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NDTVMusic.com Tuesday, January 27, 2009 5:03 PM (New Delhi) Guess who got the invitation to perform live at the Oscars this year? It's none other than our man of the moment A R Rahman. |
Rahman, Sukhwinder to perform at the Oscars
Abhi-Ash to sing for 'Raavana'
Finally, it's gonna be the sensational couple before the mikes at recording studio of A.R. Rahman. Yup! Abhishek and his wife Aishwarya Rai would be rendering their voice for a song penned by Rahman himself in Mani Rathnam's 'Raavana'. Earlier, we had our Modern Day Mozart penning those poignant lyrics and tuning them for Mani Rathnam's 'Lajjo'. The film was supposed to feature Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. Due to busy shooting schedules of these actors, technicians and Mani Rathnam, the project has been prorogued. Perhaps, it was supposed to be Aamir and Kareena singing this song and now the chance has been hop-skipped to Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.
Getting on with this, Rahman has said, "Some of the songs in 'Lajjo' were off same musical backdrops, so we could shift them into Raavana. Of course, it's very rare as this doesn't happen all the time. Working with Mani Rathnam keeps refreshing me with new innovative thoughts".
Shooting for this bi-lingual flick is fast approaching on all schedules and plans are to release it by mid of 2009.
News Courtesy: IndiaGlitz
Kylie Minogue to sing for A R Rahman
Kylie Minogue, the international pop star, will sing to the tune of ace Indian music director A.R.Rahman in the film ‘Blue’ which stars Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta. The pop diva has agreed to lend her voice for a track in the film for the price of Rs five crore ($1 million). Apparently, Madonna and Rihanna were approached earlier for this song. But Madonna did not respond because she was going through a bitter divorce and Rihanna asked for a sum that was not affordable. “The song will be recorded for the film Blue, which has Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta. The producers also want Kylie to make a music video of the song. In all probability, the song might be shot in Hollywood,” revealed a source. The company, negotiating with Kylie confirmed that they are very close to inking the deal. “We are negotiating with an international artist. Within two to three weeks, we’ll make a formal announcement,” said Rajnigandha Shekhawat of Nine Winds, which is managing the film’s communications.
News Courtesy: Topnews
AR Rahman nominated for Golden Globe list
Reaffirming his status as a global artiste, music director AR Rahman has received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score for British director Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire, about a Mumbai teenager’s rags-to-riches story.
Boyle’s film is based on the book Q and A by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It details the story of a slum-dweller, Jamal, who wins Rs 2 crore at the reality game show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Hindi Ghajini will hit the screens from October
Actor Aamir Khan, who is recovering from an injury, will soon resume shooting for Hindi remake of ‘Ghajini’.
'We hope to launch the film by October,' director A R Murugadas said.
With A R Rahman scoring music for the remake, the director, who originally planned to have just one melody number, has included another one.
Asin plays Aamir's heroine in the movie. She was part of the original too.
Chennayil oru mazhakkalam, shooting starts
Ace director Gautham Menon takes up the nature of the prevailing youth culture in the cosmopolitan city of Chennai in his next film 'Chennaiyil Oru Mazhai Kaalam'.
Gautham, who has finished up the work on 'Varanam Aayiram' starring Suriya will start the shooting of his latest movie today.
The story of the film takes its shape from the call centre life of the city and the leading lady and the most experienced among the new actors Trisha plays the role of a girl working in a call centre.
Satish who was last seen in the movie 'Unnale Unnale' plays an important role in this new film.
The film while showing the IT culture of the city also will portray the life experienced by the employees during the night shifts.
The health and family problems faced by the call centre professionals will also have its say in the new urban film.
The film has songs composed by the music maestro A.R.Rahman and is produced by P Madan and J Ganesh under the Escape Artist Motion Pictures Banner.
Art direction is by Rajeevan.
