert
This concert - it wasn't discussed here earlier right? This came as a total surprise to me.there are some fan videos on youtube as well. Did anyone from this group attend this? -A On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Vithur vith...@gmail.com wrote: Kailash Kher sets Delhiites grooving at Rahman’s concert New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) Delhi music aficionados were left wanting for more at the A.R. Rahman Unplugged concert here Tuesday evening with no solo performance by the maestro. But their pulses were set racing by singer Kailash Kher who literally made them jig with an electrifying performance. Kher kicked off the event with his band Kailasa with “Mangal mangal” from Aamir Khan starrer “Mangal Pandey: The Rising” setting the mood with backbeat percussions, thumps of drums and his high-pitched echoes. Crooning songs like “Nachle”, “Arziyan”, “Swades”, “Rang de basanti”, “Tauba tauba”, “Teri deewani”, “Dunia ut patanga”, the singer charged the Siri Fort auditorium with an electrifying energy while casting a dig at politicians. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni was present at the concert, organised by public broadcaster Doordarshan to celebrate its golden jubilee on Sep 15. The audiences shouted for Rahman’s hit “Jai ho” and “Maa tujhe salaam” but the Oscar winner tested their patience. He just made two mark-my-presence appearances to only take on the piano in the end with singers Hariharan, Sadhna Sargam and percussionist Sivamani for songs like “Tuhi re”, “Bheeni bheeni”, “Dreams on fire”, “Ay hairathe” and “Bharat humko”. Thirty students from Rahman’s K.M. Music Conservatory in Chennai also performed in a choir at the event, co-organised by Phat Phish Records. [LM1] http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/40438.htm -- regards, Vithur -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [semi-arr] - Rendezvous with Kailash Kher (ARR mentions)
Just came back from an absolutely fabulous Kailasa concert @ Stern grove-SFO. This is a series of free concerts that happens in the summer. There were close to 8000 people today - probably 50% non-indians and the scenes were unbelievable. Before the concert began though - there was a 30 minute meeting in a house close to the venue with Kailash Kher and his group members - the first 10 mins were introductions and insight into his music and the host was asking questions about his music style, life and influences. After that they allowed the audience to ask questions and I was fortunate enough to not just ask 1 but 2 questions. I asked him who amongst all of the people he has worked with he enjoys the most - he was actually thrilled with the question and of course (you must have guessed who it is) - it was *none other than ARR* who he enjoys the most. He told the audience that he is nervous when he goes to ARR's studio because there are always surprises as to what ARR wants - he will just let you sing however u interpret the song first and then put in his bit of suggestions et al. He went on for probably a minute and half speaking about ARR. He also enjoys working with Salim-Sulaiman and Vishal Shekhar (one of the first people he worked with and who gave him a break in this industry). I also asked him him the news in the media about him singing for Couples Retreat - he dismissed the Indian media completely and said that he has only sung 4 lines in one song for ARR and that its completely an ARR album. He also dismissed having done any work with Eddie Vedder (another rumor on the block) - there are plans but nothing firm. Someone else asked him about his favorite singers and surprise surprise - *the first name was ARR again*. He said that I know lot of people find his voice unconventional but to him thats ARR's singing his what is from the soul. I was absolutely thrilled at his responses - managed to get his autograph as well and wished him more n more songs with ARR :-) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] 'Jai Ho' fever continues
I can't remember the last song in the recent past which has caught the imagination of so many people across the world like this ... Some more videos from youtube posted today ... Army officers at cherry blossom festival or something http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW3GCULu03I Missouri kids http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW3GCULu03I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOK-1ZxR3Zk There are just so many videos being created day in and day out this is literally turning out to be a new world anthem ... -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Where is the glorious RAHMAN
Very well said Chord and I don't know how anyone can't find an 'Arziyan' or a 'Rehna Tu' or a 'Khwaja' or a 'Zindagi' (and the list from the recent films itself is endless) to be as good (and in some cases even better or more mature) than his older compositions. Again, its a matter of opinion and your personal choice - I personally, am just in awe how AR and his music have progressed over the years - there was a time when people started accusing him or sounding the same. Its maturity ..its divinity and its absolute magic the way he has continued to innovate and yet remain rooted to melody and to the sound what we now know as the genre Rahmanic. And I guess I personally would want ARR to continue to evolve, experiment and never to look back at his older compositions. -A On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 5:57 PM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: Ask Rahman if he thinks he's composing up to his potential and doing his best and up to his own standards. Don't you think the only person that can accurately decide whether Rahman is composing up to his potential or own high standards is Rahman himself? Don't you think that if Rahman were not composing his best recently that he would express that in some way or stop composing? And BTW, I have no issue with you liking older Rahman music better than newer Rahman music. That's simply a matter of opinion. I just have questions about what living up to Rahman's standards means and how that's to be judged or decided. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Radheshyam B adyarsh...@... wrote: First of all, a true rahman fan need not like whatever Rahman does. I agree that all the songs that u mentioned are really good when compared to songs by other MDs. But I feel they are not upto 'Rahman standards'. Compare these songs to Bombay Theme tune, Maa Tujhe Salaam, Oru deivam thanda poove, Vellai pookal, Do kadam, Tere Bina etc. When I read these kind of posts, I cant stop thinking why people are so narrow minded. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, $ Pavan Kumar $ pawancumarr@ wrote: When I read these kind of posts..I don't know how to react..ofcourse..It's really irriatating...If you guys are not able to enjoy songs like Kaise muje, Kabhi Kabhi, Kahin toh, Zindagi, Dil Ka Ristha, or even Pappu, then I really feel sorry for you guysI dont have any problem though...these are your opinions.. And what do you mean by True Rahman fan? Grow up dude.. --- On Tue, 7/14/09, kishore parayath kishore.parayath@ wrote: From: kishore parayath kishore.parayath@ Subject: Re: [arr] Where is the glorious RAHMAN To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 10:37 PM Thiruda Thiruda is my alltime favourite too. Its TAMIL. U r in a way right bro. Ur feelings are exactly the same as many, in this group. But many dont have the courage to reveal it. I did reveal certain times, but I was disocuraged. What u said, is EXACTLY the problem with ARR's music nowadays. And some people dont want to tell it directly, and hence they hint it indirectly by starting topics like 'Do u want any change in ARR's Music?' . There are no more Rangeelas, Thiruda Thirudas or JEANS... BTW, Dont include Dilli6 in ur list of ordinary albums. DILLI6 was very extra ordinary. The only thing is that, U will require several listenings to grasp each song. After grasping it..The songs would HAUNT u... Rehna Tu is my favourite, but MASAKALLI is an entertainment machine.. After grasping the song, it wont spare u.. It will haunt u like anything!! Its like a Joyful Ride!! ANd listen to the songs 'MEHERBAAN' and HAWA SUN HAWA in ADA... U can find the heavenly ARR ingredients in them. It was not a commercial movie. In JODHA AKBAR, KHWAJA MERE KHWAJA is also an EXTRAORDINARY piece! The thing is ARR should stop coming out with ordinary numbers(Which are good, in terms of other composers, but NOT in ARR STANDARDS).. like KABHI KABHI ADITI, GUZARISH, PAPPU CANT DANCE , SHANO SHANO, LATTOOO etc!!! But IAM LOVING DELHI6 like anything!! And u can expect a LOT from SHANKAR's 'ENDHIRAN(ROBOT)' and MANI RATNAM's 'RAAVAN' .. TAIMUR, I must tell u, that u r a TRUE FAN of ARR!! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [semi-arr] - Yet another use of Dacoits Duel (warriors of heaven and earth)
Yet another shameless use ...from a new movie called 'Red Alert' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLe24o54DPMeurl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLe24o54DPMeurlListen around 0.48 sec into this trailer -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Kaminey (Vishaal)
Another brilliant effort by Vishaal - this OST. never mind the lyrics ...wild and zany but probably suit the movie's mood (going by the promos). Amazing orchestration and vocals (Sukhwinder is all over this soundtrack) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Advaita - Grounded in Space
Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate it on anywhere here in the US yet ...Chord. I had my sis get in Chennai and send it across to me here. You could try buying it from Itunes UK - the album is available on that (I assume we can do that from US). Of course, nothing beats the CD if you can get it from somewhere. -A On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 7:28 PM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: Any way to buy this music online from the US as I'm not close to a music store? --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Prakash Balaramkrishna prakysn...@... wrote: I recommended it few weeks back. Awesome album. CD is available in all leading music stores. Psychedelic fusion is the band's specialization. A more refined and organic form of the fabulous Dev-D, I would say. A Must listen. Listen it here (Advaita's homepage): http://advaitaonline.net/grounded_in_space/tracks.htm My Personal Favourites after a month's listen in my order of preference: 1. Ghir Ghir 2. So Lost 3. Gates of Dawn 4. Drops of Earth 5. Durga From: Anil Nair rhythmca...@... To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 10:22:05 AM Subject: [arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Advaita - Grounded in Space I think this album was mentioned in some thread earlier but I feel this deserved its own thread or at least one post Had heard it in bits n pieces on the net - finally managed to get hold of the CD today (the album is called Grounded in Space). I must say that this is one great ensemble and a great album - one of the best I have heard in months. Fusion music and vocals - Indian classical + western. Some of the songs are in Hindi and some in English. Would highly recommend this - especially since we are all hungry for new music (until the next ARR release) -- -A http://viewsnmuse. blogspot. com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Advaita - Grounded in Space
I think this album was mentioned in some thread earlier but I feel this deserved its own thread or at least one post Had heard it in bits n pieces on the net - finally managed to get hold of the CD today (the album is called Grounded in Space). I must say that this is one great ensemble and a great album - one of the best I have heard in months. Fusion music and vocals - Indian classical + western. Some of the songs are in Hindi and some in English. Would highly recommend this - especially since we are all hungry for new music (until the next ARR release) -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] AR to receive special IDEA IIFA Award
Nah ...because her Father-in-law happens to be the brand ambassador for this :-) The Bachhan family seems to impose themselves on to the entire world. But I wish someone stands up that day during the ceremony and asks this question -A On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 11:04 AM, Gopal Srinivasan catchg...@gmail.comwrote: The gave the exact same special award to him last year And why is Ms. Rai being included in the same league? For her role in Pink Panther? On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 22:11, Sreekrishnan R rahmanfe...@yahoo.co.ukrahmanfever%40yahoo.co.uk wrote: New Delhi : The star-studded night of 10th IDEA IIFA Awards will see Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Oscar winner AR Rahman receive the special IDEA IIFA Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Indian in International Cinema at Macau on June 13th. Mr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer of Idea Cellular, the presenting sponsor of the 10th IDEA IIFA Awards made this announcement here today. http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/telecommunications/2009060426812.htm Krish.. His Music ~ My Mother Tongue Explore and discover exciting holidays and getaways with Yahoo! India Travel Click here! -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] About this group - In his footsteps (express article)
Cheers to all of us :-) Proud to be a Rahmaniac -A http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/ In his footsteps*Font Size*-Ahttp://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/# +A http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/# Dipti Nagpaul D’SouzaPosted: Jun 04, 2009 at 0115 hrs IST Print http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=470886 Emailhttp://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/# To Editor http://www.expressindia.com/feedback.php Post Commentshttp://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/#post [image: Talk]http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/in-his-footsteps/470886/ **It was a hot Sunday afternoon in Pune and we found ourselves in the midst of nearly two dozen youngsters from all over India. Brimming with excitement, the group is Rahman’s very own barmy army, in Pune specially to attend a Rahman show. Every time the maestro plans a concert, this group of boys — and a handful of girls— converge at the host city. While this may sound like a regular fan club, the members insist it isn’t. “We are almost like an official fan club. Rahman recognises most of us and that adds credibility to our group,” says 22-year-old Nazeef Mohammed from Bangalore. But it took nearly a decade to attain this almost official fan club status. “In the mid-1990s, during Roja, I became a huge fan of Rahman. The Internet wasn’t so big and information on him was scarce. At that time, I would read everything possible I could find about him. I used to think I’m his biggest fan,” says Gopal Shrinivasan, a Hyderabad-based financial consultant. But as the network opened up, I realised I was wrong and that there are many people who revere him.” On January 1, 1999, Shrinivasan started a group fan club online with a handful of members to start with. But over time, it gained popularity to log in thousands of registered members including several from Delhi. Though active online, the group didn’t witness any activity of consequence till 2005. “Rahman had announced his Bangalore concert and we all knew we had to be a part of this somehow,” recounts Shrinivasan who is also the group moderator. “About 20 of us converged from all over the country and for four days we did voluntary work for the concert organizers. That is when we all really bonded for the first time.” Ever since, the group has been hosting regular meets in Mumbai. “We try to meet once a month to jam and enjoy Rahman’s music at my place in Andheri,” adds Swapnil Mistry, a professional singer. In the background, excited chatter and conversation flows easily. What’s surprising is that the group — though a melting pot of cultures — uses Tamil as their first language. “Many of us learnt how to read, write and talk in Tamil because of Rahman’s music,” says 29 -year-old Anand Swamy, a Mumbaikar, who has a peculiar superstition before a Rahman concert. “Every time I attend his concert I shave my head,” he confesses, a tad sheepishly. It’s easy to believe that as moderator of the group, Shrinivasan is probably the most level-headed till the group spills the beans on him. “Gopal buys a copy of every cassette and CD with AR Rahman written on it. He has eight CDs of Bombay just because the album was launched with different jacket covers,” laughs Mistry. The stories are endless — at times hilarious and at times moving — but their passion for the maestro’s music evokes respect. “Every time we ask him what he wants for his birthday, he says we should help the needy on that day,” says 31-year-old Vithur who distributes food to the poor every Sunday in Chennai on behalf of the group. No wonder some people say that Rahman’s so down-to-Earth, he has a hunch. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] read this on NG ..
