*The Mozart of Madras* - Happy Birthday AR Rahman

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VishaD.

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Posted: 13 years ago

#61

A.R. Rahman: 46, and ready to play on!

A R Rahman, who celebrates his birthday today, gets chatting on topics close to his heart

2 011 was a relatively disappointing year for fans of the Mozart of Madras as the composer had just a couple of Hindi albums (Rockstar and Ek Deewana Tha) releasing. But there's good news in this New Year as A R Rahman - who turns 46 today - is all set for his homecoming, quite literally, with at least four Indian projects.

There's Rajini's Kochadaiyaan, Gautham Menon's Yohan: Adhyayam Ondru, Mani Ratnam's film and a movie with Bharatbala on the cards and the Oscar-winning composer is looking forward to more creative work. "I am doing Rajini's film and it should be exciting," he starts off.

Will he use any of the tunes that he already composed for Sultan or Rana, the other Rajini films that are on hold at the moment? "Well, we're yet to decide about that," he says. Though all these assignments will make the composer stay more in Chennai, and India, his first week of the New Year has mostly been out of the country.

"I was out of the country on January 1 and will be 'pardes' on my birthday as well; so there're no special plans," he states. Rahman will join hands with his favourite director Mani Ratnam yet again for his upcoming flick that's already making headlines. So, what can we expect from the combination this time around? "Well, Mani Ratnam is quite secretive these days," he says with a smile, "We're still in the process of working out the music for the film."

Any non-Rahman film music that he has liked of late? "I can't think of anything other than Kolaveri, which is nice," he replies. Currently, the composer is extremely happy that some of his popular orchestral tracks will be performed live by a team from the German Film Orchestra, Babelsberg, and the students from his K M Music Conservatory in a five-city tour. "When I was a musician, a crowd used to gather to witness how music is made," he reminisces, "Unfortunately, now the studios have shrunk and that no longer happens.

In these concerts, you can witness that - and the way orchestral tracks are played, sans any digital enhancements." Rahman's keeping his vocal cord busy this year too, as he's begun by crooning a track in Ek Deewana Tha. "It's an addition to this album, something that didn't feature in the Tamil original (Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya)," he signs off.

SPIELBERG CONNECTION
On the international front, Rahman has completed work on Welcome to People that sees him join hands with Steven Spielberg, who is its co-producer. The film is directed by Alex Kurtzman. "We finished the music three-four months ago," reveals the composer.