This year’s race for the best original song Oscar is getting way more attention than usual – in part for who’s in the race and, in part, for who isn’t.
There are only three nominees out of 49 eligible songs this year – “Down to Earth” from “Wall-E,” and “Jai Ho” and “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” – due to the music Oscar’s weird ranking system that only nominates songs that scored higher than 8.25 out of 10 with its members. Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler,” which just won the Golden Globe for best song, didn’t make the cut.
Now Peter Gabriel’s “Down to Earth,” which plays over the “Wall-E” credits is nice enough, but the original songs of A.R. Rahman really are a major part of “Slumdog Millionaire.” The same goes for M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” which is so dominant in one segment that it not only looks like the film was edited to fit the song, but that it was shot with that song in mind.
A.R. Rahman has received three Oscar nominations — one each for the film's soundtrack and the songs "Jai Ho" and "O Sayya."
Boyle had long been a fan of Rahman's before making "Slumdog," and quickly rattled off a list of some of his favorite Rahman tunes — from "Taal," "Lagaan," "Kisna" and "Rang De Basanti."
But the composer ended up surprising Boyle by coming up with unexpected musical ideas.
"There's a scene when Jamal's brother goes off to kill someone and he wakes up at night, and from a scoring point of view it should clearly be a sort of creepy, quiet sound," Boyle told India-West.
"A.R. came in with this thumping track, completely the opposite of what you expect. It was exactly right!"
"NOOR" RECITATION RECITED BY AMITABH BACHCHAN POEM BY PRASOON JOSHI
DILLI-6 SINGERS: BLAAZE, BENNY DAYAL, TANVI, VIVIANNE CHAIX, CLAIRE FRENCH LYRICS: VIVIANNE CHAIX AND CLAIRE
REHNA TU SINGER: A.R.RAHMAN BACKING VOCALS: BENNY DAYAL, TANVI
HEY KALA BANDAR SINGERS: KARTHIK, NARESH, SRINIVAS, BONNY CHAKRAVORTY
DIL GIRA DAFATAN SINGER: ASH KING BACKING VOCALS: CHINMAYEE
GENDA PHOOL MUSIC AND LYRICS: TRADITIONAL ADDITIONAL MUSIC SUPERVISION: RAJAT DHOLAKIA SINGER: REKHA BHARADWAJ BACKING VOCALS: SUJATA MAZUMDAR, SHRADDHA PANDIT, V.N. MAHATHI
BHOR BHAYE ADDITIONAL LYRICS: PRASOON JOSHI SINGERS: USTAD BADE GHULAM ALI KHAN, SHREYA GHOSHAL RAAG: GUJRI TODI
I feel very disturbed by such senior artists bashing out without proper reason. Does he feel jealous about our boss winning Golden Globe and nominations for OSCAR and not him???
But anyway our boss is not going to reply him back by words, but by his music. He is calm, versatile and humble that he will not seems to reply to such silly comments.
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 along with Bollywood singer Sukhwinder Singh has been invited to open the 81st annual Academy Awards night, on February 21 in Los Angeles, with the Oscar nominated song Jai ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle's film Slumdog... that recently swept the Golden Globes and created a huge buzz at the prestigious SAG awards is a favourite for the Oscars as well.
Meanwhile, Rahman is working on the song to adapt it to the live orchestra for his stage performance. Famous Bollywood lyricist Gulzar, who has penned the lyrics of Jai ho is also expected to make an appearance at the gala award ceremony.
After winning India's first Golden Globe, A R Rahman once again created history when his compositions Jai ho along with O Saaya received nominations for the Best Original Song category this year at the Oscars. Rahman has also been nominated for giving the Best Original Score for Slumdog Millionaire.
Year 2009 has opened up magnanimously for maestro A R Rahman and expectations are humongous as the stage is all set for his first major Bollywood musical release- DELHI-6. It brings out another colossal combination for UTV, director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and lyricist Prasoon Joshi, the team that created history with the critically acclaimed RANG DE BASANTI.
DELHI-6 holds another major significance in Bollywood as Rahman experiments out with ʽContinuum Fingerboardʼ (a three dimensional music controller device) for the first time in many of his compositions for a contemporary Hindi film. Once again, the challenges are big and the feel is innovative as varied genres, styles and talents concoct again to create another hullabaloo of success. Does DELHI-6 have the sufficient fire to match up the high standards of RANG DE BASANTI and the internationally acclaimed SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE? Will DELHI-6 be adding up as another proud entry in the long listing of A R Rahman's successive grand successes? Let's get started with the tracks that deserve to be analyzed with full exactitude...!
