8 APRIL 27, 2011
AC TION
FIRST TAKE>
Jyothi Varma
Jai ho Rahmania!
He reinforced the adage that music has no boundaries
A
s perhaps the first gles and documenta- space for improvisation. nia”.
Indian playback ries until a meeting with “If you ask the sen- It is again Rahman who
composer to con- filmmaker Mani Ratnam ior singers, only Baburaj brought in a new trend of
nect with a global audi- in 1992 led to the break- gave this kind of freedom using raw talent, doing
ence, A R Rahman cre- through project for the among the stalwart com- away with the practice
ates an eclectic harmony film “Roja” that earned posers. You will not know of using one singer for a
that bridges the old mu- for the debutant the Ra- how a song sounds like particular actor. He also
sic order with the new, jat Kamal for the best till it is released. The first experimented with child
the occident with the ori- music director at the na- time I heard my voice voices as in the song
ent and the folk with the tional awards. played back for ‘Roja’, “Chikku bukku rayile”
futuristic. If “Roja” was life- even I was surprised to Rahman added a new
Billed by Time mag- changing for Rahman, it hear the sound effect,” he dimension to the remix
azine as among the also shifted the course says. genre (“Thottaal poo ma-
world’s 100 most influen- of playback music and Swetha Mohan, who larum” originally from the
tial people, Rahman al- marked the dawn of a has been working with film “Padagotti” and re-
ready has the most glit- new era and a new sen- ARR for more than four mixed for the film “New”
tering showcase in the sibility. For listeners, years now, says Rahman is a personal favourite).
business—two Academy the music in “Roja” was is totally cool inside the Once in a while, Rahman
Awards, two Grammy a unique experience. recording consoles of- the composer wears the
Awards, a BAFTA and a Through songs like “Ch- ten working through the hat of the playback singer
Golden Globe. The “Mo- inna chinna aasai..”, “Ru- night. as in “Sillunnuru Kadhal.”
zart of Madras” who has kumani”, “Kaadhal Ro- Rahman went on to With “Slumdog Million-
also bagged four Nation- jave..” and “Pudhu Vellai establish his musical ter- aire”, Rahman bagged
al Awards and 14 Film- Mazhai” or “Thamizha ritory through films such the double Oscar and the
fare awards, also goes Thamizha”, Rahman’s as “Bombay”, “Gentle- double Grammy awards.
by another epithet “Isai music escorted listeners man” and “Muthu” before India conferred on Rah-
Puyal” (musical storm) to a magical land beyond breaking new ground with man the Padma Bhushan
bestowed by his count- their imagination. his music for the Hindi in 2010.
less fans. Unni Menon , who had film “Rangeela”. And The “aarohanam” plays
Rahman has his roots a major break in his ca- with “Dil se”, “Lagaan” on for this musical geni-
in Kerala though he has reer after singing “Puthu and “Rang de Basanti”, us. What else can one say
scored music rarely for vellai mazhai” for “Roja” he had the entire nation but “Jai ho”.
Malayalam cinema—In says that A R Rahman is humming his tunes. Mass
fact he has scored music one of the few music di- hysteria saw its newest n
for two movies in Ma- rectors who give ample manifestation in “Rahma-
layalam, “Yoddha” and
“Vaishnavar”, of which
only “Yoddha” released.
His father R K Shekhar
was a much sought-after
composer and orchestra
conductor in Malayalam.
In a Q&A column in
Time magazine Rahman
once stressed his belief
in the universality of mu-
sic. “All of us are, in a
way, getting multicultural
in our ears…and the bot-
tom line is most of us
love melodies, most of
us love grooves,” he said.
Rahman was barely
nine when he stroked the
keys on the piano to cre-
ate a tune that his dad
turned into a full-fledged
song for the Malayalam
film “Pennpada” around
1975. Rahman, who was
born as A S Dileep Ku-
mar, would later embrace
Islam.
He began his career
composing music for jin