Although Chennai is a hub of lots of leading call centers in India and a vast number of the present day youth who are also a part of the strong film crazy youngsters who represent the majority of the film audience works in the call centers and IT companies, not many films have come out of Kollywood which shows the life of this community till now.
Given the skills of Gautham Menon a fantastic film that shows all the sides of the kind of life led by the youngsters as well as their attitude towards life can be expected.
News Courtesy: IndiaGlitz
T-Series catches up Yuvaraj
When a company has the music rights of a film's songs composed by the Mozart of Asia A.R.Rahman, then there is no need to get worried about the success of sales of the music.
T-series is one company who is fortunate to associate with the music maestro back to back. After releasing the music of Aamir khan Productions 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' composed by ARR, now the company will release the music of 'Yuvaraj' composed by the music wizard.
This film marks the return of Subash Ghai after a low profile 'Black & White' into his usual way of directing his movies in a large scale.
The film which will be released this Diwali has also the paring of the real life couple Salman khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead roles other than having acclaimed actors like Anil Kapoor and Boman Irani in supporting roles.
The movie is produced by Subhash Ghai's own production company Mukta Arts Ltd.
The videos of the songs of 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' are already being aired by the different channels and have started getting good reviews.
How Salman shakes his leg to the tunes of A.R.Rahman in 'Yuvraj' is left to be seen
News Courtesy: IndiaGlitz
Life time achievement award for A R Rahman
Acclaimed music composer A R Rahman will be presented with a life time achievement award by International Indian Film Academy (IIFA).
The award would be presented to Rahman on 6 June at a grand function to be held at Bangkok.
The award is being presented to Rahman for his immense contribution to promote Indian film music abroad and also making a mark internationally.
The function would be attended by the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan among others.
Courtesy: IndiaGlitz
Veteran Malayalee Playback singer P Jayachandran is singing for a Hindi film.
Jayachandran has sung the song ''Milo Waham Waham'' with Alka Yagnik for the film 'Ada- A way for life'.
The song is a melodious number set to music by none other than A R Rahman. The movie directed by Thanveer Ahamed features ten songs by the ace music director.
The film which was in the making from 2001 was much delayed due to some technical reasons.
The movie which also features Rahul Roy and Ayesha Jhulka will grace the theatres next month
Rahman took three years to complete "The Lord of the Rings"
It took music maestro AR Rahman three years to finish the album for the stage adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings, working with 200 musicians and technicians for every song. The album, which has pushed up his international status, was released in February.
"Since it required more finances than I could afford, a private airline (Jet Airways) is sponsoring it," Rahman, who has recently opened a western classical music conservatory in Chennai, told IANS.
"Every song has a minimum of 200 musicians and technicians involved in it. Huge choirs and orchestras were brought into play. We recorded the album in London and mixed it right here in Chennai in my studios. The whole crew came down from all over the world," he added.
All songs are in English and in Elvish... the language of the Lord Of The Rings.
"I had lots of help from fellow-musicians like Christopher Nightingale. It took me three years to do the album. Without help from like-minded musicians it'd have taken five years."
With Rahman increasing his Western assignments, it looks like to be Bollywood's loss. Rahman is deliberately turning down big Bollywood assignments because of copyright and royalty issues regarding music sales.
Rahman is reluctant to talk about the issue. "It's too complicated. But yes, the issue of publishing rights does stop me from accepting more Bollywood offers," said Rahman.
"Those who want to work with me in Mumbai are agreeable to my terms and conditions. Those who do but won't agree to my conditions are going to other composers."
"At the moment, I've also cut down my film assignments because I want to focus on my western-classic music conservatory. With this conservatory I hope to bridge the gap between Western classical and Indian ragas. Imagine a thumri being played by an orchestra! Or a Carnatic raga being a part of a big Hollywood epic!" he added.
Commenting on his Bollywood assignments, Rahman said: "I can't be doing just films all my life. I need to take my music to another level now. But whenever I work in Mumbai, I give it my fullest concentration, as I did for Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar, which I'm very proud of. The music takes both Ashutosh and me to another level."