After serenading out some tantalizing soft-rock ballads, Mohit Chauhan streams out in typical ''filmi'' overtones with wavering vocal modulations in ''ched-chad'' solo track ''Masakalli''. Prasoon Joshi's mischievously flowing wordings (''Zara pankh jhatak, gayi dhool atak aur lachak machak ke door bhatak...) about lovable bird (''Masakalli'') has that poetical ire (''Ghar tera saloni, badal ki colony, Dikhlade thenga in sabko jo udna na jaane...'') that epitomizes naivety, impishness in that gullible ''child-like'' character. A R Rahman's music tries to be edgy rather than syrupy in those modulating instrumental connotations that strikes rhythmical chemistry with Mohit's cheeky vocals. ''Masakalli'' is going to be raised up in volumes as well as in chartbusting listing for its rustic rawness and innovative feel and probably be catching fast for its massy appeal. Mohit Chauhan notches up his first major solo hit of this year with ''Masakalli'' and that also brings laurels to the poetical prowess of Prasoon Joshi. Chartbuster!!!
A R Rahman, a name synonymous to wide range of experimentation makes the most purist attempt at Indian classical music of our times in meticulously composed ''Bhor Bhaye''. This classically pristine number brings the most intellectual singing aspect of Shreya Ghoshal, where she almost gets tutelage as well as consistent backing of puritans like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in its traditionalist rendition.
Amitabh Bachchan's poetical exuberance in softer notes have the austerity and grace that epitomizes the ''emotional quotient'' (EQ) of the flick in concise but impressive ''Noor''.
The divine intervention of spiritualism comes in the form of ''Aarti (Tumre Bhavan Mein)'', a modestly pleasant ''bhajan'' in the voices of Rekha Bharadwaj, Kishori Gowariker, Shraddha Pandit and Sujata Majumdar. It can be termed as simplistically softer version of emotionally enriched ''O Palanhaare'' (LAGAAN) with traditional religious verses emoted out with serenity of pious sentiments.
Rekha Bharadwaj's folksy nasal twang leads the female bandwagon of traditional ''ladies-sangeet'' where typical ''Delhi-waala'' pre-marriage celebrations takes routes of ''disco-beat'' lounges in ''Genda Phool''. It charters the traditionalism of festivity where the pairing of Shraddha Pandit and Sujata Majumdar forms effective choir singers in this sluggish ''dhin-chak'' beats arrangement soundtrack.
There was ''dreams-unlimited'' euphoric feel in the subtle orchestrations in ''Tu Bin Bataye'' (RANG DE BASANTI) that captured the unveiled mysticism of undying romance in it. This nostalgia of tender emotions regenerates back in similar sounding sappy composition ''Dil Mera Giraftan'' with better sounding techno-generated sound effects that brings gifted vocals of Ash King along with back-up support of Chinmaye to the fore. Rahman's makes it a remarkable conglomerate of varied instrumentals (flute, keyboards, violin and piano) that are mellifluously interwoven in those tender beats and rhythmical beat flows. Ash King proves to be the ''find'' of the album for his sonorously porous vocals permeates subtly in those feather-touch lingering orchestral displays. Soulful!!!
Murky, mischievous and Machiavellian! A R Rahman's races out Afro-American hip-hop blasting beat-culture bombastic splurge in gibberish overtones of roguish wording in ''Hey Kala Bandar''. It sounds almost sequel to recently heard ''Shanno Shanno'' (YUVVRAAJ) where youthful spirits gets loud eruption of ''black humor'' in the vocals of Karthik, Naresh, Srinivas and Bony Chakravarthy. Prasoon Joshi's picks up snazzy one-liners in those Arabic-hip hop rhythmical beat patterns to make it impulsively bouncy soundtrack.
Somber tonality of supple jazz cum blues musical maneuvers takes over where Rahman along with Benny Dayal and Tanvi emotes out in lower octaves in impressive sounding ''Rehna Tu''. It's has that melodramatic situational song appeal with a strong international musical substance that transcends well from thumping beats in its prelude to oozing ''jazz'' substances in its concluding verses. It adds one more attribute in this soft-sentimental moods cadre that will be likely to be sapped by its potential listeners.
