AR Rahman legendary music compo - Page 19

Music guru A R Rahman and film director of repute Kathir have come back with a new film 'Kaadhal Virus' after the successful partnership on smash musical hits 'Kaadhal Desam' and 'Kaadhalir Dinam'. The new film's music will be released on Sony Music label, which marks the foray of Sony Music into Tamil Films! This potent Kathir-Rahman album will be launched in a big function in Chennai on 2nd October 2002. Keeping with his reputation of introducing new faces like Abbas, Heera, Prabhu Deva, Kunal...., Kathir is in 'Kaadhal Virus' launching Richard and Shridevi as the lead cast. The film also features Abbas and Raghuvaran. Sony Music is taking its first big step into Tamil film soundtracks with an A R Rahman called 'Kaadhal Virus' (literally translated as 'love virus'). Says Mr. Shridhar Subramaniam, Managing Director, Sony Music India, "The soundtrack of Kaadhal Virus is certainly amongst A R Rahman's best work in the recent past and has the potential to cross the language boundaries. And we are hoping that our successful association with Rahman continues with this album." The album kicks in with the very catchy 'Ye Ye Ennachu' sung by Vasundhara Das in a manner that only she can. The track is certainly set to be the youth anthem for the next couple of months; one over what 'Mustafa Mustafa' did to listeners. Next is a beauty of a ballad 'Sonnalum' by Unnikrishnan and Harini, definitely Rahman's best in recent years. 'Vaan Nila' by Srinivas and Karthik is a highly innovative rock-n-roll track that would not let your feet rest. S P Balu is in his usual fantastic form in the heart warming' 'Yenthan Vanin'. Rahman takes off again into a very progressive FTV style track in 'Baila More' with T R Simbu and Tippu doing the vocal honours. And the album ends on a grand note with Mano and Clinton going for the gut with 'O Kadhale', which also sits on an emotional high note in the movie. 'Kaadhal Virus' has all the ingredients of a typical Kathir-A R Rahman soundtrack. A great mix of upbeat youthful tracks and soulful ballads

Miindia welcomes A R Rahman & group to Michigan.

An exclusive by Anupama Gopalakrishnan

Indian Film Singers form an essential component of any Indian blockbuster. Michigan welcomed the Indian Singers of the computerized era who all have only one thing to say "A R Rahman is an experimental genius". A few singers landed in Michigan after their electrifying performance in LA. Miindia always has a unique charm of welcoming Indian personalities and what better way than package their intensity for the Asian Indian community. ARR, SPB, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan & Shankar were yet to arrive, but Hariharan, Vasundhara, Sukhwinder, Sivamani, Mahalaxmi, Sadhana had already landed and were rearing to go!

VASUNDHARA DAS: SINGER, ACTRESS

Singing from the age of 10, Vasundhara's foray into Indian film music began after her graduation in Math/Statistics. This sensible Bangalore girl wanted to check the commercial reality for musicians and so Chennai beckoned her. "Tamil Music experiments different styles and Shakalaka Baby was my first hit which is actually dear to my heart", said the beautiful Vasundhara.

Vasundhara met A R Rahman through a friend of hers and thus began her slow claim to fame. Apart from being a wonderful singer, Ms. Das is also a very well known film actress – Monsoon Wedding, Hey Ram and a few more.

Vasundhara loves to perform on stage as according to her "The stage vibe is unparalleled, unequalled. There is instant chemistry between the singer and the audience." Vasundhara loves experimentation and so Rahman was like a dream come true. "I like to listen to a lot of world music. Spanish music, Portuguese music. I sing in Spanish. And English and Hindi, Tamil and Telugu too."

Vasundhara is waiting to get on stage and pump some energy as she feels that this concert is a total team effort, a very enjoyable show with fun singers. Vasundhara personally admires Sukhwinder Singh for his gifted ability to perform. In her closing comments she mentioned, one may have a good voice and another may have a skill to perform – a good singer should possess both!" Catch this sensational diva on fire this evening live for the first time at Eastern Michigan University – Convocation Center, Ypsilanti

SUKHWINDER SINGH: SINGER, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Touted as the most expensive singer in Bollywood, the sensitive and eloquent singer was all excited to perform in Michigan. Sukhwinder Singh achieved national fame with his instant hit Chaiyya Chaiyya. Other films followed, notable among which are Taal, Biwi No 1, 1947 Earth, Daag, Dillagi and Thakshak have now made him a household word. Sukhwinder owes a large part of his success to Rahman's encouragement, and makes no effort to gloss over that fact.

"I am very choosy about my songs", mentioned Sukhwinder. According to him, music is not a challenge. "Its not a game as to who sings well. To me music is cool. It is the vocal chord that provides a soothing environment", he elaborated.