Comment by *Johny* on 2 June 2009http://www.naachgaana.com/2009/06/02/tamil-rockkking-songs-with-translation/#comment-178078 : Arun, Did you know that *Muthu music was not well received by Rajini fans*? *ARR was under police protection* for few days during audio release. The entire song is shot in mysore region..Infact most of Rajini’s recent movieshttp://www.naachgaana.com/2009/06/02/tamil-rockkking-songs-with-translation/#are shot in Mysore - Anyone care to verify this? -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] ARR's interview in CNN - Videos available in CNN website
You hit the nail right on the head :-)His smile ..its so reassuring and peaceful ..worth millions, billions or probably more ... Good interview this ... -A On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 2:07 PM, neena kochhar keyhaal...@yahoo.co.ukwrote: Thank you ...really enjoyed the video and his smile - a million dollars worth... or may be even more... so gud to see him happy;-) --- On *Wed, 20/5/09, Sirish Musician rkiller...@yahoo.co.in* wrote: From: Sirish Musician rkiller...@yahoo.co.in Subject: Re: [arr] ARR's interview in CNN - Videos available in CNN website To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, 20 May, 2009, 6:32 PM check out here www.youtube. com/arrsirish --- On *Wed, 20/5/09, vijesh shah vju_shah2006@ yahoo.co. in* wrote: From: vijesh shah vju_shah2006@ yahoo.co. in Subject: Re: [arr] ARR's interview in CNN - Videos available in CNN website To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com Date: Wednesday, 20 May, 2009, 9:14 PM I CANNOT FIND THE VIDEO ON CNN ONLINE.. PLEASE PROVIDE A PROPER LINK. -- *From:* Sriram S srirams_param@ yahoo.co. in *To:* A R Rahman fans arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com *Sent:* Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 2:27:44 PM *Subject:* [arr] ARR's interview in CNN - Videos available in CNN website http://edition. cnn.com/video/ #/showbizhttp://edition.cnn.com/video/#/showbiz -- Bollywood news, movie reviews, film trailers and more! Click here.http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_movies_1/*http://in.movies.yahoo.com/?wm=n/ -- Explore and discover exciting holidays and getaways with Yahoo! India Travel Click here!http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_Travel_1/*http://in.travel.yahoo.com/ -- Own a website.Get an unlimited package.Pay next to nothing.* Click here!.http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_ysb_website/*http://in.business.yahoo.com/ -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Oru Kanavin Isai (ARR's biography in Vikatan) - Week 7 - Scans and Translation
Aravind, Thanks a ton for all these interviews and their translations. These weekly translations have one of the best insights into ARR's early life and I have enjoyed reading every bit of it. Hungry for more :-) -A On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 8:22 PM, Aravind AM aravind...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi, Here are the links to this week's scans. Scroll down for translation. Week 07 Part 01 http://www.flickr.com/photos/aravind_am/3530274756/http://www.flickr.com/photos/aravind_am/3549892425/ Week 07 Part 02 http://www.flickr.com/photos/aravind_am/3549893281/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aravind_am/3530274752/ Week 7 Year 1998. Dileep was 21 years old then, and was extremely busy in film music industry and jingles industry. That was the time when his career was moving in top gear, with many international tours accompanying famous bands. It was then that his sister started suffering from severe stomach ache. An unknown fear engulfed them, for they had witnessed RK Shekar’s suffering and death because of such stomach aches! They consulted several doctors, but to no avail! (Some claim that they would have missed out on consulting the right doctors/hospitals in all their anxiety!) Her condition was worsening each day. Rahman recollects those moments. “The visions of my dad’s suffering kept torturing me! We had shifted nine different hospitals, from Vellore CMC to Vijaya Hospital, Chennai. Many Christian Fathers would come and visit him and pray for him. Several Hindu priests would also visit him and bless him. Those didn’t help. Towards the end, some Islam pirs also came… But, dad left us forever” Dileep, who had witnessed the cruel last days of his dad, had turned into an atheist for sometime! If there’s really some God, would my dad have passed away at such a young age – this was the question that kept haunting him. When a similar disease attacked his sister, his mind had different questions, had more confusions. Is this all coincidental or is this a screenplay written by God or an unknown power, he used to wonder! Rahman continues, “Some days during my teenage, I believed that there was no God. I had been affected so much. Though I denied that God existed, I felt that there was a vacuum. At one stage, I realized that the world can’t function with out a power controlling us. That was when that disease attacked my sister. I was shocked. But, someone cured my sister. It was like a miracle” What happened? Who was that person? Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Sahib also known as Pir Qadri. According to Rahman’s family, Pir Qadri came to see Rahman’s sister when she was ill, and she was miraculously cured due to his prayers. This sudden turn of events amazed Dileep. He couldn’t believe it. Dileep considered it as a boon that was granted by God because of Pir Qadri’s prayers! After this, Pir Qadri became a family friend, well-wisher and guide. Fe more things have to be stated at this point. It was the time when Dileep was putting in all his hard work into music. Dileep was learning everything from Hindustani, Carnatic to Western Classical! He completed graduation in western classical from Trinity College, London. His musical skills were getting sharpened more and more. He didn’t have time to even think about religion as he was immersed in music. But, he listened to Pir Qadri’s spiritual discourses from time to time. His most important advice was “There’s only one God. All prayers to him, cleanses your soul!” Dileep felt that such thought brought him peace. As days rolled by, Pir Qadri’s words brought about a quantum change in Dileep’s thoughts about religion and faith. But, he had not yet thought about the big change – conversion to Islam. He didn’t have the time for that! There was another incident, which guided him towards that. Rahman narrates that incident – “I was in Malaysia for a recording. One day, an old man appeared in my dream. He asked me to convert to Islam. I didn’t understand that, and I just left it as just a dream. But, I kept getting the same dream again and again. I felt it was a divine message. I told my mom about the dream. She was of the view that a message from God shouldn’t be ignored. From then on, I went to Mosques along with my mom, and met many Imams. I got enlightened about religion. Within a few days, all of us in our family converted to Islam.” Pir Qadri was Rahman’s first Islamic Guru. It was Pir Qadri who chose the spot for construction of Panchathan Studio at Rahman’s house. “Panchathan is an Islamic term depicting the five individual tasks of each of the five fingers”, explains Rahman’s mother Kareema Begum. After the demise of Pir Qadri, Mehboob Alam, Muhammad Yusuf Bhai were Rahman’s spiritual Gurus. Now, it is Cuddappa Malik. It was a time when Muslims in the film industry generally used a Hindu or Christian name as their screen name. But, totally opposite to the
Re: [arr] NAMASKAR PUNE says AR ! We say JAI HO !
Wow great write-up. And you know what Dinesh ..each time someone meets ARR and does a write-up like this, I feel that I met ARR myself. I may sound crazy but then probably I sure am one Just a crazy Rahmaniac :-) -A On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:40 AM, Dinesh Vaidya dnshvai...@yahoo.co.inwrote: He came. He saw us. but He had already won us over again and again and again. I MET RAHMAN TODAY ! One of the BEST day in my life, I got to see my GURUJI, and got a chance to ask him questions too ! Ah ! What a man ! What a Man ! WHAT A MAN ! So simple, so quiet, so down to earth ! Every moment I watched him, was a learning experience. Time 11 PM yesterday - Got a call from a very dear friend . I couldn't sleep whole night. Just the feeling that tomorrow I will be seeing him for the first time kept me awake. Time 10 AM today - The call which was to get the doors opened, did not arrive, so some more trials and I got call from the chief organiser for Pune event. He and his support staff gave me blanket cheque to get as many fans as possible... Time 1030 to 1530 today - Phone battery ran down 5 times, so many calls made to all known fans, so many sms-es done... for many, it was a shock of life to know that Rahman would be visiting city. Whosoever could bunk college / office came to the venue. Time 5 PM till 7PM today - MIT college students and other fans had started arriving since 430 PM. Pune does not believe in crowding the place from morning, so what was virtually clear space at 430, by 530 the place was decently full, mostly the students. There was lot of entertainment with all odd instructions belted out by the organisers and crowd controlling team. There was a band playing MILITARY MUSIC ! Whose crazy idea was that ? Still Full to fun ! Time 540PM - Suddenly police started running here and there... A black Mercedes came at 200kph and out came our GURUJI ! AR RAHMAN, dressed in a black blazer looked so cool that it was hard to believe that this fellow had done a 15 hours nonstop flight from US ! From where does he get the energy ? The crowd goes out of control everybody starts clapping and yelling flashbulbs go wild.the crowd goes even wilder. He walks towards us as if he is taking an evening stroll in a park.. no hurry whatsoever. Rahman goes inside and then after few minutes comes out in an ULTIMATE Maharashtrian headgear called PHETA ! He looked dashing at the same time CUTE ! The organisers are at it again trying to push the crowd so that Rahman can reach the flag post and pull the chord to unfurl the JAI HO flag. He does it in style and then also releases tricolor balloons... I could see a childlike smile on his face, he thoroughly enjoyed releasing these balloons ! I am sure, if his children would have been around, he would have cut a few for them and released the rest.. He takes the mike and begins with NAMASKAR PUNE ! in Marathi ! It means Greetings Pune.typical to his style invites all gathered fans to see him on 31'st in the Pune Concert and promised that he will ROCK the show. All in one sentence ! He goes inside.. --- Now I am in a soup... the organises had promised that they will take THE WANDERING SOULS team inside, but all gone ! No soul in the sight. We resign to our fate they are not lifting phones... Gopal curious to know if things are under control and is intrigued to know that I am standing in a queue ! Suddenly a kind soul Mr Moulik appears and yells for me.. Quick, get inside you... I follow the leader, Anmol Bhave, Pinak Agte, Ashutosh Joshi, Pallavi Paranjape, Siddharth Gokhale ( All Wandering Souls Rahmania Team )... The moment we reach door, a policeman puts out his head from the door and denies entry to all except me. I am devastated All my group outside and what will I do inside ? I have never been to a Press Conference... Luckily inside the Chief of MIT College and my ex-teacher Mr Vishwanath Karad is about to conclude his welcome speech. After that couple of persons ( didn't knew the names as I got in late ) spoke for a minute each. Then Deepak Gattani, the CHIEF of the Event management team gave a small AV presentation of the JAI HO TOUR. The film was great ! The shots of the crowd, Rahman's innocent face singing Jaage hai ( Probably clips from Delhi concert )...Shivmani beating drum for Azeem-o-Shaan... The inside audience gave a standing ovation to Rahman. Then it was the tern of Rahman to speak... He stood up, tried to say something but the inside students were asking for him to sing... he sits back and makes a small opening speech before the Press reporters start shooting their purely vague, unresearched and basic questions Unfortunately it is not a rule that Rahmaniac Press reporter only should be sent. I raise my hand for chance to ask question... Obviously someone from stage notices and gestures that the
[arr] [Non-ARR] - Music Recco - Pokkisham
music by the duo - Sabesh-Murali - worth a listen.. Songs sung by Vijay Yesudas, Karthik - Ujjaini and Chinmayi also have a song each. And theres some guy called VV Prassana who dominates the album - great voice this - Does anyone know if ARR has used this guy? -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] IBN video link - Rahman-grooms-more-to-bring-home-oscar-glory (KM Music)
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/90603/rahman-grooms-more-to-bring-home-oscar-glory.html -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] ARR 3-CD Compilation from Sony
Not sure if this has been posted here earlier ... http://www.planetradiocity.com/musicreporter/review.php?reviewid=242 If someone knows where (online/shops) this is available - please add on ... -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] 10 Questions for ARR (Time) - Video
Brilliant. I am stunned by this man's humility and simplicity each time, every time I hear him in any interviews/talksThe way he responded to that question on Islam - amazing .. ARR ..I salute you .. Thanks for posting this link Satish -A On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 10:10 AM, satish_srini satish_sr...@yahoo.comwrote: http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1485842900amp;bctid=18155623001http://www.time.com/time/video/?bcpid=1485842900bctid=18155623001 -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] the magic of arr - reuses of his tunes ...