''Delhi-6'', the ''funk-a-licious'' title track forms a mix and match of ''Paathshala'' and ''Roobaro'' (RANG DE BASANTI) with that extra perky ''reggae ton'' rendition in its racy flows. Blaaze along with Benny Dayal, Vivinenne Pocha, Tanvi and Claire gets boisterously persuasive in symbolizing out the ''Delhi'' yuppie feel. Vivinenne and Claire lyrics try to be equivocal in its wishy-washy flows with infectious hip-hop cum reggae getting up straight into senses.
It's was divine bliss to hear something as pious as ''Piya Haji Ali'' (FIZA) and ''Khwaja Mere Khwaja'' (JODHA AKBAR) and again A R Rahman scores pure gold as he continues to be generously mellifluous in ''Arziyaan''. Despite some traditional classical instrumentals and composition there are added synchronized arrangements (preferably with support of ''Continuum Fingerboard'') that permeates well in its rhythmic flows. This holy musical piece comes in traditional ''qawalli'' form with Javed Ali and Kailash Kher excelling out with another gem of wordings by wordsmith Prasoon Joshi. Despite its longer duration (8.42), there is an ambience of divinity in the air as sounds of harmonium, tabla and sitar collages well in its well synchronized rigorous claps. Rhythm-divine!!!
DELHI-6 turns to be another globe-trotter for A R Rahman and the album surely heads for another big victory at the stands. It maintains the high-standards of RANG DE BASANTI and scores better in terms of versatility and upbeat musical substance. Mohit Chauhan's ''Masakalli'' leads the show with sure-shot chartbuster while tracks like ''Arziyan'', ''Dil Mera Giraftan'', ''Rehna Tu'', ''Hey Kala Bandar'', ''Genda Phool'' and ''Delhi-6'' will be catching up fast with three listeners. After the global success of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the celebrations continues for all ''Rahmaniacs'' with DELHI-6 and things look brighter as flick get set for its big D-Day in coming weekends.
'Dikhlade thenge in sabko jo udna na jaane,' a happy-go-lucky voice smugly states at some point during the thrilling course of Delhi [Images] 6's soundtrack. And man, what a thumbs down to all the seriously imagination-challenged musicians out there. A R Rahman (who else, really?) makes waiting for his music such a worthwhile chore what with one fantastic soundtrack after another. Close on the heels of a deserving Golden Globes wins follows the anticipated score of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Delhi 6. Considering its impossible-to-define Chandni Chowk roots, Rahman injects the sounds of this 10-tracked album with an eclectic fusion of various genres. Bottom line: it's a 10 on 10.
Here's why: Move over Aditi, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, his soaring imagination and Rahman at his affable best; collaborate to produce the mirthful, fluttering sensation, Masakali. Playing on the metaphor of a carefree pigeon of the same name whilst drawing parallels with Sonam Kapoor's [Images] chirpy Bittu, Masakali is unanimously charming and contagiously blithe. The real winner of this enterprise is, of course, a crisp-sounding Mohit Chauhan. Best known for his slow-motioned renditions like Khoon chala (Rang De Basanti [Images]), Tum [Images] se hi (Jab We Met [Images]) and Is this love? (Kismat Konnection), the Silk Route front man customizes this ravishing track with a touch of ada and frills of masti, once associated with the inimitable Mohammed Rafi.
While it's impossible to proceed into the album without putting Masakali on the 'Repeat' mode, the show must go on. And so it does through the Sufism-imbued notes of Arziyan. Its poignancy is echoed in the simplicity of its heartfelt cry, 'Maramat muqaddar ki kardo, Maula (Mend my fate, Almighty).' A song of this genre calls for flawless chemistry between its core voices, a requirement that is seamlessly exhibited in the range of Javed Ali and emotions of Kailash Kher [Images]. Spirituality is a frequent theme of the album. It makes its presence felt in the pious prayers of Aarti--Tumre bhavan mein as well as Amitabh Bachchan's [Images] commanding baritone in Noor, where he waxes eloquent about God's omnipresent ways.
A dash of nu metal, a few cubes of alternative rock and spray of rap/hip hop, Delhi 6 is a grungy cocktail of metal and attitude. The latter is thrown in truckloads via Blaaze, Benny, Viviane Pocha, Tanvi and Claire. Rahman understands genres skilfully and juggles them to perfection, unlike the wannabe eagerness of his colleagues to achieve the same. Almost high on the pandemonium, individuality, insolence and romance of India's capital city, Delhi 6 pays a funky tribute.