Speaking about the genius ARR, Sukhwinder admires Rahman for his experimental techniques. "He is a very nice and comfortable human being. He is a bridge between confidence and confusion", he mentioned. Sukhwinder finds Michigan to be very cold. "Arre it freezes you" !

According to him, the stage is a very stylish and energetic life platform where you could feel the audience right next to you. Its melody and dance and the entire fan fare. Sukhwinder's new album 'Mitti' is something to look forward to. His personal favorite is the title song "Dil se Re" from the movie "Dil Se". The Michigan Indian audience can see the change in Sukhwinder (this singer is on a major diet spree, I guess) tonight as he performs live with his impeccable style.

LAST BUT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT: THE MAN WHO HELPED A R RAHMAN… the electricity behind every A R Rahman's show…

the one and only Chennai's very own Sivamani!

SIVAMANI: PERCUSSIONIST, CHILDHOOD FRIEND & CLOSE ASSOCIATE of AR Rahman.

No AR Rahman music is complete without the best pair of hands in the world of percussion - Anandan Sivamani. Zakir Hussain describes him as a phenomenon that walks through this planet but once or twice in a century.. He is a must with Louis Banks, be it live shows or studio recordings.

Sivamani spoke exclusively to miindia. Asked about his passion and gift for music, Siva attributes his very being to his parents. "This gift was given to me by my parents. I was fine-tuning my mom's heartbeat while I was in her womb", Siva casually mentioned.

Siva has always firmly believed to take life as music. He loves sharing his music with everyone and was very instrumental in bringing A R Rahman to the glossy world of Indian Film Stage Shows. Siva considers A R Rahman as his close buddy, and admires ARR for his skill as a music connoisseur, composer and a genius.

It was the magic of international master, Noel Grant, which enchanted Sivamani. Noel Grant's recordings filled him with awe, and ecstasy. Also inspired by Billy Cobham, who became a role model - in 1990, he actually shared the stage with the legend at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan.

Starting his music career at the age of 11, Sivamani recently shifted to Mumbai as there is so much international activity in the music world.

Sivamani mentioned that his music can be seen in tonight's show as a "beat that would exist from top to bottom". Sivamani reveres SP Balasubramaniam – touts him as his God father and loves working with Hariharan. His first ghazal album with Hariharan "Kaash" was released two years ago. Siva used to play with vessels in his mom's kitchen and he still uses those for his music.

What's Sivamani's favorite place in the world, no points for getting this right – The Kitchen filled with vessels!

Look for the live wire, the man who gave a new meaning to Indian music, acclaimed as one of the best percussionists in the world, catch Sivamani in action tonight!

Interviewed and Presented by Anupama Gopalakrishnan

Paul J scores over A.R. Rahman

Bappi Lahiri and AR Rahman team up

Until a couple of years back, Bappi Lahiri was almost lost amongst the new composer crowd in Bollywood. A couple of his albums followed but it was with Vishal-Shekhars Boombai Nagariya which he sung with a retro charm that put him back in the public eye. or should we say ear. That was the first time that Bappi had sung for any other music composer.

And now Bappi has taken to the mike, once again. He recently completed recording the title track of Mani Ratnams Guru , composed by none other than A.R.Rahman. Few people know that Rahman and Lahiri have known each other since a very long time. Lahiri was only too happy to work with the maestro. In fact, he is not hesitant to say that according to him, Rahman is the best from among his contemporaries.

A seven minute song, the lyrics of the title track has been penned by Gulzar. In fact, they were all so well prepared that the recording was completed in a single night. Bappi da didnt want to talk too much about the lyrics of the song, at this stage. But we do know that it will be used for the credits of the film. Everyone was satisfied with the end result of the song. Bappi is now open to more playback singing, provided he gets good numbers.

Three Rahman Songs in the hunt for an Oscar
By: Aakash Gandhi

That the Academy Awards are a pretigous event for artists all around the world is a known fact. It's also known that one of India's greatest artists, A.R. Rahman has recently been making international waves with his penchant for composing masterful music. Finally these two facts culminate into one great event. Recently, the Academy released a list of fifty-six songs that will be competing in the 79th Annual Academy Awards under the 'Best Original Song' category. And impressively, three of Rahman's tracks are featured on the list, including "Chan Chan" (Water), "Khalbali" (Rang De Basanti), and "Lukka Chuppi" (Rang De Basanti).

I think A.R. Rehman is the best MD of India..than Vishal & Shekar and SEL 😊

Provoked : Movie Preview
11th Dec 2006 22.30 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh

"Her suffering was unimaginable. Her solution, unthinkable," goes the tagline of Jagmohan Mundhra's forthcoming film 'Provoked', which stars Aishwarya Rai in the role of a battered housewife.