Guess these must have been discussed here earlier - how ARR reuses his own tunes but this blogger has merged couple of ARR tunes to that effect http://rameshonmusic.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-arr-pieces-repeated.html I would especially recommend the latter part where he has merged Usilampatti (Gentleman) and Chandralekha (Thiruda-Thiruda) to show the similarity. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] HT Article - Guess who was paid more?
Note sure if this is a confirmed one or not ... http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePageid=2a20861e-4e1e-452e-9add-a38b62251dd1Headline=Guess+who+was+paid+more%3f While the ad world pays millions to strip David Beckham down to his briefs, all that Allah Rakha Rahman has to do is just be his usual self for two minutes to take home a far bigger pay cheque. The jaw-dropping sum of Rs 28 crore has been paid to Rahman to replace Becks in a Motorola ad, says a source very close to the composer. The football superstar got Rs 22 crore for his endorsement of the brand. The music maestro, an unassuming person despite his immense successes, has been chased by eight- or nine-digit deals ever since his recent double Oscar win. His deal with Star Aviation, the Indian wing of the Dubai-based ETA Star Holdings, is almost through. Plus, he already endorses Airtel. While Rahman is known for usually creating the music for all the ads he does, the Motorola ad is not likely to have his score. He is simply there in the ad for a couple of minutes. It is, in a way, the most expensive walk-on part in the history of showbiz. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] A Bollywood playlist - from a NY Times blog ...
the Top 2 are ARR numbers http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/living-with-music-a-bollywood-playlist-by-daphne-beal/ March 25, 2009, 7:00 am Living With Music: A Bollywood Playlist by Daphne Beal By Gregory Cowleshttp://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/author/gregory-cowles/ [image: Daphne Beal]Sven Wiederholt Daphne Beal *Daphne Beal is the author of a novel, “In the Land of No Right Angles.”* I lived and traveled in South Asia for many years, beginning in 1989, and witnessed everyone from Tibetan nuns to street boys vamp to Bollywood songs, so I knew how much a part of daily life they were. But it wasn’t until 1998, when I was researching the lives of migrant Nepali sex workers in Bombay’s oldest red light district, Falkland Road, for what eventually became the third section of my novel, that I understood their transformative power. The inside walls of brothels were covered with headshots of Bollywood stars. When the girls got ready at dusk, they always blasted the film songs, reminding me of the way my friends and I played Madonna or Cyndi Lauper during our freshman year of college. All the songs in this list are happy, hyper, get-up-and-dance numbers spanning the last half century, and I’m including the links to videos, because there’s never been a music genre more tied to the filmic form. (I’ll leave the soulful, more angsty list to another devotee.) *1) Dil Se Re,* composed and sung by A. R. Rahman with Anuradha Sriram and Anupama; and *2) Chaiyya Chaiyya,* composed by A. R. Rahman, performed by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasti. Before winning this year’s Oscar for “Slumdog,” A. R. Rahman created soundtracks for more than 100 films. These two rollicking songs are from the 1998 hit “Dil Se” (“From the Heart”), which I watched in Bombay in the company of a shoeshine boy who had attached himself to me. Its female star, Manisha Koirala, is Nepali (the niece of Nepal’s prime minister at the time), with a penchant for Meryl Streep-like gazes, and was revered by the Nepali women in the red-light district. In 2003, the BBC conducted an international poll of most popular songs, and “Chaiyya Chaiyya” was in the Top 10 in 155 countries. Its dance number in the film is performed on top of a moving train, the male lead (Shahrukh Kahn) apparently without a stunt harness. (Videos: “Dil Se Re”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Pjh-ijaC0| “Chaiyya Chaiyya” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_2gW3zwMMQ) *3) Aap Jaise Koi,* from the 1980 film “Qurbani.” This disco hit was composed by Biddu, a U.K.-based Indian, who is better known (on this side of the globe) for danceable faves like “Ring My Bell” and “Kung Fu Fighting.” “Aap Jaise Koi” (whose catchy refrain is “baat ban jaye,” or “it would be so nice”) made an overnight sensation across the subcontinent of then 15-year-old performer Nazia Hassan, who has been called “Pakistan’s first pop diva.” (Videohttp://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/living-with-music-a-bollywood-playlist-by-daphne-beal/%3Chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o5C1yUlx6whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o5C1yUlx6w”Video/a)/ppstrong4) Jaan Pehechaan Ho,/strong performed by Mohammed Rafi for the 1966 movie “Gumnaan.” Anyone familiar with Terry Zwigoff’s movie “Ghost World” (2001) will recognize this tune that combines surf guitar and funk with Elvis gyrations, gold lame, bandit masks and some intense head bobbling. (a href=) *5) Aloo Chaat,* written and performed by RDB (Rhythm, Dhol, Bass), a group of three Anglo-Indian Sikh brothers. This 2008 song is where rap, bhangra and intentional camp meet, and it is impossible not to grin and move to. ( Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_1Klh2aXX4) *6) Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu,* performed by Geeta Dutt in “Howrah Bridge” (1958). I first met this song in its second cinematic incarnation, in a scene on Falkland Road, in Mira Nair’s 1988 film “Salaam Bombay!” It has a catchy tune performed winsomely by the legendary Geeta Dutt, and it is a little more singable than some for the non-Hindi speaker because of the line in English, “Hello mister, how do you do?” (Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVKEMOenP-o ) *7) Dum Maro Dum,* performed by Asha Bhosle, from “Hare Rama Hare Krishna,” 1971. Pure hippie chic, this song (whose title translates as “Take Another Toke”) has some nice, crooning psychedellic sounds mixed with Hare Krishna chanting. The video from the film features long-haired Western kids found in Kathmandu, almost certainly in the hash-smoking corner of town called Freak Street. (Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddGjV51Edok) *8) Kokku Para Para,* performed by Tippu, Manicka Vinayagam and Rajalakshmi. This upbeat and highly hummable song is in fact from a 2005 Kollywood hit called “Chandramukhi.” Confused yet? That’s a reference to the film industry in Tamil Nadu. But I included it because the film was dubbed into Hindi (and German!). The song has an essential and familiar sweetness and is the favorite of my 11-year-old friend,
Re: [arr] Tasveer
Wikipedia is updated by people like you and me (i.e. anyone can update it). Its not the official site for ARR releases or news.So u can happily ignore that. Either go to the Official ARR site (arrahman.com) or wait for updates from Gops/Vijay. Tasveer btw is definitely not ARR - as has been confirmed multiple times by Gopal and/or Vijay -A On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 7:41 AM, k_s_d_prasad k.sridurgapra...@gmail.comwrote: hey, according to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasveer in one place it says salim-sulaimann n in another it says arr so arr did the soundtrack or soundtracks ? or did he not ? no proper on the official site of the movie too. anybody has any official info ? -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Making of Congress 'Jai Ho'
Holy cows ...they have destroyed such a wonderful song with these weirdo lyrics -A On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 12:24 PM, rivjot riv...@yahoo.com wrote: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/broadband/video/making-of-the-music/prCPbA20/1/Making-Of-Congress-Jai-Ho.html -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Online link to buy Bombay dreams DVD
For people in the US ..this is a cheaper option ... http://store.nehaflix.com/bodrdvd.html I regularly buy from this site ...mostly CD's .and the JA DVD. Reliable... -A On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Thulasi Ram karoke...@gmail.com wrote: http://shop.reallyuseful.com/Store/DII-5244-salaam+bombay+dreams+dvd.html thanx to kumar0305 for the videos -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Varaaga Nadhikarai
This is one album more than any other which makes me wish that AR does more of carnatic classical based compositions in the future. Each song, each note in this album is par excellence. My personal favorites would be both Varaaga and Mazhai Thuli (MSV, Hariharan)the beats as you said are truly infectious and make for an absolute joyride ... -A On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: I have been really concentrating more on Rahman's Tamil works of late and have been so enjoying revisiting soundtracks I haven't heard in a while. I need to express my feelings about this song from Sangamam, which really impresses both intellectually and emotionally. The way Shankar M has sung this song is absolutely divine. The infectious dholak rhythm with the Mast Qalandar like melody (not at all copied) makes this song my very favorite from Sangamam. I love it when the second interlude adds this incredibly infectious ghungru rhythm, very similar in pattern to the Taal Se Taal mila, Hai Na, Chale Chalo Mitwa ghungru tracks, taken away, then back again for the final portion of the song. Just pure magic. I truly with Shankar M would sing for ARR again. Heard that ARR said that Mani's next would be kind of similar to the style of Sangamam (folk, semi classical), so we can really look forward to that. Am curious to know what everyone's favorite song from Sangamam is. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: From a music Store here at SF
When you say, its the same throughout the bay area - not sure what u mean ... Anyway ..the station details are as follows ... Its 104.5 is SF/East Bay and 97.7 in San JoseThey stream online as well at http://www.kfog.com/ I have heard it twice on KFOG now once in the night and once during the day ... -A On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 12:54 PM, tanyaagha tanyaa...@yahoo.com wrote: hey buddy, do you know if its the same throughout the entire bay area? wondering what station that number that is exactly. thanks. tanya --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Anil Nair rhythmca...@... wrote: This is from the Virgin Megastore in SF downtown this Friday :-) Also, the local Rock FM channel - KFOG has started playing 'O Saya' - this is the first time in the 4 years that I have been here that I have heard something other than a Pure English number being played. So thats another first for ARR kudos once again. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] CMU felicitation - good quality videos for Download
Thanks Aravind. This is magical stuff :-) -A On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Aravind AM aravind...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi everyone, These are moments to be treasured!! So, here we go... I've uploaded the full show here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jlw4zmyyzzn/AR_Felicitation1.wmv http://www.mediafire.com/file/ewwelgmlz13/AR_Felicitation2.wmv http://www.mediafire.com/file/zvmczn1o2nw/AR_Felicitation3.wmv http://www.mediafire.com/file/mw5nymhwyym/AR_Felicitation4.wmv http://www.mediafire.com/file/2wnozyyzdq2/AR_Felicitation5.wmv http://www.mediafire.com/file/zkgnjmyjyjy/AR_Felicitation6.wmv Cheers, Aravind -- My Blog: http://arrahmaniac.blogspot.com Rahmania show interviews: http://rahmania.4shared.com -- -- Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now.http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_messenger_6/*http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] JA to D6 Compilation left me stunned
Absolutely dead-on Chord ..but why simply nobody today I have every reason to believe that there never will be anyone like ARR today or tomorrow. This is one instance where I feel I can see the future :-) We are blessed to be living in the same time as ARR ..just my thoughts ... -A On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 9:20 AM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: This past year starting with Jodha Akbar's music has been one of the most prolific periods in Rahman's career history. Album after album left us amazed, moved, touched, inspired, in awe. To represent the best of Rahman today, I put together a 2 CD compilation of my favorite songs from Jodha Akbar up to Delhi 6. I did this basically for myself and a few friends. I included songs such as Jashne Bahaar, Latika's Theme, Zindagi, Meherbaan, Tu Bole, Man Chandre, Khwaja, Muskura, Dil Gira Dafatan, Kaise Mujhe, Mausam and Escape, Marudhani, etc. etc. I realized that when I put all these songs from various albums together in one listen, I was just in awe at the sound range, genre range, and originality in all these compositions from various albums all within a span of one year. It's a different experience than listening to one album alone or one album after another. What incredible brain power to be able to create such mindblowing melodies with scintillating originality and with lush and crisp arrangements. The deep thought and sincerity behind each composition also struck me. After listening, I was just stunned and almost started to laugh, just feeling crazy in trying to figure out how one man can come up with so much richness in music within a short period of time. And nevermind all the rest of Rahman's works prior to JA! There is simply NOBODY today who matches or surpasses the musical depth and versatility of Rahman. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] AR Rahman to Dileep Kumar
AR Rahman to Dileep Kumar - BE takes you down memory lane
4 Mar 2009, 0545 hrs IST, Prasad Sangameshwaran, ET Bureau
Printhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?prtpage=1
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For the past few days Mark Manuel, director, films, at JWT Chennai, has been
drinking his morning cuppa from a magic mug. It’s magic because it [image:
AR Rahman]
javascript:openslideshow('/slideshow/4221329.cms')javascript:openslideshow('/slideshow/4221329.cms')
displays an embossed photograph of him with AR Rahman, everytime a hot
beverage is poured into it. It’s not very well known but the man they now
call Rahman has a very strong and long connection with the ad-world,
especially Chennai. Back then though he was known as AS Dileep Kumar.