Looking back, the talented composer is not the least content with his achievements.
"No matter how much you do, it's never enough. Music is my only therapy. There're so many awful things happening in the world. I wish I could heal the world. All I can do is use my music, which I do. My peace anthems like Vande Mataram and Pray for me, brother are a small candlelight in the storm. But you never know which candle will light a thousand other candles."
News Courtesy: Hindustan Times
Rahman goes designer for Cannes
The music maestro has hired designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil to dress him up for the coveted film festival, reports Sheree Gomes-Gupta
He has wowed audiences the world over with his superlative performances, and his music probably overshadows everything else he does…or even wears. But, as we recently learnt, AR Rahman isn't just conscious of the beats he composes, but also the way he looks.
Not only does the music maestro have a stylist, but he has roped in his favourite designers — Shantanu and Nikhil — to dress him up for the Cannes Film Festival, starting May 14.
"His style sense completely gels with our brand philosophy, which is understated, classic, sophisticated and luxurious. Which is why he loves our clothes and has been wearing them to his concerts," says Nikhil Mehra of the designer duo.
So, what'll he be wearing? "We've made him a navy blue jodhpuri bandgala, reminiscent of his Indian heritage, yet with a very stylish cut and silhouette suitable for red carpet dressing. Bringing in the luxe touch to the outfit is the appliqué work on the jacket inspired by the Mughal era. The outfit pays tribute to Rahman, both as a man and as an artiste who does India proud," he adds.
Interestingly, the music composer had just one request for the designers — to avoid the colour black. "Yes, he does not like the colour black. But apart from that one input, he left the designing to us," reveals Nikhil.
Also read:
AR Rahman bringing yet another big change to music industry
http://arrtheboss.blogspot.com/2008/05/ar-rahman-bringing-yet-another-big.html
Promotional Video of AR Rahman Musical Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
http://arrtheboss.blogspot.com/2008/05/jaane-tu-ya-jaane-na.html
AR Rahman working on next commercial album
http://arrtheboss.blogspot.com/2008/04/arrahman-working-on-his-next-album.html
Known best for their red carpet dressing, having designed for the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Shilpa Shetty and Saif Ali Khan, among others, for several award functions, the two are now in the midst of getting their line for the IFFA awards in place. "We're busy finishing the collection and will be soon sending the designs out to various actresses," informs Nikhil.
And while they've got a whole bevy of beauties on their wish list, they're hoping Deepika Padukone, Konkana Sen Sharma and Katrina Kaif will wear their red carpet style to the IFFA. "Let's see how it works out," he says.
g_sheree@dnaindia.net
Ada - A way of life
The maestro is back in the news after mesmerizing with his last outing Jodhaa Akbar. After delivering the music for one of the most grand and majestic films Hindi cinema has seen, A.R. Rahman's next outing is in the form of a more modest venture. Debut director Tanvir Ahmad's Ada with the tag-line "A way of life" will release later this year.
In fact, the film has been on the floors for about six years and earlier boasted of a cast including Amitabh Bachchan. Now, the film has been re-vamped with newcomers and should be completed by next month. It stars Rahul Roy, Nauheed Cyrusi and Ayesha Jhulka in pivotal roles.
Of the music, Rahman tells CNN-IBN, "The music of the film actually took six years to make because the film started six years back in 2002. The music has a very old school melody feel. But it also has other tunes so it does have a colour of different genres in it."
Since the making of the music has spanned over six years, audiences can expect a large range of tunes coming their way! In addition to Ada, A.R. Rahman has Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Ghajini and Yuvraaj slated for release this year.
The Audio Release of Ada is on May 13th 2008.
Vijay music awards - AR Rahman once again
The second annual Reliance Mobile Vijay Awards 2007 was held on May 3rd, 2008 at Jawarharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium amidst much glitz and glamour. The ceremony witnessed the most popular faces and technicians assembled together for the grand spectacle.
