Mysorean

I am yet to come up with a way of writing this. Rahman won the Oscar – not one but two. And he did it in his characteristic matter-of-fact style. His acceptance speeches have already attained legendary status. He was christened a ‘Living Legend’ by one of the news channels. Another channel was discussing with one of the great Bollywood personalities who was saying some stuff about Rahman that we have already heard a million times. And that’s precisely the problem with Rahman – you cannot say anything about him that has not been said before. And he never gives you even a hint of a chance to say something about him!

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…and I am here. God Bless!

Those were Rahman’s words on winning his second Oscar (for Best Original Song – “Jai Ho” alongwith Gulzar) of the day. This is his full acceptance speech [Link]:

I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole, all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I’m here. God bless.

When he one the first one too he was quite at ease with the whole situation. This is what he said when he won his first one [Link]:

Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my marriage. There’s a dialogue from a Hindi film called “Mere paas ma hai,” which means “I have nothing but I have a mother,” so mother’s here, her blessings are there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz, I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr. Gulzar, Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award which is… “God is great.” Thank you.

If you didn’t know he won two Oscars today, then you have been living on the Moon or something! What a day! Thanks to all those who passed on their congratulatory wishes on the win! Really value each and every of those calls, sms’es and mails! Thanks guys! Thanks!

Check this out.
Law of averages had to catch up with India! We desperately needed this tonic of happiness. And who else to provide it to us than Allah Rakha Rahman. Let me just taste this moment. It’s so wonderful. I am in no mood to make a technical evaluation of whether he will win or not but look at the “Original Song” category he has two out of the three nominations! Its too much for me to take now. Let me first close my mouth!

PS: This is my 300th post. Somehow I waited and waited and waited till I posted this and didn’t know what I was waiting for. Now we know, right?!

See this:

Source: http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/index.html

And this:

It was just a matter of time. If you followed the American press you would have predicted this easily. But for me, I was still doubtful because I thought ‘Water‘ was good enough for an Oscar nomination atleast. Anyway, here we are today. While the press is glossing over the first Indian to be presenting an award at the Golden Globe awards ceremony, here we have a fellow Indian citizen winning one. You know who means business!

And I hope the comparisons of ARR with the other Indian music directors stop now atleast. I am in this mood to take these infinite potshots today! Let me let that instinct be for now…

Photo courtesy: Arijit, fellow ARR fan.

This is my moment. This is every Indian’s moment. Let’s celebrate!

Someone pinch me please…

It was the shooting of the final episode of the TV program “Ooh… la.. la.. la..“. My brother-in-law Girinandh [Link to one of the news articles on the formation of their band] leads a band called ‘Oxygen’ which has entered the finals. A R Rahman was the judge for the final round. After Oxygen’s performance, Girinandh and his band members went to Rahman to get a group photo done. Apparently, Girinandh had asked my wife to call me [while he finished with his group photo] so that he could introduce me to Rahman. [Can you imagine being introduced to A R Rahman?! As compared to meeting him as yet another guy on the road!] My wife ran up two flights of stairs to call me and I will be eternally grateful to her for the physical strain she undertook at 3AM in the morning.

As soon as I came to know what was happening I dashed downstairs and was standing next to the stage in a jiffy. Girinandh was still involved with the group photo. A R Rahman presented them [all the band members of all the finalists] with an autographed “Pray For Me Brother” DVD. And the band members dispersed after thanking Rahman. On his way back from the stage Girinandh spotted me and waved asking me to come onto the stage. I ran.

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DISCLAIMER: You are not about to read a review. You are about to read an article praising the music of “Sivaji – The Boss” and praising its creator Mr. A R Rahman. If you want an objective review, this ain’t the place for it. Thanks. You may continue reading now.

I don’t know what people mean when they say Rahman is not active in Tamil music industry. With one album per year he can shake the actual foundation of this industry with his mind-blowing music. Still people do some nitpicking with his instrumentation, orchestrisation, choice of singers, etc. I care two hoots about such comments because the final product from Rahman is so much above anyone I have heard in the past or in the present that all those comments sound like the rants of people-who-haven’t-been-able-to-move-on-with-life. Guys, get a break! Unwind! Sivaji is the right album to let your hair down, throw your inhibitions and just enjoy. Be the Boss! Let’s get on with it then.

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Fifty-six songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are being considered in the Original Song category for the 79th Academy Awards®, it has been announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed here in alphabetical order.

On Tuesday, January 16, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in both Beverly Hills and New York City. Following the screenings, members will vote to determine which three, four or five songs become nominees in the category.

Want to know why I am writing this here?
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My father came back from office that day and was surprised to see me back home so early from my street cricket. We used to play in a small ground next door. He asked me what the matter was and why I was so excited? I reminded him of the “Roja” cassette and his promise. He was casual about it and said that it will be done by tomorrow. And I was gung-ho about it!

I got up much before my usual time the next day and was ready to remind my father. But he had it on his mind and said, “It will be done today, don’t worry”.