Dileep’s involvement with advertising was no brief fling, but a full-fledged
affair. Advertising is where the long epic journey that has culminated in an
Oscar began when Dileep started scoring with background tunes for ads in the
mid-1980s. In 1986, when a public service
commercialhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?flstry=1#
on
drug abuse was being produced at the Audio Vision studio in Chennai the
studio owner, Vijay Modi suggested to Trilok Nair, director, Trisha
Productions, that he must try out a young talent. “One could barely spot the
boy behind the keyboards. But when we heard the music, we were blown away,”
recalls Nair.
Within a short span, Dileep composed music for a number of brands like Leo
Coffee, Nalli sarees, Hero Honda and Asian Paints. Suddenly this
20-something ‘little guy’ had everyone looking at the advertising backwater
called Madras differently. Those who worked with him have many tales to
tell. Like the one where one of his musical instruments starred in a
commercial, without his knowledge. This was in an MRF commercial that showed
the reflection of a
synthesizerhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?flstry=1#
on
the visor of the rider. That synth was ‘borrowed’ by film
makerhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?flstry=1#
Bharat
Bala from Dileep’s studio, when the composer was not around.
But life was not all roses for Dileep back then. On occasions, he got to see
the downside of an industry unwilling to give new names a second look. One
such example was a Gwalior suitings ad. Dileep had toiled for three full
days working on the tune that would be ‘It’. While film maker and friend
Rajiv Menon was convinced about the score, the client bounced the campaign
and got Louis Banks, one of the more sought after names in the business redo
it. “Advertising chases names. Now they must be kicking themselves hard,”
recalls Menon, who teamed up with Rahman for several commercials including
Fair Lovely, Bru Coffee and the celebrated Asian Paints ‘Pongal’
commercial.
There were occasions though when film makers found a way to checkmate the
client tantrums. For the Hero Honda Sleek campaign, Bharat Bala felt that
the score composed by Louis Banks with Sivamani on
percussionhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?flstry=1#
was
not working. But the client and agency had approved it and to change their
mind would be an uphill task. During one of Dileep’s late night sessions,
Bala asked him for an option.
Ad Recall
Three hours before the 9 am presentation, Bala got a ‘mind-blowing’ track.
Of course, the client loved it, without knowing it was Dileep’s work. “Until
recently I never confessed to this. The best part is the agency person never
spotted the difference,” chuckles Bala. All those who worked with Dileep
were dazzled by his willingness to experiment even in this genre. Nair
reminisces about the Nalli Sarees client who wanted to make a commercial set
to a famous old Tamil song. Dileep heard the client and suggested that they
go in for a remix — remember that back then few were aware of remixing as a
concept. “The client hemmed and hawed. But when they heard the final sound
they couldn’t believe what they got,” says Nair. Such was the power of his
tunes that some played on for years. Leo Coffee, one of the earliest ads,
ran for 15 years and even when a new commercial was made about three years
back, the music remained unchanged.
For ad men, Ashok Nagar, where Dileep had his home and studio, soon became
the place to hang around. Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT recalls spending several
nights outside Rahman’s studio on that
trademarkhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4221325.cms?flstry=1#
Jhoola
(swing), when the maestro was perfecting his art inside. “That swing has
seen a lot of backsides, including Mani Ratnam’s,” jokes Nair. Harris also
remembers the day
[arr] Semi-ARR - 'Slumdog Millionaire' opens a new passage to all things Indian
'Slumdog Millionaire' opens a new passage to all things IndianPosted 24m ago
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Hurray for ... Bollywood?
Not exactly, but there's no doubt the success of India-set *Slumdog
Millionaire *— eight Academy Awards and more than $100 million at the box
office — has magnified India's profile and accelerated the mingling of
American and South Asian cultures.
Who knows? Just as salsa came to rival ketchup as America's top-selling
relish with the diffusion of Latino culture, maybe *Slumdog *is a sign more
Americans will be consuming even spicier fare.
So pass the chutney.
Now you can find Indian food even in mainstream grocery stores, jokes Vin
Bhat, the American-born co-founder of Saavn, a New York-based company that,
as the largest digital distributor of Bollywood movies, music, videos and
ringtones, is benefiting from the success of *Slumdog*.
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[arr] [non-arr] - Music recco - Gulaal
Another cracker from the Anurag Kashyap stable music by Piyush Mishra and Indian Ocean(the group) The real USP of this album are the lyrics combined with an unusual sort of music. Be warned, the songs are lyrics heavy and I feel this would be more enjoyed by the Hindi-speaking listener. I really am impressed with the way AK is using music in his movies and would love to see an ARR-AK combination someday. AK's budget is I guess mostly less than ARR's fees :-) - but I am sure ARR wouldn't put that as a barrier if AK approaches him with an interesting subject...I pray that someday this combo materialises. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] How long will Indian Awards ceremonies ignore 'ARR- The singer'
Today ..for the past hour and a half or so ...I have been just treating myself to numbers sung by the man himself .Magical numbers from the early days such as 'Mangta Hai Kya','Columbus' and 'Humma' to more recent ones such as 'Vellai Pookal', 'Rehna Tu' and 'Tu Bole', 'Khwaja' I cannot believe the range that ARR's voice has the control he has whether its a high pitched songs or absolute low ones, whether its Jazz or whether its Sufi numbers or just pure Pop numbers - ARR has sung it all and how. There - according to me - is nothing more soothing to hear than songs sung by ARR himself ..just purely a Divine experience - out of this world . Force me to write this mail :-) I wonder when our Indian award ceremonies will wake up to the magic of this man's voice. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Semi-ARR] - Our awards, their awards
A wonderful article on the significance of Oscars, Filmfare etc ... http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090301/jsp/7days/story_10606930.jsp Our awards, their awards celebrity circusBHARATHI S. PRADHAN 'ONE OSCAR IS EQUAL TO 100 FILMFARE TROPHIES' Anyone who watched the Oscars this Monday would’ve wondered just what it is that makes the Academy Awards such a coveted event and why an Indian award comes off as such a pathetic country cousin. The reasons have nothing to do with being in awe of the West. To begin with, we don’t really honour cinema. We worship stars, dynasties and the sponsors. If Resul Pookutty had won a trophy for Best Sound Mixing at any of our awards functions, we’d have never heard the sound of his voice. Our functions are so star-oriented that we don’t respect or honour any other department of filmmaking. There is a time-honoured tradition here that all ‘unimportant’ awards (read, technical awards) are dispensed with earlier in the evening and no winner is accorded the respect of a few seconds before the mike. The ‘important’ celebrity awards are then bunched together to make the finale where glittering stars and famous filmmakers are allowed one-upmanship and rambling before the mike because that’s what the channels think is the sure-fire formula for high viewership. A few years ago, when I was heading an awards show and had meetings with a reputed channel, all they wanted was a list of film star items (they couldn’t care less what the performance would be about) and who’d constitute the celebrity audience. There was no discussion on what kind of aesthetics or talent would be on display and certainly no room for anything that departed from their famous formula. A *Jai ho *with unknown dancers and a black American singing would have been out of the question. If A.R. Rahman had not been a part of it, our channel heads would’ve collectively shaken their heads and yawned, but who’s the star performer in this item? Today, of course, we have degenerated even further. One peep at the audience and you know who’ll be the Best Actor or Best Actress of the evening. No Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or Meryl Streep would sit in the front row and go home empty-handed in Mumbai. That’s the difference between the Oscars and our awards functions which revolve solely around pleasing the sponsors and TV channels. In any case, once the sponsors get centre-stage, as they uniformly do at all our functions, the whole event turns too crassly commercial to make it classy. ‘Classy’, was what Resul Pookutty and A.R. Rahman were, that night at the Oscars. When Resul talked of a nationalistic ‘Om’ and Rahman talked of a universal ‘God’, they did the country proud. There was no narrow-thinking ‘cheer me, cheer my religion’, no*Jai Mata Di, *no Allah, no Mother Mary — it was a stylishly secular, universally-accepted ‘God’ (or *‘kadavul’* as Rahman said in Tamil). Similarly, there was no parochial Kerala or Chennai, there was no ‘pat us, we’re both south Indians’ — they were simply two sincere, immensely deserving Indians who were thrilled to bring home to this country a token of the international recognition they had received. Thank you, Resul, thank you, Rahman. You did us proud in more ways than you think. Question being asked: What’s Anil Kapoor going to do once he returns to terra firma? Unfair, really. Why can’t he bask in the sun for a while? For one, he has reason to rejoice — Anil’s pockets get filled with every victory that *Slumdog Millionaire* notches up, since he was astute enough to accept a modest fee and a small percentage of the profits. With the kind of business the film has done all over the globe, even a small percentage works out to a big grin on the quiz master’s face. The profits apart, let Anil make the most of this short-lived stint in the international spotlight. Next year, this time, he just might be like Shilpa Shetty in UK today — forgotten as yesterday’s headlines. In the glare of the Oscar fever, it surfaced that *Jai ho* was actually a Subhash Ghai number but he’d handed it back to A.R. Rahman as ‘unsuitable for *Yuvvraaj*’. Lucky Boyle picked it up as the perfect ending for *Slumdog Millionaire*. Does Subhash Ghai feel a twinge of regret for foregoing a song that went on to win international approval? “I’m not like others, you know,” says Ghai. “I’m a very giving sort of person. I am genuinely very happy for Rahman. He’s my composer, my friend. One has to forego even a great song sometimes if it doesn’t fit into your film. And *Jai ho* is a great song that didn’t fit into *Yuvvraaj*. Rahman is the best and he proved it by getting an Oscar. After all, one Oscar is equal to 100 Filmfare trophies!” Ah, just the sentiments expressed at the beginning of this column. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [semi-arr] - Slumdog Brings Hollywood Closer to Bollywood
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29458589 Slumdog Brings Hollywood Closer to Bollywood TOPICS:India http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837548/cid/97080/sh/3 | Movies Film Studios http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837548/cid/97251/sh/3 By: Reuters | 01 Mar 2009 | 10:12 PM ET Text Size http://www.cnbc.com/id/29458589#http://www.cnbc.com/id/29458589# The largely Indian cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire who gleefully stormed the stage at the Academy Awards signalled a closer nexus between the world's biggest movie industries, with experts hoping for a happy ending. [image: Bollywood] India, home to the world's most prolific movie industry, has long tried to draw wider audiences, including by recently forging ventures with Hollywood studios looking to offset sluggish box office sales with new markets and cheaper production costs. Now, the thumping success of Slumdog and a global financial crisis, which has pulled the plug on much Wall Street funding for movies, are bringing Hollywood and Bollywood closer together. Like India's IT industry, Bollywood may now aggressively tout cheaper facilities for animation films and post-production. Slumdog also showcased India's prowess in music and sound mixing, with Oscars for A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty. India is an important domestic market for all foreign studios and also offers opportunities to cut costs, said Rajesh Jain, head of KPMG India's entertainment practice. The Oscars will raise the industry's visibility further. Studios including Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, NBC Universal, Viacom and Warner Brothers have already put more than $1.5 billion in India for stakes in local TV channels and ventures with Bollywood studios. Their first efforts, including Disney's first Hindi animation flick, failed to set the Indian box-office on fire, but analysts say they will be encouraged by the success of Slumdog, which became the eighth movie ever to win eight Academy Awards. The Oscar wins for 'Slumdog' only bodes well for the Hollywood-Bollywood connection, said Nelson Gayton at the UCLA Entertainment and Media Management Institute in Los Angeles. The critical and commercial success of the film speaks to global audiences for films of Indian content, especially if they do so well in the USA to begin with, he said. It bodes well for Indian films too, he said, which while popular in the sub-continent have rarely met with global success. *Cutting Costs* Slumdog Millionaire was based on a novel by Indian author Vikas Swarup and filmed largely in the squalid slums of Mumbai. It was directed by Briton Danny Boyle and distributed and marketed by Fox Searchlight, but many of the cast and crew, including co-director, Loveleen Tandan, are Indian. The movie is seen by many in the industry as showing a way forward for Hollywood and Bollywood studios eyeing new markets. The Oscars have provided a huge platform to showcase Indian talent. It's a foot in the door, said Vijay Singh, chief executive of Fox Star Studios in India, which is looking to make Bollywood films with Indian studios and directors. We're going to see more Hollywood studios want a link into India, tapping more resources here, and we're also going to see more Indian directors look to appeal to larger audiences. Before Boyle, filmmakers of Indian origin, including Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta, made films such as Monsoon Wedding and Earth, that were set wholly or partly in India, and produced and marketed by Hollywood studios. India has touted itself as a low-cost destination for Hollywood filmmakers,much like Canada has done, highlighting its lush locales, hi-tech studios and cheap labour costs. Yet differential state taxes, an antiquated licence system and reams of red tape have hamstrung its ambitions. Long dominated by family-owned production and distribution firms, India's film industry has been bogged down by formulaic fare and box-office revenues of less than 10 percent of Hollywood's because of low ticket prices. Now, the entry of large corporations, institutional finance, a move to a Hollywood-style studio system and the mushrooming of multiplexes are all transforming the industry and drawing more foreign studios eager for a share of the pie. India's filmed entertainment sector, estimated at about $2.2 billion, is forecast to grow by more than 9 percent every year over the next five years, according to consultancy KPMG. *Stepping Out* Initially, Hollywood studios were content with limited releases of their biggest blockbusters in movie-mad India, dubbing some films in regional languages in a market where racy action flicks and lavish song-and-dance spectacles rule. In recent years, Hollywood studios looking to cut costs began shipping animation and post-production work to India, tapping its reputed software services skills and affordable workforce. With Slumgdogs Oscar wins, studios may ship more high-end animation and visual effects work to India, said KPMG's Jain. Studios will also be looking to tap content,