The recurrent rhythm and care-a-damn tone of Hey kaala Bandar spell boys-just-wanna-have-fun brand of camaraderie. There is a lot of erstwhile Rahman to be found in this medley of cheek and cheer, from Barso re (Guru), Shanno Shanno (Yuuvraaj) to Behka (Ghajini [Images]) and Paathshala [Images] (RDB). Up next, the much-awaited Rahman-behind-microphone moment arrives. This time the maestro's surrealism is an upgraded reminder of Sting [Images] in the Eighties. Its fairy-tale-like sorcery with a hint of Arabic exotica lends Rehna tu an aura of precise enchantment and magical romance, wherein a smitten lover gushes in honour of his lady's cosmetic-free loveliness. Joshi's penmanship goes from strength to strength, besotted and inspired in turns.
The ingenious writer gets another opportunity to pour his crimson-hued similes some more in one of Delhi 6's best creations, Dil gira dafatan. The delicacy of Ash King's performance, supported by Chinmayee, resonates in the mellifluous imagery and exquisite minimalism of this glorious beauty. Spellbinding stuff from Rahman, this. Lending a humorous, snazzy twist to Saraswati Chanra's Main toh bhool gayi babul ka ghar-line of sentiments enters the playful and catchy, Genda phool. Composer Rajat Dholakia and Rahman share the credit for this immensely entertaining shaadi ditty performed with delectable naughtiness by Rekha [Images] Bharadwaj (the husky voice behind Namak, Omkara [Images]) accompanied by Shraddha Pandit and Sujata Majumdar. Rahman's mastery is at work as he treats the Indian classical form Gujri todi in a mesmerising fashion to helm the stirring bandish, Bhor bhaye. Sparkling in the impeccable traditions of Ustad Bade Ghulam [Images] Ali Khan's rousing rendition and a confident Shreya Ghosal, Bhor bhaye is a three-minutes-and-18-seconds long overwhelming experience.
There's enough inspiration to be found in Delhi's most celebrated pin code. And as he's done for so many other landscapes, localities and lanes in the past, Rahman pays Delhi 6 a whopper ode in this swashbuckler of a soundtrack. The musketeers will be envious.*
The Wait is over, you can now buy MP3s of Slumdog Millionaire from Amazon now. BUY the entire album from Amazon for a limited time offer of $5.00 only.
A Dickensian tale of an impoverished orphan, Slumdog Millionaire is again rocking the US box office after being awarded four Golden Globes.
The movie’s collection has gone up to $43 million in the last weekend. It is running in 582 theatres across the US, registering a per-theatre average of $10,137 to take its total gross to a staggering number of $42.74 million.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is in its tenth running week and its collections are rocketing since it emerged as a major winner at Golden Globes. In fact, the movie’s total collection till now has surpassed the combined over-all collections of three successful Bollywood movies, Chandni Chowk To China , Ghajini and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi .
Fox Searchlight plans to expand its run this Friday to about 1,300 theatres, as many multiplexes are very keen to play the film.
After a clean-sweep at Golden Globes, the movie has received 11 BAFTA nominations, the British equivalent of Oscars. It is in competition with ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, starring Brad Pitt, followed by the Batman blockbuster ‘The Dark Knight’ which has won nine BAFTA nominations and Clint Eastwood's drama ‘Changeling’, which won eight.
In fact, eighteen-year-old Dev Patel , who played the protagonist Jamal Malik, is also vying for best leading actor when the BAFTAs will be announced in London on February 8.
Danny Boyle recently said in a statement, "We have spent much time away making this film in Bollywood and then promoting it in Hollywood."
Well, we can say whatever they have done painstakingly is paying off.
Lord of the Rings - Original London Cast Recording with Bonus DVD
A. R. Rahman (Composer), Varttina (Composer), Christopher Nightingale (Composer), Shaun McKenna (Composer), Matthew Warchus (Composer), Original London Cast (Performer)
Buy from Amazon for $24.99 In Stock. (As on January 19th 2009)
When I saw that the cast album came with a bonus DVD, I naturally made the assumption that there would be some VIDEO of the show on the disc. All that is on the DVD is a reprint of the audio disc with montages of STILLS - many of them black and white, and WAY too many of them backstage and rehearsal shots. I would've loved to have seen some actual video of the production!! I'm giving it 3 stars because I actually enjoy a great deal of the score (though it sounds more like a movie soundtrack than a musical theatre piece).