Amidst much fanfare, the award winners were announced. The award for the favorite hero was given to the one and only super star Rajinikanth ('Sivaji'). The special award Entertainer of the Year declared by the jury was given to Illaya Thalapathy Vijay ('Pokkiri' & 'Azagiya Thamizh Magan'). The Best Music Director award was bagged by A R Rahman for his foot tapping numbers in 'Sivaji'.
The prestigious Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan award in excellence in Tamil Cinema was presented to Maniratnam, a man who has taken Tamil Cinema beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu and overseas. The award for the favorite Heroine was given to the ravishing Nayantara ('Billa'), the current heartthrob of Tamilnadu.
In addition to the glittering line up of stars present, the show was peppered with sizzling performances by the gorgeous Sada, Ragasiya, Neha and the dazzling Kamna. The popular rap artiste Blaze joined in the celebrations with his many foot tapping numbers.
We present to you here some photo shots that were clicked during the event.
News & Photo Courtesy: IndiaGlitz
Dhun with AR Rahman
Post marriage, it almost seems like Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan have only each other to work with. Not that anybody is complaining. According to the buzz, after being offered Mani Ratnam's Lajjo, the husband-wife duo will star in Chennai-based director Rajiv Menon's next flick. Titled Dhun, it is a music-based love story with none other than A R Rahman roped in as music director.
Obviously, the lovebirds are more than pleased to do another film together. After all, they can barely stand separation, even if it's for work. On her first wedding anniversary, Aishwarya flew all the way to Miami, to spend some time with her hubby who was shooting for Dostana with John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra. Now, Abhi-Ash will get to spend more time together thanks to Lajjo and Dhun. However, before it gets all hunky dory, they will have to bear some more months of separation.
Abhishek's Dostana and Aishwarya's Robot opposite Rajnikant are yet to be completed. Hence, the shooting of Dhun will begin only sometime in February 2009. Let's hope we get to witness the beautiful couple's awesome chemistry once again.
New University lists Dil Se as a must in your collection
And the reason... our one and only A R Rahman
Bollywood is known internationally and more specifically in the United States for making movies with lavish song-and-dance numbers. Many audiences around the world turn to Bollywood for its escapist plot lines. Although this list contains some majestic song-and-dance movies, there are also some thoughtful and insightful surprises. The prominence of Shah Rukh Khan should be of no shock to readers who know him, since most of India and fans in other countries around the world are obsessed with him. And this columnist is no exception. In no particular order:
1) "Dil Se (With the Heart)": There is one reason you should watch this movie—A.R. Rahman. Rahman is a music director who changed the face of music in Bollywood movies. Mani Ratnam, the director of the film, uses his music to not only tell the story of a female terrorist and a male journalist looking for the truth, but to also highlight the different stages of their relationship—attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession and death. The dream pairing of Ratnam and Rahman has produced films that cater to all of your senses, and this one is no exception.
Other movies are:
"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Special Happens)"
"Devdas"
"Mr. and Mrs. Iyer"
"Dhoom 1 and 2"
"Omkara (Othello)"
These six films represent the broad spectrum of Bollywood films out there, just as there is a diversity of cultural and religious groups in India. All of these films are available on DVD online and in your nearest Indian video store.
Read the full article here.
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Blaaze speaks about Pray For Me Brother, and A R Rahman
Tabu wants to sing in the south especially for AR Rahman
Tabu made news recently when she did one item number in a Telugu film with actor Abbas. This sensitive actress does seem to be in a mode of experimenting with her talents.
Tabu was recently spotted in Chennai. Before you read too much into this, let us tell you that she was spotted in a recording studio! And guess whose studio it is. Well what is there to guess. It is our Boss's studio.
No, she was not singing but she was paying undivided attention to India's Isai Puyal, who was making music for one of her films. Not stopping with that, Tabu was so taken up with the experience that she is reported to have expressed her desire to sing with A R Rahman in his music!