[arr] [semi-arr] - Due recognition of Bollywood, India long overdue
Rahman's American recognition (he is already known in Europe), by no means a flash in the pan, was, indeed, inevitable. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Columns/2492995/Article/index_htmlDue recognition of Bollywood, India long overdue WHEN I wrote about Allah Rakha Rahman last December, the journey of his musical triumph that has led to the Oscars with Slumdog Millionaire had just begun. My choice was instinctive, of a subject that was long overdue. Most Indians are so used to his music that many are asking how different or better his score in Slumdog was to his other outstanding Bollywood offerings. Rahman's American recognition (he is already known in Europe), by no means a flash in the pan, was, indeed, inevitable. As one among the millions who watched last Monday's ceremony in Los Angeles live on television, I exulted each time Slumdog Millionaire was mentioned. For India, it is catching up with history after a century of film-making. Its artistes and technicians and its themes have finally found acceptance on the global cinematic stage. Agreed, Slumdog is not an Indian film but it is definitely about India and its seamy underbelly. It is about irrepressible spunk, crushing poverty, loads of luck, nascent love and Bollywoodish masala, all packaged in that inimitable Indian idiom of song and dance, rendered in captivating rhythm and cinematic texture, which clearly has cross-cultural appeal. For a long time, the West scoffed at Bollywood's song-and-dance mara-thons, ignoring that they are integral to most Asian societies and were there long before cinema arrived. Today, with a vengeance, the West is rocking to the tune of Jai Ho, which has become sort of a new, globally accepted anthem. The numerous Grammies to the likes of Maya Alagaprakasam (MIA), Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Zakir Hussain are testaments to the acceptance of Asian melody and rhythm. Like Rahman's recognition, that of Indian cinema had been overdue. Oscar nominations have gone to Mehboob Khan (Mother India), Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay), Shekhar Kapur (seven for Elizabeth), Manoj Night Shyamalan (six for The Sixth Sense) and Amer Khan (Lagaan). The only Indian Oscar winner (not counting Ben Kingsley who played Mahatma Gandhi and whose peers were Indian immigrants) was Bhanu Athaiya, who designed the costumes for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1982. The other was the legendary Satyajit Ray, who received a lifetime award in 1992, although none of his films won Oscars. Cannes (the first award was in 1948), Karlovy Vary, Moscow, Venice, you name it, only the Americans have taken their time -- a long time -- to recognise Indian cinema. Slumdog works at different levels. Interesting comparisons are being made. India can unleash its massive soft power across a world that is fighting terrorism and closer home, contrast it with what some of its immediate neighbours have become notorious for. If Rahman is comfortable being a Tamil, a Muslim and an Indian, and produces music that is globally hailed, it has a lesson for Tamils, Muslims and Indians -- whatever they do, wherever they are. Resul Pookutty accepted the award on behalf of India. Though a devout Muslim, he did not hesitate to trace the sound (he won the award for sound mixing) to that eternal expression, Om. I come from a country and a civilisation that gave us the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by silence, followed by more silence. That word is Om. It is not an award, but history being handed over to me, said Resul, who shared the Oscar with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke. He did create history as the first Indian technician to win an Oscar. The response to Resul's award in his village home in Kerala depicted much of what the real India is: his family was in tears, villagers crowded around a TV set in front of his house and they cheered as plates of sweets did the rounds. For those who count money, the cost contrast could not be more striking. Slumdog was made for US$13 million (RM45 million), a tenth of the production cost of its Hollywood rival, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Slumdog has already earned its makers about US$150 million and it is almost certain that the Oscar halo will act as a multiplier and the film will be seen across the world and dubbed into the myriad languages of the global family. The Mozart of Madras was truly the hero of the day. He said, ellapugazhum iraivanukee (may all praise be to the Almighty), a line in Tamil he always says after receiving an award. He sang to drum beats and a beautifully choreographed Indian dance, a first at an Oscar ceremony. Jai Ho lyricist Gulzar never thought Urdu poetry could win an American award. This was another first. It was a pity the man, always in spotless white, was not present at the ceremony. But many of the team made it to the ceremony. Up on stage were 10-year-old Azharuddin and 9-year-old Rubina, who played key roles in the movie and travelled from
[arr] Oscars have enhanced self-respect says Rahman
http://www.hindustantimes.com/AudioVideo/AudioVideoPage.aspx?ID=fc5d7d3d-3cec-472e-a8a5-0b4d930f6daa Oscars an inspiration for other aspirants Rahman http://www.hindustantimes.com/AudioVideo/AudioVideoPage.aspx?ID=99a60183-e08e-479d-97ba-1cd3ad266530 -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Delhi-6 Movie - my take
Just came back from the movie hall ...and I give my thumbs-up to this movie :-) I think it was just an absolutely wonderful movie - yes - there was no central storyline as the majority of the Indian audiences and reviewers prefer (rather thats how they want it and nothing else works for them) - but so what - its a different movie making style and I think it worked for me. ARR's BGM are fantastic and it would be a crime not to release them as a separate CD :-) The camera work and direction are wonderful and so are the use of ARR's songs. They do not hinder the movie-progress and I think Indian directors have a thing or two to learn from Rakyesh Mehra about the use of music in our movies. Of-course the actors have done a marvelous job as well - each character is remarkable in his/her own right. Go Rakyesh Mehra Go !!! You do rock. I think you have made a great movie and you have gotten the best out of ARR ... AKS, RDB and now Delhi-6. I have loved all three of them. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] [Non-ARR] - Slumdog, Jai Ho! named top Hollywood words
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-38235620090226
Slumdog, Jai Ho! named top Hollywood wordsFri Feb 27, 2009 1:26am IST
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches movie that
took the Oscars by storm, also produced two of the most influential words of
the 2008 Hollywood awards season, a language monitoring group said on
Thursday.
Jai Ho!, Hindi for Let There be Victory and the title of the movie's
Oscar-winning best song, and Slumdog -- the controversial term coined by
the filmmakers for young slum-dwellers in Mumbai -- were named the top
HollyWords of the year that closed with last Sunday's Oscars.
The Global Language Monitor, which uses an algorithm to track the frequency
of words and phrases in the world's print and electronic media, said it was
rare for two words from the same movie to be ranked in its annual list.
Slumdog Millionaire crowned its awards sweep by winning eight Oscars, also
including best picture and director.
Last summer's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull inspired
the new expression Nuke the Fridge -- a phrase coined on the Internet to
describe a moment when a cinematic franchise has run its course.
The phrase came in third on the list, followed by Hmong -- a mountain
dwelling people in Laos -- from the Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino.
What doesn't kill you makes youstranger, the Joker's twist on German
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's epigram that was spoken by Heath Ledger in
Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight was also among the Top Ten. along with
the line There are no coincidences from the animated movie Kung Fu
Panda.
--
-A
http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] where is sukhwinder?????????
I don't think they were denied a VISA - that would be too strong a statement :-) The travel required a letter from the Academy stating the purpose/nature of the visit which didnt arrive on time (or didnt arrive at all). So I guess they couldn't proceed without that -A On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Vithur vith...@gmail.com wrote: He was denied a VISA and didnt travel... Didnt you read it ? On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 5:48 PM, praka_here praka_h...@yahoo.co.inwrote: guys why was sukhwinder missing at the oscar ceremony...he was supposed to be there isnt it??and has any news channel interviewed him if so pls post it..!! -- regards, Vithur -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Heartfelt
Aravind dude ..its Ajay and not Anil (the other Nair :-)) who wrote this mail . but yes I do agree with Ajay - each and every word of it and I too am more than thankful ...a bucketful of heartfelt thanks to all of you wonderful folks out here ...each one of you who make this group such a wonderful community to be in -A On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 7:26 PM, Aravind AM aravind...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi anil, I'm touched to see you mention that ppl like Gops, vijay vithur, I and others have been a very important part of your life!! Thanks!!! In whatever little help help i've been doing by sharing stuff with ARR fans through this group, if we've impacted at least a few people's lives, it is all thanks to ARR and to our beloved Gopal, who started this group!! Aravind -- My Blog: http://arrahmaniac.blogspot.com Rahmania show interviews: http://rahmania.4shared.com -- --- On *Wed, 25/2/09, Ajay Nair ajaynai...@yahoo.co.in* wrote: From: Ajay Nair ajaynai...@yahoo.co.in Subject: [arr] Heartfelt To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, 25 February, 2009, 11:51 PM This is going to be long but would like to keep it sweet. For past many days i have been seeing a lot of aggression and dis containment towards anybody or anything that has been anti Rahman(music his movies) or to some extent a personal opinion of the respective personality who has said so. Rahman and his music has been a very strong influence in our lives and whomsoever who has followed it, but let us be gracious enough to accept that maybe for X,Y,Z it may not have been or it will never be.In the same length breadth another individual(singer, composer, director) in their respective field would have defenitely touched upon their lives. Music can never be judged to the appreciation that an Oscaror Golden Globe will have its final say, but how effective that has been to make you feel enlightened and transformed in that particular vision the creator wanted to make us believe and the satisfaction we want to derive. Any Music Director and his respective contribution to music should not be looked down in this forum, as we must appreciate that he made it on his own...Maybe that person is not dignity personified like a la Shankar Mahadevan, but when has the craft superceded the creator. Its as debatable as Shane Warne being a womaniser, but we love him not being so but for his achievements on the cricket field. A ghazal singer for whatever wrong reasons insecurity has made those comments: but there are innumerable people in this universe who listen to his songs for his voice, and feel the pain and relate to his lyrics everyday night. We are a fortunate lot that we have followed a person who has shown us a path that forgiveness and striving for the best should be our motto and it is us who should raise our bar not as good music listeners, but to be as better human beings. In his own golden words that he chose hate over love, we should be embaraseed that we have been criminal and corrupt in our thoughts for others irrespective of the person(media, reviwers, press, fellowmates etc etc) who has been affirmative on our thoughts many times but sometimes negative. Let us try to be better human beings and understand each others pain, rather than defending our own views and always sticking to it and being adamant. Woof..quite a long mail and not sweet too...hopefully someone will have the patience to read it in the first place as it is not on a blog and neither a review. But you guys here have been an extremely important part of my life everyday. Gopal, Vithur, Chord, Pavan, Jahanzeb, Arvind, Moin Ul Haque, Shah Nawas, A R Rajib and a lot and all of fellow community members. My heartfelt thanks to all of you for touching my heart and providing me with every information that i need regarding a phenomenon called Rahman. Regards, Ajay Nair. -- Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now.http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_messenger_6/*http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ -- Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Invite them now.http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_messenger_6/*http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Mr. Fair says. If I could have a little bit of time with A.R. Rahman, it would be like a master class.