Seriously, though?! I cried. I cried because it was SO flipping beautiful. The music with the set constantly changing and the costumes and the actors taking on such a monolith, all the while this GORGEOUS music is swirling around you lifting your emotional response to what you are watching to a new height.... it seriously BLEW. ME. AWAY. Better than any new musical here in America, and I live in NYC so don't right me off thinking I've only seen one Broadway musical or something. Holy BeJESUS it is SO good.
The product is beautifully packaged with both a CD of the musical score itself and a DVD that highlights the exact same musical score with photo stills of various scenes from the Musical and also behind the stage scenes. To be clear there is not actually any video of the performance and the CD/DVD do not include the dialog that was spoken. They still want you to go see them live after all. Hopefully they come to Broadway at some point so the American yanks can see them and not have to cross the pond. All in all it's a beautiful score of music and song that certainly adds a unique dimension to the works of Tolkein.
'Slumdog Millionaire' releases in India with more than 200 prints across the country (in both Hindi and English) on 23 January. Trade insiders say that the Hindi version of the film, titled 'Slumdog Crorepathi', will have a wider release and penetrate into the non-metro areas as well.
The film has been dubbed in Hindi by its original cast. Director Danny Boyle, Twentieth Century Fox co-chairman Jim Giannopoulos and lead actor Dev Patel, along with the other members of the cast, will attend the premiere on January 22. The cast and the crew will be coming toIndia two days before the premiere and will be visiting Mumbai and Delhi. They will also be attending a charity dinner apart from a busy media itinerary.
It wasn’t mere lip service that AR Rahman was paying to the almighty after winning the Golden Globe. It was a heartfelt acknowledgement of a guiding force that’s shaped his miraculous career.
JAN 18, 2009 - “UNBELIEVABLE,” HE SAID, AFTER HIS NAME WAS ANNOUNCED, after he sprinted onto the stage and fished around in his pocket for the piece of paper containing his acceptance speech. That was the exact word in my mind. Unbelievable! We knew our cinema was going around the globe, but who would have dreamt that one of its shining ambassadors would go to the Golden Globes. AR Rahman’s subsequent words, too, appeared to have been lifted from my head. “I thought I won’t win, so anyways…” he declared, to much laughter from the audience, and I knew what he meant – for even if he deserved to win, would voting vagaries and political considerations take their toll on a relatively unknown musician from a land far, far away from Hollywood?
Thankfully they didn’t – and it was one of those moments we’re going to play in our minds over and over. Thank you Rahman, for winning, for putting a face to the great tradition of Indian film music. Thank you Rahman, for acknowledging, on that resplendent platform in Beverly Hills, all your musicians in Chennai and Mumbai, those nameless faces that untiringly translate the ideas in a composer’s head into concrete musical form. Thank you, Rahman, for that shout out to the billion people from India, for raising a toast to the brown face amidst that sea of white. “Thanks for all your prayers,” he concluded, with characteristic humility, as if it were simply our outpourings of faith that propelled him to his win, and not his dazzling talents.
But the most touching aspect of Rahman’s acceptance speech was surely when he acknowledged, “Thanks to the almighty God for bringing me here.” On one level, this is entirely expected, for Rahman’s faith in the divine is no secret. But even otherwise, this invocation of God (or destiny or providence or fate or however you wish to name the mysterious forces that shape our lives) is entirely appropriate – for Rahman has been fortune’s favoured child in ways that no Indian film music composer before him has been. A look at his miraculous career appears to indicate that it may not be simple coincidence that he has always been guided to the right place, and always at the right time.
When Mani Ratnam, the most visible and influential face of Tamil cinema, was shopping for a new music director, Rahman found himself there. Roja was a spectacular musical success, not only in Tamil but also Hindi. The fresh strains of music that emanated from Rahman were, it seemed, just what a jaded nation wanted – even if it appeared, for a while, that dubbed versions of his Tamil hits were all that would sneak through to the north of the Vindhyas. And then Rahman found himself the chosen one again, when Ram Gopal Varma made Rangeela, and he got himself a smash of a Hindi soundtrack – and beginning then, no composer before Rahman has bridged the tastes and the terrains of the North and the South so spectacularly.