Evening set in. My father returned. I opened his briefcase and he shouted, “What is it that you want there?” 

“Appa, Roja”

“It is done, but my colleague said that he will get it tomorrow”

“Appa, you said you will get it today and annu is asking for his cassette too”

“Tell him that I have taken it to office and the cassette will be returned to him tomorrow”

Needless to say, I didn’t have dinner that day. And sat with a long face throughout. If anyone would have seen me that day, they would have thought I was bereaved!

Next evening. Same story. I was in tears. But I had dinner. Very hungry you see! ;)

Day 3 evening, my father came back home and I didn’t even bother to return home from my cricket. I went home as usual and tried hard not to make a sound while opening the briefcase in the verandah. But still it made a sound that my father would have surely heard who was sitting in the drawing room reading some book. But he didn’t react. So, I thought he was planning a surprise and wanted me to discover for myself. But alas, no Roja in there.

No tears this time round. Nothing. Emotions die down with time they say. Very true. To have cried two days for something is in itself was a big achievement for me!

I strolled into my room, grabbed a towel and went in for a wash. After street cricket you are quite dirty, if you didn’t know that. Came back, changed and went to my two-in-one to play ”Saajan” – the musical hit that I was listening to then.

And I didn’t believe what I saw lying next to ”Saajan”. It was “Roja” - Annu’s cassette. And below it was the TDK 90 cassette. I took it out of the cover and carefully put it into the two-in-one and pressed “Play”. It didn’t occur to me to go and thank my father.  

The flute sound that played to signal the beginning of “chinna chinna aasai” brought tears into my eyes. And oh man, “Roja” is an all-time favourite for me and for many of those who love good music.

Everytime I hear “Chinna chinna aasai”, this entire sequence unrolls itself in front of me and I am transported back into the Mysore era, the high-school era and my school friends group!

Various Rahman albums transport me back in time as well as into those ecstatic musical moods! Every Rahman album is a milestone with which I can relate every part of my life to. I intend to write about what each album means to me and where it takes me back into in my future posts. So, stay tuned! :)

A R Rahman-Gulzar-Mani Ratnam, a combination that has come together again after Dil Se… And i was waiting breathlessly for this. And though I am in no position to pass my comments yet on this one, let me just say this: This one too will rock the nation!

Though I am constantly listening to this one in the background, I don’t want to blog a review on it. Because then I would be hurrying to pass a verdict on this one. Let me wait and let it grow on me. Rather I would say, like every other album let me be engulfed into it slowly and when I write a review in that state of mind, it will be the truth. Also, I do believe that when you write a review about something you need to totally understand what you are reviewing. And for a person of my IQ, I need time to understand & review A R Rahman’s music! (But for now, let me leave it with this: Shreya Ghosal’s voice is sexy!)

The official release date of Guru is 18th ie. tomorrow. But as it always happens (with any good supply chain and Sony-BMG has a good distribution policy) the CDs and cassettes arrived today at 9PM so that tomorrow first thing in the morning they are available. And what do I do? Like a dutiful A R Rahman fan, I rush to the nearest Music World (Pondy Bazaar, for the chennaites) and grab my copy and also one for my brother-in-law (who incidentally is a music composer and a big fan of ARR again!). When I was in the Music World (it was raining outside and I had to wait for 10 minutes to get back home), the guy was playing “Guru” on his system. Someone went upto him and asked him to change the cd. I immediately ran to him and requested him not to play something else. I didn’t want to waste my time by not listening to “Guru”!

If you thought I was mad, I should tell you about my fascination for A R Rahman. it extends to the time I was in my 8th standard. ‘Roja’ was just out. Everyone was talking about him. I was in Bangalore on some vacation. Since I was in Mysore then, we used to travel down to Bangalore very frequently. And during one such trip, my doDappa (Father’s elder brother) introduced me to A R Rahman. He had bought a new Philips Powerhouse just then and during those days a powerhouse was BIG for me. He played “rukumani rukumani” on the system and said, “Listen to this, nobody has ever used drums so confidently in Indian music so far!”. From then on, I have been hooked on to his music like a baby-in-the-womb is to the heartbeat of its mother!

My pocket money those days were Re.1 per day paid once a month. And that cassette of ‘Roja’ costed Rs. 28/- if I remember right. I don’t need to tell you what my budget included for the next month. But my boss (father), like a good finance man, didn’t approve my budget saying ”unfair allocation” (almost 95% of my monthly income was allocated to one item). According to him that would mean that would mean a hefty downfall in my yearly savings to buy a headphone (so that I would not disturb everyone in my house [my father claimed that everyone in the neighbourhood complained to him and that's why he didn't go out of the house once he was back from office] with my music). And he gave me an idea. My neighbour friend actually had a cassette of Roja. I still remember the cover of that cassette. A top angle shot of Madhubala lying on Arvindswamy’s lap against a perfectly white background with Mani Ratnam’s ROJA in tamil prominently displayed at the front and A R Rahman’s name in tamil at the bottom. There as an insert of A R Rahman’s photograph at the left-top corner too. Coming back, my father asked me to get that cassette from my friend for a day and he would get it copied onto a blank cassette through his friend’s tape recorder so that we would get it in good quality. Though we had a two-in-one tape recorder I refused the suggestion that we could record it ourselves saying I want it in the same quality as the original. So he had to say he would get it done from outside. (read outside as a place where maybe the same recording was done but I wouldn’t know na! Appa, you have really taken me for a ride so many times when I was innocent and small na?! Poor me!)  

