Happy Birthday A R Rahman: Top 10 albums

Roja
Roja, released in 1992 was the debut work of music maestro and Oscar winner Allah Rakha Rahman. Roja is considered a milestone in Indian film music that heralded the start of a new era. It was also listed in Time magazine's ‘10 Best Soundtracks’ of all time. A. R. Rahman won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction which was won for the first time ever by a debutant. 


Dil Se
Dil Se featured six soundtracks composed by A R Rahman. The song Chaiya Chaiya, on SRK and Malaika Arora Khan, became popular internationally and was listed as one of the top 10 songs of all-time in an international poll. The song is written by Gulzar, and sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi. It immediately became popular upon its release and its music video gained the same status.

Taal
The soundtrack of the Taal marked the beginning of a famed collaboration between A. R. Rahman and Subhash Ghai. Taal's album became a big critical and commercial success. At a press conference, Ghai remarked, "I credit the name of the movie to composer A. R. Rahman." The soundtrack also made to the list of ‘Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time’ and Rahman did a clean sweep at all the music awards that year.
Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog millionaire featured songs composed by our very own A R Rahman. Slumdog Millionaire got A R Rahman his first Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and won two out of three nominations for the Academy Awards, including one for Best Original Score and one for Best Original Song for Jai Ho. The song ‘Jai Ho’ also won the Oscars, which Rahman shared with lyricist Gulzar.
Jodhaa Akbar
The soothing score and soundtrack of the film Jodhaa Akbar was Rahman's third collaboration with Ashutosh Gowariker after Lagaan, and Swades. The album received positive reviews, with most of the reviewers hailing the album a magnum opus by Rahman. The film emerged out as the biggest winner at many music awards. The fine background score won the film many awards including Filmfare Best Background Score and IIFA Best Background Score. The soundtrack was also nominated in numerous categories.
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
The soundtrack of Jaane tu…ya jaane na composed by A R Rahman held the number one spot on all the music charts. It was well received by the audiences and the critics, with "Pappu Can't Dance" becoming one of the major hits of 2008. Rahman, who won major international awards for his music in Slumdog Millionaire, was awarded with the Filmfare Best Music Director Award and the Star Screen Award for Best Music Director for this soundtrack.
Delhi 6
Like most A R Rahman compositions this one was also acclaimed all over. Considered to be one of the best works of Rahman, the highly acclaimed soundtrack won almost all awards for Best Music direction and playback singing that have been declared so far.
Rockstar
Musical romantic drama Rockstar was one of Rahman’s best work ever. Kun Fayakun, a qawwali composed by Rahman for the film, is dedicated to Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya. The music video of Sadda Haq, another track, which has Ranbir Kapoor performing in front of a live audience, became close to being a youth anthem.
Rang De Basanti
The sound track of Rang De Basanti composed by A R Rahman bagged many prestigious awards in 2009. Aamir Khan, with his knowledge of Hindi and Urdu, worked with Rahman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi for the film's soundtrack. Song Luka Chuppi was sung by veteran Lata Mangeshkar and Rahman. He integrated traditional Punjabi cultural elements within his music for ‘Khalbali’.
Swades
A. R. Rahman's soundtrack in Shah Rukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi starrer Swades was acclaimed by critics and audiences. His background score won him the Filmfare award. Lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar.

IIFA splits Bollywood wide open

By ndtv.com

Bollywood seems to be divided on the issue of attending the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards scheduled to be held in Colombo from June 3-5. Amidst pressure on the Hindi film industry to skip the IIFA ceremony, some film stars have decided to give IIFA a miss while many others have confirmed that they will attend the event. Let's see who will attend and who won't…

Amitabh Bachchan:Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will not be attending the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards scheduled to be held in Colombo from June 3-5. "I am not going to IIFA," Bachchan tweeted in reply to a query about his plans. He did not provide any reason for his decision. 

Big B had earlier been targeted by Tamil groups who staged protests outside his residence in Mumbai last month and asked the actor to stay away from IIFA Colombo.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Aishwarya is also likely to give IIFA a miss this year as the actress is busy with other assignments.

Abhishek Bachchan:Abhishek too won't be attending the film festival.

Arjun Rampal: Arjun Rampal will not be attending IIFA as he is busy promoting his movie Raajneeti, which releases on June 4, 2010.

Shah Rukh Khan: King Khan has also decided to give IIFA a miss citing prior work commitments. SRK was also supposed to be the captain of Bollywood cricket team, which is scheduled to play a charity cricket match involving Indian and Sri Lankan movie and cricket stars.

Mani Ratnam: In May noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam announced his intention to stay away from IIFA Colombo. His forthcoming film Raavan was to be screened at the three-day event. Although Ratnam said he wouldn't be attending because Raavan was not complete, there are speculations he did not want to risk alienating the Tamil film industry by going to Sri Lanka this year. Ratnam had premiered his Yuva at IIFA 2004 in Singapore.