This 100 million figure (Sales) has been around for quite some time now at least for the past 2-3 years - it should be more than 200 million now ;-) Somebody update the Wiki ...am sure media will pick that up (for lack of official numbers) and very soon, we will have that number being reported by everyone. Just kidding -A On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 9:09 PM, Vithur vith...@gmail.com wrote: 'Slumdog' Remix The Oscar-winning song 'Jai Ho' is reworked with help from a Pussycat Doll - Articlehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs=article - Commentshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs_comments more in Arts Entertainmenthttp://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-arts-movies-music.html» - Emailhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - Printer Friendlyhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - Share: - Yahoo Buzz http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/wsj/ [image: more]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - facebookhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - MySpacehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - LinkedInhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - Digghttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - del.icio.ushttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - NewsVinehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - StumbleUponhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - Mixxhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - [image: smaller]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# Text Sizehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# [image: larger]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123568984902087603.html?mod=googlenews_wsj# - By ETHAN SMITHhttp://online.wsj.com/search/search_center.html?KEYWORDS=ETHAN+SMITHARTICLESEARCHQUERY_PARSER=bylineAND Getty Images Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman, above-left, will try to scale the U.S. pop charts A.R. Rahman triumphed at the Oscars Sunday night. Now one of America's biggest record labels is hoping the Indian film composer can conquer the U.S. pop-music charts, thanks to an unlikely collaboration with the lead singer of the pop group the Pussycat Dolls. The morning after Mr. Rahman's twin victories for best song and best score for the film Slumdog Millionaire, Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen AM Records released an English-language pop version of his prize-winning song Jai Ho. (The title means, approximately, Be Victorious in Hindi.) Tune In Listen to a clip from the remixed version of Jai Ho: - Jai Ho Read More - *Full coverage of the 2009 Academy Awards*http://online.wsj.com/public/page/oscars.html The new version of the song adds to Mr. Rahman's original music and vocals a rough English translation of the Hindi lyrics, sung by Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. You are the reason that I breathe, she sings in the song's chorus. You are the reason that I still believe / You are my destiny. The remix, titled Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny), was produced by Ron Fair, the chairman of Interscope's Geffen Records division, and a pop producer and songwriter who has created hits for the Dolls, Christina Aguilera and others. The producers were aiming to have the new song ready for release immediately after the Oscars whether or not the original won. The remix was created over about a month, from mid-January until last week, with contributions from three continents. Mr. Fair and a team of songwriters worked in Los Angeles, with input from Mr. Rahman, via Skype, in Chennai, India. On a concert tour with her group, Ms. Scherzinger recorded her vocal parts at studios in various cities around England. Getty Images Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls Mr. Fair enlisted several lyricists to create English lyrics that satisfied competing goals. The challenge was not to make it too literal, too uncool, he says. We were trying to make something that would appeal to contemporary music fans, yet still be true to the story of the film. Mr. Fair's new mix preserves the original's electronic dance beats, Japanese taiko drums, and soaring Hindi melodies. But partly because it was composed for a film, the original Jai Ho didn't conform to a traditional structure for a Western pop song, leading to one of the bigger changes Mr. Fair made in creating the remix. We formatted it so his music would fall into our formats for verse and chorus, Mr. Fair says.
[arr] [Non-ARR] - SDM expands to more N. American theaters this Friday
On Friday, Searchlight expands Slumdog to 2,943 theaters in the wake of
the film's Oscar wins. It's the widest release in Searchlight's history.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000636.html?categoryid=13cs=1
Best picture 'Slumdog Millionaire' expandingBy DAVE
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Domestic theater admissions were up an unheard of 9.3% in January and
February, usually one of the slowest times of the year.
In North America, revenues are up 13% for the first two months of 2009,
clocking in at $1.62 billion through Tuesday, according to Rentrak.
Admissions also are on the rise overseas. However, the vagaries of currency
exchange, including a stronger dollar, are hurting Hollywood.
The six major studios have seen a decline of more than 10% in revenues from
foreign markets for the first two months of the year.
The value of the euro is off 20% compared with a year ago and the British
pound has declined more than 35%. But, overall, international moviegoing
remains decent in terms of local admissions and currency compared with a
year ago.
Back home, admissions are often down even when revenues are up, thanks to
increased ticket prices. This year's spike in actual foot traffic bucks that
trend.
This weekend, observers will be watching to see if Disney's new entry Jonas
Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience continues the box office boom.
That boom has seen several notable films beating expectations and racking up
sizeable grosses. Last
weekend,Lionsgatehttp://www.variety.com/profiles/Company/main/2013882/Lionsgate.html?dataSet=1's
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail opened to $41 million, the best bow of
any Perry pic, as well as any Lionsgate release.
Three films -- Warners' Gran Torino, Sony's Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Fox
Searchlight's Oscar winner Slumdog
Millionairehttp://www.variety.com/profiles/Film/main/190486/Slumdog%20Millionaire.html?dataSet=1
--
have all crossed the $100 million mark this year.
Torino's cume through Tuesday was $135.5 million; Mall Cop's, $122.2
million; and Slumdog's, $101.9 million.
On Friday, Searchlight expands Slumdog to 2,943 theaters in the wake of
the film's Oscar wins. It's the widest release in Searchlight's history.
It's been a good winter for the Fox family. The big studio's sleeper hit
Taken, javascript:zodInfuser.FillDescriptions('Taken.'); with a gross
of $96.5 million, should jump the $100 million mark by Sunday.
Distribs say they've never seen so many January and February films do this
kind of business.
There have been casualties, however.
Disney's Confessions of a
Shopaholic,http://www.variety.com/profiles/Film/main/150853/Confessions%20of%20a%20Shopaholic.html?dataSet=1
produced
by Jerry
Bruckheimerhttp://www.variety.com/profiles/people/main/29063/Jerry%20Bruckheimer.html?dataSet=1,
hasn't caught on. The Isla
Fisherhttp://www.variety.com/profiles/people/main/55427/Isla%20Fisher.html?dataSet=1starrer
has grossed $28.3 million since its Feb. 13 release, compared with a cume of
$71.4 million for New Line/Warner Bros.' He's Just Not That Into You,
which opened one week earlier.
Sony's suspense drama The
International,javascript:zodInfuser.FillDescriptions('The
International.'); released
the same day as
Confessions,javascript:zodInfuser.FillDescriptions('Confessions.');
has
done even less business, cuming $17.8 million through Tuesday. Studio said
the film could have a strong run overseas. Pic launches this weekend in
Russia, South
[arr] [Semi-ARR] - Benny - Music is the greatest energy given by God
‘Music is the greatest energy given by God!’ -Ahttp://www.screenindia.com/news/music-is-the-greatest-energy-given-by-god/428423/# *+Ahttp://www.screenindia.com/news/music-is-the-greatest-energy-given-by-god/428423/# * Font *Rajiv Vijayakar http://www.screenindia.com/columnist/rajivvijayakar/*Posted: Feb 27, 2009 at 1803 hrs IST Print http://www.screenindia.com/story.php?id=428423pg=-1Emailhttp://www.screenindia.com/static/story-email/ Newsletter javascript:void(0)Post Commentshttp://www.screenindia.com/news/music-is-the-greatest-energy-given-by-god/428423/#postcomm RSS http://www.expressindia.com/fesyndication/screen.xml *His debut song Pappu can’t dance saala made even non-dancers tango. And his subsequent songs said Tu hi to mera dost hai to the charts. Screen checks out Benny Dayal, who still refuses to market himself because music “is not an imposition”* *What does music mean to you?* Music is one of the greatest energies given to us by God. It has the power to make us laugh and cry and create emotions within us. It can change our life and even heal sickness. I decided on music as a career after I attended a A.R.Rahman concert in Dubai, where we were based then. It was the turning-point. *Did you formally train in music, and if so, in which genre?* I learnt Carnatic classical from the age of three-and-a-half in Dubai itself. My teacher was a South Indian. I am now based in Chennai right from my college days and now I am learning Hindustani classical music from a North Indian teacher! *Rahman inspired you - but that’s not a passport to sing for him. How did you get to sing for Rahman?* I was part of a band called S5. We sang songs for a Malayalam movie called By The People with music by Pravin Mani, who was Rahman-sir’s assistant. Rahman-sir heard them and called me. My first song was Balleilakka in Sivaji as a chorus singer. After that I sang Maduraikku pogadhedi and Nee Marylin Monroe, both in Azhagiya Thamizhmagan composed by A.R.Rahman. *Have you sung for all the South languages?* Yes, but strangely, I had not sung solo in my mother-tongue Malayalam. And frankly, I have not tried too hard. *Actress Asin hails from Kerala but has done just one Malayalam film too. Why is this?* One reason is that I am based in Chennai, and most of the music for Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films is also done there because we have better studios and technicians. But the Malayalam industry operates out of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. I am also not averse to Malayalam songs. But music cannot be like an imposition. It is something that is beautiful and I believe that we cannot force it. We have to let it happen and work towards it, that’s all. *How did your Hindi break happen?* I speak, read and write good Hindi. Rahman-sir mentioned this to Abbas Tyrewala when the song Pappu can’t dance saala came up in Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na. This was way back in November 2006 when we recorded the song. After that I have sung in his Yuvvraaj, Ghajini and Delhi-6. *Have you tried approaching other composers in Mumbai?* No, but Pritam called me for the song Is there a vacancy. But maybe I will soon meet composers with a demo. *Why is there the need for a demo after giving so many hits, including all your Hindi songs?* Why not? That’s the proper way because then music directors get a complete picture. Remember that I have yet to take off, so there’s no harm in considering myself a baccha, for that way there’s more scope to grow! *Music directors seem to be shifting to trained singers after a short phase when training wasn’t really considered vital.* Training consolidates your command on sur and taal. But it is not a hard-and-fast rule in playback singing. Today’s music directors look at how much you can sing from the heart, and sometimes you have to actually forget your classical lessons to get the song right. Music directors like singers who are very fast at work, and those jo harkatein dil se lete hain, gale se nahin. They want a human element, but they do not want a main sab kuch jaanta hoon attitude. Look at Shankar Mahadevan and Kishore Kumar - the way they bring emotions into songs is just superb. So I too approach a song as if it is my first-ever, but on the other hand, I put in my best - as if I have been singing for the last 20 years! *Are you into strict riyaaz?* Frankly, I do not do much riyaaz. But I listen to a lot of music, and the effect is largely the same. I love R B. I hear lots of Blues, Arabic and African music. I listen to Mirza Ghalib and Mehdi Hasan. I am absolutely crazy about Rajasthani folk. Apart from that, from childhood I have been exposed to Hindi film music. I love Rafisaab and O.P.Nayyar and Kalyanji-Anandji are special favourites, especially for the songs of Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan respectively, but even otherwise. *Coming from a double classical background, so to speak, how do you view the way our music is becoming increasingly influenced by the West? Aren’t we at one level making
[arr] DNA ARR interview - Oscar will not change me