Rahman is supposed to have flashed a shy smile in response. Let us wait and watch.
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IIFA award goes to ARR
The Award for Best Sound Recording went to H. Sridhar for Guru, while A. R. Rahman won the Idea IIFA Award for Best Background Score for the movie Guru. Imtiaz Ali won the IIFA for Best Dialogue for Jab We Met.
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) recently announced the awards in the Technical category.And no prizes for guessing the winners as it were the regular suspects who walked home with the prestigious honours. The winners included superhit like Chak De India (five awards) and Om Shanti Om (four awards). While Chak De India bagged the awards in Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Recording, Best Sound Re-recording, Best Screenplay (shared it with Life in a Metro), Om Shanti Om got it for Best Art Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Costume designing and Best Makeup.The choreography award has gone to Vaibhavi Merchant for Aaja, while Javed Sheikh & Ejaz Sheikh won the best action award for the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala.
The prestigious IIFA awards are to be held in Bangkok, from June 6 -8 '08.
News Courtesy: oneindia
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Remix with Rahman
Mumbai, April 28 (IANS) As part of its endeavour to connect people to their passions, mobile phone major Nokia has joined hands with A.R. Rahman to give young Indians a chance to remix two tracks from the maestro's forthcoming film "Ada... A way of life". The announcement at a press conference here Monday marks the first time the composer is allowing listeners to remix his creations.
As a part of this initiative, Nokia and leading music house BIG Music will run a month-long contest where participants can remix the two "Ada" soundtracks - "Gulfisha" and "Gum Sum" on Nokia's newly launched Nokia XpressMusic mixer application.
This is an online music mixer available on www.nokia.co.in/XpressMusic that has pre-loaded "Ada" tunes.
Users can remix the soundtracks by clicking on their favourite music genre such as Jazz, Folk, Punjabi, Hip-Hop and Rock amongst others. Participants also have the option to download the Ada tracks from the Nokia XpressMusic website and remix with their own professional music equipment.
The winner, to be chosen by Rahman, will get an opportunity to spend a day with the music legend and compose the remix soundtrack with him at his studio.
This remix would be released through a music video that would profile the winner and Rahman along with the top 10 finalists.
Elaborating on the concept, Rahman said: "India is full of talented young people and this contest is my way of unleashing their creativity.
"Nokia and BIG Music have come up with a very interesting concept and I am looking forward to see how the listeners interpret my music and give it a new form," he added.
According to Raghuvesh Sarup, head of programme portfolio of Nokia India, "we share a very special and long-term association with Mr. Rahman and we treasure this relationship.
"We are very grateful to him for agreeing to this initiative and giving youngsters an opportunity to express themselves through music," he added.
Source: AllBollywood dot com
Kareena Kapoor opposite Power Star in 'Puli'
Pawan Kalyan's fans are very happy at the success of their favourite hero after a long time. Now the audiences in general and his fans in particular at eagerly looking at the forthcoming film of the Power Star 'Puli'.
Directed by SJ Surya and produced by Singanamala Ramesh the film had several specialities. AR Rahman is scoring music for the film, while Bollywood cinematographer Binod Pradhans is handing the camera.
Hollywood action directors were summoned to choreograph the action scenes.
Another surprising news is that the director and producer are contacting Kareena Kapoor to play heroine opposite Power Star.
If she agrees, it would be her first-ever south Indian film.
Source: IndiaGlitz
ARRahman working on his next album
Coming back to our headlines, especially for those music lovers who are wondering as to when the composer of works like ROJA, DIL SE, TAAL, LAGAAN........to the recent JODHAA AKBAR, will come up with another album, after the stupendous success of 'Vande Mataram'. Well, the long wait is more or less over and the good news is that music wizard A.R.Rahman is busy working on his next album. As per very reliable sources, almost a decade after 'Vande Mataram' , Rahman's next album should be out later this year, more details of which are expected soon.
So, all you Rahmaniacs out there, keep watching this space for more!