Kamal Haasan: Kamal Haasan had also issued a statement, announcing his decision to boycott IIFA, hours after a group of Tamils staged a demonstration in front of his office in Chennai, demanding his resignation as Chairman of Media and Enertainment Conclave of FICCI. Kamal said his move was not pursuant to the demonstration and he had taken the decision long back, giving respect to the sentiments of Tamils.

AR Rahman: Music maestro AR Rahman too won't be attending IIFA. Rahman has decided to boycott the award function to snub the Lankan Government for its "genocide against the Tamils".

Katrina Kaif: Katrina Kaif will not be attending IIFA this year as she is in Venice.

Despite all that oppositions, a lot of film stars have decided to grace the occasion. 

Salman Khan: Salman Khan, who is the brand ambassador of the IIFA Charity Initiative will be attending the award function. Recently, members of the Tamil community staged a protest in Mumbai against the actor's proposed visit to Sri Lanka. According to rumours Salman is also scheduled to perform at IIFA.

Priyanka Chopra:Priyanka Chopra too has confirmed that she will be attending IIFA this year.

Ranbir Kapoor: Ranbir Kapoor will also be a part of the prestigious award function.

Kareena Kapoor:Kareena Kapoor will attend the award function.

Saif Ali Khan: Saif Ali Khan will also be there to give his lady love company at IIFA this year.

Bipasha Basu: Bipasha will also be attending IIFA and will be performing some of her popular numbers there.

Lara Dutta: Lara Dutta has also confirmed that she will be attending IIFA.

Jai Ho... New York fans ready to pay $1,000 for AR Rahman concert

By Uttara Choudhury / DNA

Most international musicians barely get noticed in the bustling Big Apple, but AR Rahman is a show-stopper — and very profitable.

Fans have paid prices of up to $1,000 (Rs47,000) for 11 concerts in North America between June 11 and July 5, which are already thought to be sold out.

Rahman’s “Jai Ho — The Journey Home Tour” begins on June 11 at New York’s fabled Nassau Coliseum where Pink Floyd performed during “The Wall Tour”. More recently, Madonna held three performances of her “Blond Ambition World Tour” in the massive Nassau Coliseum.

“It’s definitely an East-meets-West kind of show where there’s technology and tradition. Just like AR’s music, it breaks all borders,” said the show’s artistic director Amy Tinkham, who has run tours for Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys and Mariah Carey.

Two years after Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars, interest in all things Indian is still going strong. Rahman’s Slumdog... soundtrack, which earned him two Academy Awards and two Grammys, has made him a recognisable name in America.

It also helps that Rahman is a prolific composer who has astaggering range. Americans find his music “easy listening” as it is brewed with an unerring feel for melody, swing and soul.

Ahead of his concert, Rahman who has been writing musical scores for Bollywood since the 1990s credited the film industry for his versatility.

“In America, they typecast a person — he is a good horror movie soundtrack composer or he is a good classical music composer. In India, the director expects everything from one person. That pushed me to compose different types of music — Indian and Western,” Rahman told DNA on the sidelines of an event in the Asia Society.

For a musician who has won two Grammys, Rahman started out as an engineer who was clueless about the depth of his prodigious musical talent. “My first movie, I thought it was going to be my last movie,” said Rahman. “So I wanted to do my best and then leave it.”

For a man who was going to do his “best and then leave it” Rahman has come a long way. He has sold 150 million records and 200 million cassettes and is counted among the top 25 recording artists of all times. TIME magazine rated the soundtrack of Roja in the top 10 of their all-time best movie soundtracks of the world.

Financially the “Jai Ho...” tour is being run like a Swiss watch. Rahman will perform at massive venues in North America and Europe, but there will be one night per city instead of a run, so more places will be pumped up with enthusiasm and keen for Rahman souvenirs. Rahman snakes through America and Europe before ending at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 25.

Rahman is putting on a three-hour concert that features Cirque du Soleil or circus acrobats, four troupes of dancers and a Mongolian contortionist who will demonstrate extreme Indian yoga. The show brings together flutists, cellists, tambura players, singers and musicians who have played with Lionel Richie and Fleetwood Mac.

“Rahman has captured the imagination of audiences of all demographics, both Indian as well as western. His music is multi-faceted. I don’t think his Oscar-winning Jai Ho is his best work, but he certainly deserves an Oscar for the breadth and excitement of his musical talent,” said Aroon Shivdasani, executive director of the Indo-American Arts Council, which is selling the concert’s tickets.

“Regular tickets to Rahman’s concert tour of the US are sold out. The only tickets remaining are those of high ticket value. I doubt there will be a single available seat at any of the actual concerts,” she added.

Americans are buying into the East-meets-West spectacle. “Landing a Rahman concert ticket is a big deal,” said attorney Gary Sherman, who has a ticket for Rahman’s concert at the Patriot Center, in Washington.