How long can a woman suffer physical torture and rapes by her alcoholic and sadistic husband? 'Provoked' is the true story of one such woman, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who suffers silently for years and then kills her husband to gain her freedom.

Don't miss the movie's slideshow (story in pictures) at Provoked .

Besides Aishwarya, the film stars Naveen Andrews , Robbie Coltrane, Miranda Richardson and Nandita Das .

'Provoked' is the celluloid adaptation of Kiranjit and journalist Rahila Gupta's novel, 'Circle of Light'.

The film tells the story of a Punjabi woman Kiranjit (Aishwarya) who is married to Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) in London. Getting married to a man abroad is like a dream come true for a simple girl like Kiranjit. But it doesn't take long for her dream to turn into nightmare.

Marital bliss fizzles out for Kiranjit when she discovers that Deepak is an alcoholic who begins to derive sadistic pleasure in torturing her physically and mentally. Over the period, Kiranjit gives birth to two children. But that doesn't change Deepak's behavior towards her.

Facing repeated assaults from her husband, Kiranjit decides to take the desperate step. In a fit of rage, she sets Deepak on fire.

Though she is imprisoned for murdering her husband, Kiranjit ironically finds her peace and freedom behind prison bars.

As Kiranjit picks pieces of her fragmented life in the prison, her cellmate, a British woman, comes to know of her plight and decides to help her.

Thereafter, a group of South Asian social workers running an organization called Southhall Black Sisters organize rallies to gather public support for Kiranjit's freedom. Media does its bit by taking Kiranjit's story to the masses.

But freedom from prison is still a far cry for Kiranjit. A historical and controversial case is fought in the courts. Finally, Kiranjit finds her freedom and is reunited with her kids.

'Provoked' premiered for the world media at the Cannes film festival in May this year. Aishwarya Rai, Jagmohan Mundhra and Kiranjit Ahluwalia attended the event.

'Provoked' has music by A R Rahman . It is scheduled to release in February, next year.

A. R. Rahman Bollywood's finest A key moment in A.R. Rahman's life: he met one of India's most famous directors, Mani Ratnam, who asked him to compose the music for his next film, "Roja" (1992). The rest, as they say, is history. He went on to compose several great hits for Tamil-language films before composing the score and songs for his first Hindi-language film, "Rangeela" (1995). The enormous success of his first Hindi venture was followed by the chart-topping soundtrack albums of films such as "Bombay" (1995), "Taal" (1999), and "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), which was nominated for best foreign-language film at the 2002 Academy Awards. He also worked with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Shekhar Kapur (director of "Elizabeth") on a musical called "Bombay Dreams". What have been some recent productions of you and how have they been recorded? Well, "Warriors of Heaven and Earth", "Provoked" and "The Rising" are amongst the movie projects, I completed in recent times. We have just opened our new facility, called AM studios, a few months ago. We were initially recording at the older place on an Euphonix System 5 with Genelec monitors. The Euphonix has now been moved to the new film mixing room designed by Studio 440. At the new recording room we have installed a Neve 88R. A major portion of my forthcoming projects, "Rang De Basanti" and "Provoked" were done at the new facility. Logic is our main workstation, which works in combination with Digidesign hardware. On what projects are you working at the moment? Currently, I'm just about wrapping up "Rang de Basanti" and "Provoked" in India, whilst I'm in the final stages for "The Lord of the Rings", a theater adaptation in Toronto. Did you use Melodyne on these projects? In which songs, in which particular moment? Sure, used it mostly on vocal tracks of "Rang de Basanti", in aim of creating fresh harmonies, reducing quivers, pitch correction etc. How did Melodyne change the way you work with audio files? Well, we have been using Melodyne for most of the vocal corrections, but I also like fooling around with it, making harmonies and things like that. I think Melodyne is an ideal and very transparent solution for this. We also tried to make percussion sound bigger with it, using transpose and stacking functions. How is your workflow with Melodyne? We are right now importing files into Melodyne, working on them and exporting them back to Logic. I am looking forward to the next version, which will help me a lot. Then I'll use the Melodyne Bridge on MacOS X Tiger. What do you like especially about Melodyne? I enjoy the flexibility, transparency and the many ways in which Melodyne surprises us! A. R. Rahman Links Homepage of A.R. Rahman Short Bio "Lord of the Rings" - on stage Movie "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" Movie "The Rising"

I'll revisit this thread given the time... thank you dada. I'm eager to read all the articles and discussions so that I may learn more. 😊

Friday, February 23, 2007 22:04 IST