I was ready to run across to my friend’s house and get the cassette at 9PM in the night. 9PM was considered unrespectable during those days! So, I had to wait till I came back from school the next day. The whole day in school I was just waiting for it to get over! I remember rushing back home on my Hero Ranger (it was a famous brand of cycles then). I changed into colour dress (you get the drift?!), had my tea and snacks and ran to my neighbour’s house. I was literally breathless when I reached there. It is the same breathlessness I experience till-date when I wait for an A R Rahman album to release. I borrowed it from them with a guarantee that I would give it back the day after tomorrow (I remember that they almost made me swear! Mainly because they couldn’t part with the music for more than days and partly because of my reputation!). I took it carefully with me in my hands, since the pocket of my stretchlon half-trousers was too small for the cassette, and deposited it at home with a specific instruction to my mom -
“Don’t misplace it!” (I still laugh aloud when I hear that! I was so careful about something for the first time in my life I guess!). My father would come back from office and take it with him the next day to get it recorded and then I would have my own copy of ‘Roja’. It was a wait which was the most anticipated…

…To be continued         

This article had to be on my blog. For two reasons: One, I love A R Rahman and Two, about Shah Rukh Khan the less said the better!

Considering that most filmmakers would give an arm and a leg to work with A R Rahman, it’s something of a shocker to know that King Khan has replaced him with
Vishal-Shekhar (Bluffmaster!, Dus) for his upcoming project. The film in question is Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om, which is being produced by SRK’s banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.

SRK had a problem

The grapevine goes that the deal was scrapped for two reasons. Firstly, Shah Rukh didn’t like the tunes that Rahman had composed. Secondly, Rahman demanded a huge amount as his fee, which Farah refused to pay.

When contacted, Rahman says that he is indeed out of Om Shanti Om, but denies that SRK had problems with his compositions (they’ve earlier worked together in Dil Se and Swades). “The truth is that we had some problems over contractual obligations. That is why I am not doing the film,” he says.

Rahman adds that he wanted the publishing rights of the music to rest with the producer, the lyricist and the composer. But Farah and Shah Rukh flatly refused.

“Actually, Shah Rukh had a problem. He could not come to terms with what I wanted. We were trying to sort this out since the last two to three months, but it just didn’t happen. SRK is a big star and maybe he doesn’t need anybody. I wish it had materialised so that more composers can get their dues in India. Someone has to start this here and I am pressing for it.”

Aamir understood

On the other hand, Rahman has succeeded in getting a share of the publishing rights for Aamir Khan’s next film, directed by Abbas Tyrewalla. “I met Aamir and he understood what I wanted in an instant. It could be because Tyrewalla’s film is a small budget venture, unlike Farah’s, which is a biggie,” Rahman says.

And what of the 2 crore that he demanded as his fee? Rahman says, “I don’t do just the music in the songs, I also provide the background score. So I charge accordingly. But I guess it’s okay. Farah and I went our own ways this time, but we did tell each other that we’d work together some other time.”

‘We love Rahman’

For his part, Vishal Dadlani is glad to be a part of the project. “It’s true that Shekhar and I are doing Om Shanti Om now. We’ve known Farah for nearly two years and have done a lot of work together. She called us ten days back, and we were very happy to do it for her. We got so charged after listening to the story that we’re already ready with four songs,” he says.

The duo is also aware that Rahman was doing the film before them. “We knew that, but didn’t get into the details of what transpired between them. To tell you the truth, we are in this industry because of Rahman. He’s a great inspiration. If we were to make a film tomorrow, we would sign A R Rahman to compose the music.”

Interestingly, quite a few eyebrows were raised when Farah chose Rahman over Anu Malik for Om Shanti Om, considering his music played a big role in the success of Main Hoon Na. Our well-informed sources tell us that before assigning Om Shanti Om to Rahman, Farah had indeed thought of Anu but later changed her mind.

We wonder if the soundtracks of Zindaggi Rocks or Umrao Jaan might have had something to do with that?

Irrespective of this article I knew that A R Rahman is out of Om Shanti Om. I don’t know what the problem was though. Though I might not particularly like SRK, I have come to know him as a professional going about doing his job while the media creates all these images. Maybe the money that would come from the music rights was the only biggest chunk that they thought it could produce! (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one!)

On a serious note, kudos to A R Rahman for standing up and asking for his rights. This act of his stands to benefit the entire community of music directors. We are with you A R Rahman. And we love you as always!