Rahman invited by Aussie high commissioner

By oneindia.in

Indian music composer, A R Rahman is in high demand now. Rahman, who gained world recognition for the music he gave in the movie Slumdog Millionaire and for which he consequently also won an Oscar, is currently busy working on his tour ‘Jai Ho! The Journey Home World Tour’.

Seems like the musical genius of this country, has now, earned an Australian admirer. Peter Varghese, who is the Australian High Commissioner to India, has extended an invitation to Rahman to come and work in Australia. The intent behind this is to strengthen the ties between the two countries by having famous Australian directors work with India’s ace.

On Monday, May 24, Varghese spoke at the preview of Australian Film Festival 2010 in Chennai. He expressed Australia’s wish to strengthen its bond with India and its film industry. He said that the Film Festival is a way of doing so.

Varghese also suggested that A R Rahman could work with Baz Luhrmann, the popular Australian director with whom he (Rahman) is friends and make a big movie.

We will have to wait and see if the ‘Mozart of Madras’, Rahman accepts Varghese’s invitation and works with an Australian director for a movie and if it indeed does something/ anything to strengthen the bond between India and Australia.

But as of now, people all across North America and Europe, where the tour is going to take place, are awaiting Rahman’s performance. Rahman and a troupe of singers associated with the tour are scheduled to perform at 20 cities.

Raheema is recovering fast: AR Rahman

Even as Raheema Rahman — music composer AR Rahman’s daughter — is in the process of getting discharged from Bandra’s Asian Heart Institute, Rahman has cancelled all his appointments for this month as he plans to stay by his ailing daughter’s side.

Rahman says, “For the past 3 nights, I have been playing a loving father to my daughter. No music, nothing. I want to sincerely thank all my friends and family members for their prayers and good wishes. God has been kind and Raheema is recovering fast.”

“I also want to thank all my friends from the media for their support and understanding of the situation and for respecting our privacy,” he adds.

According to hospital sources, the child has been declared out of danger and will be discharged after a 24-hour medical surveillance.

“The child had been diagnosed with this condition for almost eight years now. It’s a condition when the heart cannot pump the required amount of blood into the body. Hence the patient becomes weak and might even have blackouts as the brain sometimes lacks the required oxygen. It is a congenital defect and she had been suffering from this ailment for quite sometime. The doctors haven’t recommended operation at this stage,” says a source.

By Prithwish Ganguly & Soumyadipta Banerjee / DNA

IPL ends with a Bollywood touch

By Raymond Ronamai

Any big event in India seems to be incomplete without a Bollywood touch. And the Indian Premiere league (IPL) has been like a Bollywood affair from the word go. If Deepika Padukone opened this year’s IPL with a startling dance performance, Bipasha Basu, Shahid Kapoor and A.R. Rahman brought life to the closing ceremony last night (April 25).

The IPL closing ceremony started off with a dance performance from Bipasha. She came in a specially decorated vihicle. On reaching the stage, the crowd roared, and she treated them with some sizzling moves. Then Shahid Kapoor took over. He not only danced but also sang a few lines.

However, the icing on the cake was rendition by the Oscar winner A.R. Rahman. He sang some of his hit numbers including the Academy Award winning song “Jai Ho” and “Vande Mataram”. The moment he completed his performance, the lights were put on for the much-awaited final match between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings.

Rahman Kata Kata track in RAAVAN shot with 500 dancers!!

Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai starrer upcoming flick ‘Raavan’ has reunited ace director Mani Rathnam and music maestro AR Rahman with the result of a pulsating musical treat for the fans as the ‘Kata Kata’ track was shot with five hundred dancers in Jhansi for the flick. 

Another treat for fans is due on 24th April, when the music of the film is being launched and the Oscar winning music director will perform live after a long time in Mumbai. The buzz doing the rounds in the industry is that like their earlier films ‘Guru’, ‘Dil Se’, etc, Rahman and Mani have once again created the magic in ‘Raavan’. Sources say that results in both the versions—Hindi and Tamil—have been very sweet and melodious. In fact, to add more teeth to his efforts, A R Rahman roped in bollywood legendary singer Asha Bhosle to render a number in the Tamil version of the film and the song was the latest edition in the album. 

Mani Rathnam has planned the music launch on April 24 as a big event and leading actors—Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai—have confirmed their presence despite of being busy in shootings on the foreign shores. Even Big B and Jaya Bachchan are attending the function to make the event memorable.

‘Raavan’ is a modern day adaptation of epic Ramayana and Mani Rathnam is making the flick simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil versions. In Hindi version, Abhishek Bachchan plays the part of ‘Raavan’, while Aishwarya Rai is Sita. But, Ram is played by Vikram, the southern star.

Govinda, Nikhil Dwivedi, Sonu Sood, Priyamani, etc, also play pivotal roles in the flick. The movie is complete and due for release shortly.

By k k rai