Oscar will not change me: Rahman D Ram Raj Friday, February 27, 2009 3:45 IST [image: Email] Email javascript:emailArticle(1234586,7);[image: Print] Print http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint.asp?newsid=1234586[image: Text size] Text javascript:change_text_size1()[image: Share] Sharehttp://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1234586#share *Chennai: *He came, albeit one-and-half hours late, apologised to waiting mediapersons, and conquered everyone's heart. What followed was a 30-minute free-wheeling conversation with Allah Rakha Rahman that left everyone gasping for more. *DNA* was among the select few print journalists who spoke to Rahman at a hotel in Chennai on Thursday. Excerpts from the interaction. *What clinched the award for Jai Ho?* As I said previously, if a beautiful woman wears a lovely ornament, the value of the jewellry ehances. The movie was beautiful andthe music became the crowning jewel. *How do you feel after winning the Oscar?* It is an award for Indian artistes and their aspirations. I'm simply their representative. I dedicate these awards to all my fellow artistes. Hollywood is a world stage where Italian, Japanese and Chinese artistes have won awards. The time has come for India. I expect more Indians to win this award in the future. *Will the Oscar change Rahman the person?* No. I'lltry to be what I am. I'll continue to think and do whatever I am doing now. *What does the award mean to Indian artistes?* The award legitimises our music and our place in the world. Americans are listening to Indian music with interest. It is now my dream to connect people with music. *Do you think Slumdog Millionaire shows India in a bad light?* It is a movie about an underdog who redeems himself. As an artiste, I look at the movie in that way and don't see it as a negative portrayal of India. But people are free to have their opinions. *Why did it appeal to western audience?* It was something new for them. Like say we eat Chinese food and find it interesting as it is different from what we eat everyday. For the western audience, *Slumdog* *Millionaire* was like a holiday, which they savoured. *Will language be a barrier for your work?* Music has no language. I'm prepared to work in any language if the film is good. My priority will be to work in good films without language prejudice. *What kind of music interests you?* Devotional music attracts me as it is close to my heart. Any spiritual or religious music helps one relax. *What about Gulzar's role in Jai Ho?* The success of a song is in its sound and phonetics. Even if the language is not familiar, people should be able to relate to the music. Phonetics is Gulzar's strength and that made all the difference. *Did you expect to win the Oscar? *No, I only had 5% hope of winning the award. My mind was focused on the stage show as Indians were performing on a world stage. *How did you feel on Sunday, hours before the awards were announced?* I felt like a zombie as I hardly slept for four hours. We had rehearsed for the stage performance the previous evening and the next morning we had a final rehearsal. I was worried about the stage show. *Did you feel nervous before the award?* No, I hardly had time to be nervous as the suspense lasted only 20 seconds. I was only thinking of changing and getting on to the stage to perform. *What do our movies lack?* They lack the motivation to do something extraordinary. They are also notplanned. Just look at how the photographers behaved here. I think with a little planning we could have avoided the near fight (laughs). http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1234586 -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Rahman and wife make a style statement at Oscars
Rahman and wife make a style statement at Oscars Next Breaking News: This day is like Eid for all of us »http://www.masala.com/10673-this-day-is-like-eid-for-all-of-us *STYLIST TALKS ABOUT THEIR OUTFITS* Oscar-winning music maestro A.R. Rahman's media-shy better half Saira Banu walked the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Clad in a black kurta-churidar by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the demure wife of the maestro has by choice always maintained her distance from the limeligh till date. She was not a much known face among the Indians, let alone on the global platform before appearing at the awards. Saira Banu was all over the TV screens worldwide when she walked the red carpet clinging to her husband's right arm throughout the ceremony. Not much of a speaking lot, both husband and wife have had perhaps the maximum number of public appearances courtesy the worldwide success of Danny Boyle's Mumbai-based rags-to-rajah story Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman won two golden statuettes - for best original song Jai ho and best original score for the film. Even though Rahman has proved he has impeccable music sense - as is evidenced by his twin Oscars, when it comes to following fashion trends, he completely trusts his wife Saira Banu, says his stylist Vijayeta Kumar. He is a very simple person and doesn't believe in doing anything flashy. He is not at all brand conscious and blindly depends on Saira for the final call, Vijayeta Kumar told IANS over the phone from Mumbai. The reason behind this is that Saira is more aware and keeps herself updated about the latest trends, she added. This Mumbai-based stylist who is also a filmmaker has been associated with Rahman for over a year now. She had met him on the sets of a musical show Mission Ustad on 9X, for which she was the stylist. Rahman's wife got in touch with Kumar after the show and since then she has been designing for the maestro at various concerts and award functions. Both of them are so amazing and down to earth. They are wonderful. It's been a wonderful experience and after his win at the Oscars, Rahman has proved that he is the best, Kumar said. At the Oscars, Rahman was wearing a black Lanvin tuxedo and for the live performance he wore Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee's creation - a black sherwani. The red carpet dressing is very strict so we were very clear from the beginning that he is going to wear a tuxedo. There was no question of opting for any Indian attire or repeating any outfit, Kumar explained. We zeroed in for Sabyasachi for the sherwani because he is the best. We had to make sure that Rahman was wearing something comfortable while performing. So what better than a sherwani and that too a Sabyasachi, she added. Was it a coincidence that both Rahman and Saira were wearing black? Both of them just love black. So it was a conscious decision, Kumar maintained. Elaborating on Rahman's style statement, Kumar said: It is very easy to dress him because he doesn't believe in brands. He gives importance to comfort levels. He is a jeans and shirt man. Sometimes he wears kurtas with churidars also, she added. Meanwhile, as India rejoiced at A.R. Rahman's double Oscar win, his brother-in-law and namesake Rahman said it is the reward for the maestro's life-long commitment to music. Rahman, who acts in films, told reporters that a harmonium was his brother-in-laws's constant companion even during his honeymoon. We were told that in the middle of the night he was sitting in the next room and playing a harmonium in Kodaikanal where he had gone for his honeymoon. Such was his dedication, Rahman said. http://www.masala.com/10669-rahman-and-wife-make-a-style-statement-at-oscars
[arr] Oscars won ARR
I don't know where I read this ...but I liked it ..thought I would share it with you folks... ARR didn't win the Oscars - its Oscars who won ARR -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Rangan Reviews Delhi-6
http://www.desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/2009/02/21/review-delhi-6/ Spoiler Alert ** Review: Delhi-6http://www.desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/2009/02/21/review-delhi-6/ Posted in Cinema: Review (Hindi)http://www.desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/category/hindi-film-review/ | Saturday, February 21st, 2009 | Trackbackhttp://www.desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/2009/02/21/review-delhi-6/trackback/ [image: Picture courtesy: apunkachoice.com] *CAPITAL LETTER* *This love note to Delhi is beautifully written and crafted, even if it completely falls apart towards the end.* *FEB 22, 2009 - ABHISHEK BACHCHAN IS POSSIBLY *the greatest strength as well as the crippling liability of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's *Delhi-6*. This isn't about the actor's performance as Roshan, a symbolic outsider, the NRI who, in many ways, is more *Indian *than most of us within the country. I refer to the baggage that a popular star brings with him when he looms on the posters of a film that features AR Rahman's finest soundtrack in a while, and is advertised as hailing from the makers of*Rang De Basanti*, that explosive pop-culture touchstone which instantly hot-wired itself into the zeitgeist. The expectation is that of yet another audience-pleasing blockbuster entertainer, whereas *Delhi-6 *is really a densely layered, beautifully textured multiplex movie – in the *niche *sense of the word – whose pleasures are far more understated. It's not that *Delhi-6* wears its grim intentions like a proud badge of honour. When Lalaji (Prem Chopra) enters a Ramlila celebration with his young wife, it's hard not to laugh when the latter is blessed with the benediction, *Sada suhagan raho*. (The old goat must be pushing eighty, but when have such pesky considerations been taken into account while social rituals are being mindlessly observed?) Even when Mehra uses a sexually charged gag from *Midnight Cowboy *(the one involving a remote control), he is canny enough to set up a payoff shot with a wicked visual pun. And yet, despite this humorous undertow, *Delhi-6*isn't what you'd call a casual entertainer, the kind that instantly works its way into the bloodstream and triggers the relevant brain centres for laugh and cry and so on. In a way, Mehra lets us see what *Swades *might have resembled had it been tailored towards a multiplex audience. The gears of this story are set in motion when Roshan's grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) expresses a wish to relocate from the US to her Chandni Chowk home, to live out her last days. (Her words, *Jahan ki mitti, wahin mil jaaye to achcha hai*, recall one of the most beautiful lines in Swades: *Apne hi paani mein pighalna barf ka muqaddar hota hai*.) But where Ashutosh Gowarikar employed his hero, played by Shah Rukh Khan, as the epicentre of epiphanies, Mehra reduces Roshan to one of the many players in a dynamic ensemble. And where *Swades *was developed scene by detailed scene, sequence by expository sequence,*Delhi-6 *comes across as if Mehra dynamited a similar story and reassembled a film out of the charred scraps that survived. Rarely has a message-heavy movie seemed so *weightless *– at least till the shockingly graceless final stretch, which implodes under the treacly burden of its good intentions – and seldom have the stories of so many characters (extensions of Kunal Kapoor's family in *Rang De Basanti*, the other side of the Delhi yuppie) been orchestrated with such fluidity. *Delhi-6* is so extraordinarily written, the i's dotted and t's crossed with such unblinking attention to detail, even a radio set gets something of a graph, evolving from broken family heirloom to playing Mukesh hits from *Teesri Kasam*. The film opens with a man awaking at night to relieve himself, and in what's possibly the most liquid leitmotif committed to celluloid, even this apparently insignificant act is echoed throughout. The one thing Mehra and his writers cannot be accused of is laziness; the script submitted to the studio was undoubtedly pockmarked with footnotes and annotations. The characters aren't developed through conventional devices (instantly identifiable quirks; long lines of establishing dialogue), and yet, to the last person, they register as fully formed human beings, real enough to be sitting in the seat next to us. We get to understand people like the smarmy photographer Suresh (Cyrus Sahukar) by piecing together the scraps of information Mehra provides, in vignettes that sometimes flash by in a matter of seconds. Through his scenes with Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), we know Suresh is an unconscionable flirt. We know he owes Lalaji money. Through the scene where he offers an imported cigarette to Jaigopal (Pawan Malhotra), we know they share some sort of boyish friendship, a notion that's bolstered when, on a scooter, they pass by Jalebi (Divya Dutta) and whistle at her. We even know what happens to Suresh at the end, in a wordless shot that generously provides closure to this minor character. Other
[arr] Non-ARR - Are you suffering from Slumdog-Oscar overload ...
I guess I am :-)
Are you suffering from Slumdog-Oscar overload?
22 Feb 2009, hrs IST, Vikram Doctor, ET Bureau
Printhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4167490.cms?prtpage=1
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MUMBAI: Are you suffering from Slumdog-Oscar overload? Don't bother to
answer that as a quick look at most other papers would confirm [image:
oscar1.jpg]
javascript:openslideshow('/slideshow/4167500.cms')javascript:openslideshow('/slideshow/4167500.cms')
*In Pics:**Slumdog
Millionaire*http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/4020965.cms
*Oscar
nominations*http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/articleshowpics/4025195.cms
*British Academy of Film
Awards*http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/articleshowpics/4096710.cms
that.
That's why this might be time to think back to a simpler time and place when
Oscar nominations for even genuinely Indian
filmshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/4167490.cms#
got
little notice. Like 1958, when the first-ever Indian nomination for Mehboob
Khan's Mother India was barely reported in the media.
The lack of interest is striking, not just in comparison with the current
carpet bombing of Slumdog stories, but even the more restrained interest
that other Indian nominees
received.Gandhihttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/4167490.cms#,
of course, in 1982, while also not an Indian film (though it did have the
half Indian Ben Kingsley winning Best Actor, and fully Indian Bhanu Athaiya
sharing the Costume Design Oscar), was guaranteed widespread interest.
In 1982 Salaam Bombay's nomination for Best Foreign Film also got decent
coverage, although with the now familiar cribs about presenting unflattering
images of India. In 2002 Lagaan's nomination for the same award was also
widely covered, though this time the bitching came from
Bollywoodhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/4167490.cms#
about
lead actor Aamir Khan's willingness to attend this award ceremony, which he
wasn't likely to win, while he famously disdains Indian ones, where he
usually wins.
*Also Read** → *Punters betting big on Slumdog
Millionairehttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4103392.cms
* → *Slumdog bags top award at Writers Guild of
Americahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4095117.cms
* → *List of 81st Academy Awards nominees in major
categorieshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4158374.cms
* → *Director Sanjay Gupta missed making 'Slumdog Millionaire' by 'hair's
breadth' http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4108942.cms
By contrast in 1958 Mother India's Oscar nomination hardly registered while
its success at the Filmfare Awards was well reported (something Amitabh
Bachchan, a lead backer of the importance of Indian awards would feel happy
about). This was a sign of a cautious change taking place in the importance
given to Bollywood in the Indian media.
Immediately after Independence Bollywood's image had not been high, a
consequence perhaps of the still strong influence of Mahatma Gandhi. He had
never liked cinema, proudly writing in Young India as far back as 1926,
that: I have never once been to a
cinemahttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media--Entertainment-/Entertainment/Are-you-suffering-from-Slumdog-Oscar-overload/articleshow/4167490.cms#
and
refuse to be enthused about it.
A few years later, in Rangoon, when a group of labourers tried to put on a
play in his honour, he angrily denounced: The cinema, the stage, the
race-course, the drink-booth and the opium-den, all these enemies of society
that have sprung up under the fostering influence of the present system.