And the reach of Rahman’s sound just kept expanding – first from South to North, and then from India to the world. When Dil Se became the first Indian film to break into the UK Top Ten, at the box office, Rahman found himself, again, at the right place, at the right time. On the strength of Chhaiya chhaiya, Andrew Lloyd Webber beckoned, the London’s West End beckoned. And thus, with his global sound, Rahman became the global face of Indian film music, the way Aishwarya Rai is the global face of Indian cinema – the one name that springs to the lips of people outside the country when they refer to the curiously fascinating world of Bollywood.
But more than anything else, Rahman has been extraordinarily blessed to arrive as a musician at a time the world has shrunk beyond recognition. The great composers before him were, at best, cherished and celebrated within their states or perhaps, if they worked in the Hindi film industry, within the country. But today, thanks to the Internet and a gaggle of news channels traversing the breadth of the nation in search of stories – can you imagine a Tamil masala movie named Sivaji, starring a Tamil hero named Rajinikanth, becoming a nationwide sensation even ten years ago? – the world is clued into what is happening at our doorstep, and when we raised a toast to Rahman, it’s was always only a matter of time before the world did too.
And Rahman continues to be at the right place (Bollywood) at the right time (the present day). He still dignifies the odd project in Tamil or Telugu, but a significant portion of his energies are channelled towards gilding the visions of Bollywood filmmakers who are ambitious, who understand the value Rahman brings to their films, and who do not mind giving him the space and the time and the collaborative creative inputs to bring out the best in him. Where a composer from an earlier era may have burned out because of having to conjure up, for the millionth time, a generic love song or a generic estrangement number, these directors today have kept Rahman’s creative fires burning.
To say that Rahman is extraordinary is to state the obvious, but his circumstances have been almost as extraordinary. The talented composers before him couldn’t have even imagined scaling the heights that he has today, and that’s surely why Rahman chose to thank God at the podium. The fates have shaped the story of AR Rahman into one that rivals the fictional happenings ofSlumdog Millionaire – a young lad is picked out of utter obscurity to become the beacon of inspiration for millions. At the beginning of the film, a title card questions the titular underdog’s unprecedented success: “How did he do it? A) He cheated. B) He’s lucky. C) He’s a genius. D) It is written.” At least in Rahman’s case, the latter appears to be the answer.
‘Many a mile to go….winning the Golden Globe is most certainly not the end of my dream’ said A. R. Rahman, the tremendous Indian sensation who has rocked the world with mind-blowing original musical compositions for the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
In an exclusive interview to Indiaglitz after winning the coveted Golden Globe, the music wizard speaks about what his mindset was before and after his name was announced as the winner. ‘I wanted to win this for India’ declared Rahman who was visibly happy at the recognition.
Rahman has a wish ….
“I hope all violence in India and all parts of the world is avoided. It is foolish to kill another human being. If you kill an innocent human being, you have killed the whole of humanity. That is what the Prophet has said and I believe so much in that. Hope people come to their senses”.
A. R. Rahman had a look at the thousands of wishes sent to him by his fans through Indiaglitz and was moved with gratitude.
‘It is really gratifying to see all this….your unconditional love for me’ he said.
Will Rahman continue to rock the world and make India proud? Is the West taking note of Rahman’s incredible talent? We got an insight into all of these when Rahman talked about winning all the three awards in Los Angeles.
“When we went to LA, our team’s idea was to win all three awards there (two Critics’ Awards & the Golden Globe). Happy to have won all three. When I won the first award, they didn’t even want me in the photographs. When I won the second award, they wanted me in the group. After the Golden Globe they wanted to have individual snaps of me. I guess the western press also got introduced to me stage by stage”.
Sit back and enjoy A. R. Rahman’s exclusive interview to Indiaglitz after winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Music….
Slumdog Millionaire is sucking back the awards like nobody's business.
So too is its soundtrack. The film's score snagged Critic's Choice Awards last week and a Golden Globe on Sunday, making it a clear frontrunner for an Oscar.
But have you heard of this A.R. Rahman guy, who composed the widely lauded score?
Me neither. And we're not the only ones. As of Monday, the HMV Superstore in Toronto had just 1 (one) copy of an A.R. Rahman album in stock – Beyond Heaven and Earth (2004), one of Rahman's orchestral works.
Maybe it's because most of his best-known work lies in the realm of Bollywood. He is, after all, the first Indian composer to have won a Golden Globe, as Reuters reports.
His name may be unfamiliar to many of us, but Rahman is no composing newcomer. His discography is fairly lengthy, with 19 releases since 1995, most of them Bollywood soundtracks, according to allmusic.com.