Gandhi did eventually see one film, Vjay Bhatt's mythological Ram Rajya, and
seems to have been thoroughly unimpressed. In a letter he noted dryly,
Nobody has lost anything by not witnessing the show. Post Independence
this disdainful attitude to films was continued by followers like
B.V.Keskar, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, who banned AIR
from playing film
Re: [arr] A R Rahman to be on Jay Leno show
Is ARR going to be Interviewed as well or just is going to be playing the song. Often in Jay Leno, artists just perform songs and are not interviewed. I ask this because I thought I saw 2 names on the guest list - Freida Pinto and some other guy. Gops/Vijay can confirm -A On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 12:29 AM, V S Rawat vsra...@gmail.com wrote: On 2/19/2009 1:11 PM India Time, _Bivin Chandra_ wrote: Mumbai: In yet another instance of the worldwide acclaim garnered by 'Slumdog Millionaire', the movie's music director, Indian maestro A R Rahman is slated to perform live on one of America's most popular late-night talk shows, 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno. The show, watched by millions worldwide, is considered to be among the definitive platforms for international recognition. I somehow think that ARR should wait for one more week before appearing in such shows. He should appear only after Oscar declarations, whatever the outcome is. Shows and Interviews are complex things. Reporters and jockeys and host are cunning guys and gals out to get publicity for their own shows even at the cost of their guest. The phrases Kill him and slice him is common parlance among viewers of such shows. These hosts might trap our innocent man into uttering something that they would then blow out of proportion, out of context and that might affect the Oscar voters views. Please hold on for 3 more days. -- Rawat Rahman, has already won numerous international awards for his work in 'Slumdog Millionaire', including the BAFTA for Best Music Score, and has been nominated for three awards at the upcoming Academy Awards. He will be performing on a stage graced by other musical greats like James Morrison, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, Coldplay and Tracy Chapman. The song list for the episode remains a secret but the maestro is expected to play his Oscar-nominated song 'Jai Ho' from 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Rahman will be accompanied on the show by the leading lady of the film, Freida Pinto. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-r-rahman-to-be-on-jay-leno-show/425194/ -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] D6 Review - Mehra deserves a bow despite monkey business
http://www.xpress4me.com/life/reviews/cinema/20012025.html Delhi-6: Mehra deserves a bow despite monkey business By Mazhar Farooqui, Leisure Editor A hideous *kala bandar* and not Masakali ruffles feathers in *Delhi-6*. Because while our genial kabootar does no more than just matak and coo, the monstrous creature performs daring sorties and actually becomes instrumental in putting across the message of co-existence when communal passions soar and tempers fray in the walled Indian capital. Get that? This monkey business might get director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra critical acclaim, but the chances of it jumpstarting the movie's fortunes at the box office are narrower than some of the bylanes of Chandni Chowk, which forms the backdrop of the film. Mehra redefined Hindi cinema with *Rang De Basanti*. In *Delhi-6*, he may have left the majority of his audience at sixes and sevens. A la* Aks* (his directorial debut), they just couldn't connect with the movie's theme. But that's not suggesting it's wishy-washy or insipid, because regardless of how it fares commercially, *Delhi-6*will still go down as a great movie, perhaps one of the finest in recent times, and for that Mehra deserves a bow. * Read report on Delhi-6's Dubai premierehttp://www.xpress4me.com/life/pulse/bollywood/20012012.html Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan), an American citizen of Indian origin, flies down to India with his ailing grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) for the first time and is instantly taken in by the sights and sounds of a hyperkinetic and maddening Delhi. Despite all the chaos --- traffic that snarls up because a cow is in labour, power cuts and a mysterious monkey man churning panic and sending rumour mills and television news channels into overdrive, he finds himself forging a bond with the metropolis. The journey from within (that's the tagline, in case you missed it) begins. It's no plain sailing alright, but initially, it's not too bumpy either. If Roshan is not gorging on *jalebis* at Mamdu's shop in the neighbourhood or playing pool at affable Al Baig's (Rishi Kapoor) place, he is clicking pictures from his cellphone -- a blatant plug for Motorola which Abhishek endorses. Amid all this, he's falls in love with Bittu (Sonam) -- a rebellious aspiring singer, who wants to become the next Indian idol, but much like her fettered- feathered friend Masakali, can't break free. A Bollywood pigeon devoid of any letter-despatching or gun snatching abilities! Give me a beak.. err. break.. What's wrong with our script writers? Cutting back to the story, his family background notwithstanding (his father is Hindu ad his mother, Muslim) Roshan is completely absorbed in Delhi's unique culture. He goes to the temple and also offers prayer at the mosque. But fate and the mysterious Monkey Man ordains otherwise. In Guru, Abhishek had to create Gurukant Desai. But Delhi-6's Roshan is pretty much him, because much like his character in the movie, he also spent much of his childhood abroad. There was that instant connect. If anybody could have done justice to the role, it had to be me Abhishek said during an interview with XPRESS on Wednesday. And he was right. Sonam was a revelation. A modest appreciation of her acting skills forbade her from making Bachchan-like claims, but one won't be surprised if she walks away with all the honours. Vijay Raaz as the corrupt policemman is brilliant as are Om Puri, Divya Dutta, Pawan Kumar, Atul Kulkarni and Amitabh Bachchan who has a cameo. Fast facts The biggest highlight of the movie: AR Rahman's music. Overall verdict: Don't go with too many expectations and you may like it, especially if you are from north India. Trivia: The film's title is based on the postal code of old Delhi which is 1100-06 -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Issue with the sound recording of Sapnay (lack of stereo).
Ok ...so you also feel that. I thought it was a problem with the recording I had. I just have the mp3 and felt that it was just a poor recording. The Tamil one is fine but the Hindi one definitely has problems... anybody else? -A On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 7:22 PM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: I love the songs of Sapnay, but I have noticed that there is no left/right stereo effect with any of the songs. Maybe it's a bad CD that I have, but I once had a cassette of this album and the same issue was experienced then. I listened to my ipod this evening and the entire sound is in the center with absolutely no activity in the right or left speakers. The whole album sounds almost mono. Guys, please listen to this album on headphones and tell me what you think. Then switch to another Rahman album, which I did, and I noticed a HUGE difference. Also, in the song Roshan Hua, which I love, when the bass comes in as a loop, it comes in too loud IMO and distorts the vocal part. I hear the vocal part cracking when the bass sound is repeated. If this topic has been discussed before, forgive me. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
[arr] Interesting - Itunes charts
Good to see that SDM is doing pretty well in other markets as well besides the US and UK charts http://www.apple.com/euro/itunes/charts/top10albums.html No. 1 in Portugal and Spain No. 9 in France, Canada and Switzerland No. 5 in Ireland No. 10 in New Zealand -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Rahman - The Quintissential Artist
Couldn't agree more Chord. And noticing your posts over the past few days ..I can't but help comment that ARR's music also seems to be extracting some amazing thoughts/feelings (in the form of these writings) from you :-). Not just you - I have seen a spurt in people putting down their feelings as posts. Truly its ARR's artistry thats causing all this :-) I enjoy reading every bit of it ...so keep it up .. -A On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 7:49 AM, Chord purev...@yahoo.com wrote: As a teenager, I used to visit a local fine arts museum through school trips and with family. There was a Picasso painting there that I always used to gaze at but never really appreciated it until one day, several visits later, it finally hit me. Then I fell in love. As I was thinking about this memory, this experience, it dawned on me how this experience in some ways parallels another more contemporary experience. There is a distinction between arts and fine arts. Film music is commonly commercial and weighs mostly on entertainment factor. For example, if you look at the music of SEL, they have a very entertaining, uplifting style of composition that's very celebratory in nature. It's one of the reasons why I like them a lot. Their music is instantly likeable, catchy, makes you feel positive. Yet, their music also sounds fresh and not stale. Some other good MDs out there also follow this example. With Rahman by comparison, the additional factor in his music is his dabbling into the finer arts in terms of his compositional style. There are splashess of Western classical, Indian classical, jazz, folk in his music laid out more in depth and elaborated than any other MD's works. When I hear a great Rahman composition, I find more subtlety, more refined beauty in the sound, the arrangements, the melody hits you very differently than a piece that's instantly likeable and catchy. Hence, why we often need repeated listens for the song to finally hit us due to the deeper layers and us as listeners being forced to acoomodate to the new musical directions rather than assimilate to an existing one. Of course, many of Rahman's songs are also instantly accessable and catchy, but more often than not, there is this finer arts aspect to his music that makes his scores very special. Sometimes his songs evoke images of a Picaso painting, a Leonardo De Vinci sculpture..striking, yet subtle, booming yet modest, divinely beautiful yet subdued. Rarely is his music ever flashy, gaudy, obvious. It's the subtlety, the refined beauty of his songs overlapping into the finer arts category that really sets him a world apart. But, keep in mind, not everyone has the sensitivity to appreciate this in his music. Those music listeners who are interested in only the obvious, the flashy, will not appreciate Rahman's finer compositions, the finer layers, the deeper sounds, the small ornaments. And the amazing thing about Rahman is that you cannot label or categorize him as only one type of composer. At the drop of a hat, he can create a racy, flashy piece of music that will send the charts on fire. In the next instant, he can wear Mozart's or John Williams' hats and create a Monet-esque or DaVinci-esque refined sound sculpture worthy of display in a future musical museum. Rahman is not just an entertainer, he is a true artist in the very finest sense of the term. -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
Re: [arr] Re: Colours CD
I own a cassette of Colors. I had no clue until I read about the Dilip on this album being ARR until quite recently :-). Thats the magic about this group. Each day you get to know new stuff :-) I have been a big fusion fan (indian classical/western stuff) and thats how this cassette found its way into my collection. Its indeed a great album to have ...if u like fusion music and even more if u like KV and Zakir -A On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 8:25 PM, arr_raghu arr_ra...@yahoo.com wrote: True that ARR did not have much share in this CD but this is an attractive and interesting CD for collectors for reasons.. 1. Recorded when ARR was Dilip 2. Classical Music Album 3. Along with Stalwarts Zakir Hussain and Vaidhyanathan. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com, Aakarsh aakarsh...@... wrote: I first heard this album in 1995. The album was released much earlier. The album had credits to musicians and keyboards was credited to Dileep. I just had a hunch (but was not sure) that this Dileep could be Dileep KUmar who became A.R.Rahman and people were talking about the score of Bombay. it was just a fleeting thought and i didnt bother about it much. Later, my hunch proved to be right. Coming to the album, ARR fans need not expect much Rahman-ism out of this album. The album showcases the talents of Late Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan and Ustad Zakir Hussain primarily and the music arrangement capabilities of Jeyasekhar, who arranged and conducted the music. It is a brilliant album for sure. But to be frank, contribution from Rahman is very minimal and limited to just 1-2 tracks(i think maximum usage of keyboards was only in 'Evolution' track). Thats because most of the tracks are pure classical and not fusion. The fusion, in some Indian classical tracks, is non-electronic and involves string orchestra playing tunes in western classical style. Bottomline: Buy it if you like Indian Classical Music, Instrumental Music, Carnatic Violin-Tabla stuff. If you are strictly looking for ARR stuff, forget it. Regards Kamal Aakarsh Vishnubhotla. http://kamal-aakarsh.blogspot.com --- On Mon, 2/16/09, arunava bhowmick arunava_1...@... wrote: From: arunava bhowmick arunava_1...@... Subject: Re: [arr] Colours CD To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com arrahmanfans%40yahoogroups.com Date: Monday, February 16, 2009, 7:02 PM Rahman on the keyboards ARRunava --- On Mon, 16/2/09, Chord purev...@yahoo. com wrote: From: Chord purev...@yahoo. com Subject: Re: [arr] Colours CD To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com Date: Monday, 16 February, 2009, 6:17 PM Is Colors a CD by Rahman? Why is this topic brought up? Just curious. --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, arunava bhowmick arunava_1978@ ... wrote: Hi raghu, How did you got the CD delivered. Nehaflix said they are not delivering in India currently. ARRunava --- On Sat, 14/2/09, arr_raghu arr_raghu@ .. wrote: From: arr_raghu arr_raghu@ .. Subject: [arr] Colours CD To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com Date: Saturday, 14 February, 2009, 10:48 PM I have got Colours CD from nehaflix.com for $14 including shipping. Interestingly, The CD says - Made in India, Packed 07/2008 , Price Rs. 150 only. Looks like it is a rerelease and must be available in India easily. Bottom line is that- cheaper or expensive, Colours CDs are available in the market. Regards Raghu Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger. yahoo.com/ invite/ Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Click here -- -A http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com