In terms of sales, however, Rahman is not only giant. He is a titanic juggernaut. His music has sold over 200 million cassettes, which is more than Madonna and Brittney Spears combined, according to rediff.com.
In sum, his sales place him amongst the top 25 highest selling recording artists of all time, says Interscope Records. A list compiled by Wikipediaplaces him even higher – amongst the top ten – right up there with AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, and higher than all-out legends like David Bowie or Frank Sinatra.
So the Canadian Press may have been premature in calling Slumdog Millionaire an underdog. After all, we all know Danny Boyle from his work on Trainspotting. And now we all know A.R. Rahman – but we probably should have a long time ago.
[A.R. Rahman at the 2009 Critic's Choice Awards. REUTERS/Hector Mata]
Music maestro A R Rahman, the first Indian to win a Golden Globe, was very nervous at the award ceremony as he did not want to let down a billion people back home in India.
Actor Sathyaraj ( Vandicholai Chinnarasu fame ) in Rahmania
Q :- What do you feel about Rahman's Music ?
When I was on my way for shooting, there were talks that a new Music Director had arrived in the scene for Maniratnam's new movie. There was a studio in Vahini, and on my way, I was listening to the songs of Roja. I was listening to Chinna Chinna aasai, and found the tune, the sound to be very different. I had faith that Maniratnam had found the right person for his music. When I arrived in the shooting spot, Heroine Banupriya was humming the tune of the songs from Roja. She was singing " Chinna Chinna aasai" from 9 Am to 6 PM on that day. Once the film got released, seeing the songs on the screen, I was stunned beyond words.
Those were times, when Illayaraja was the monarch and his songs were heard everywhere. Its so tough for a newcomer to make a name for himself in that space. Just as " Machana Paartheengala" from annakili was a new sound for Illayaraja, when MSV was previously reigning supreme at that moment.
Then, as every Hero would have a desire to act in the music of a great Music Director, I also had the desire. The song " Senthamiz Naatu Tamiachaye" became very famous. Hearing the song " Chitirai Nilavu " , the full team consisting of Dance Master Babu, Producer Mani, Director Manoj Kumar were puzzled, as to how to picturise the song. The senthamizh song suppressed the greatness of this song.
That is Rahman Sir 's success.
Q :- Apart from Vandhicholai chinnarasu songs, what are the other songs of Rahman which you like ?
Nowadays, we see Tamilians live across the globe, and it is the greatness of Rahman Sir, to highlight the importance of Tamil across the globe and make Tamilians proud. Music paves an important role in even change of Government. Music was a major reason for MGR to become a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
In the same way, Music is an important role in uniting Tamilians across the Globe. Nowadays, its the Youth who tend to forget Tamil. and in that matter, Rahman Sir's songs create an important effect in arousing the desire of the youth towards Tamil.
All songs of his are excellent songs. He is a great treasure for Tamilians. And the speciality of him is that he has started doing Re recording for Hollywood Films, Hindi Films etc. Its a great privilege for any Tamilian, as tomorrow, when he would win the Oscars, it would get a lot of fame for the Tamil Fraternity itself. IT would be written that he started his career with Roja ( which is a Tamil movie )
Perhaps, this isn't Karan Johar's first time in Los Angeles, but he feels like being on a never-never land as Golden Globe Awards made him feel so. Actually, the young filmmaker was on top of his excitements hailing praises for Rahman as he fetched the awards for the 'Best Original Score' in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. For us who could merely glimpse this history-making occasion in TV channels - yeah Karan we can just guess how you would have felt being present there witnessing the occasion.
Karan Johar calls it 'A Fantastic Juncture' as he was amidst the numero uno directors and personalities of tinsel town. 'I had grown up watching their films right from the age of 5' adds Karan.
He was there with SRK and his wife Gauri Khan, as Hollywood Foreign Press Association offered him special invitation. SRK went onto the podium for giving away the awards for the Best Drama Film that was bagged by ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The film walked away bagging four Golden Globes.
Sources suggest that Karan met up with Anil Kapoor, A.R. Rahman and Danny Boyle to toast to the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
Showered by the congratulatory notes and messages, the recent Golden Globe Award winner A.R. Rahman must be a happy man indeed. It may be recalled that Rahman won the award for his music composition for the film Slumdog Millionaire. Among the film personalities that have congratulated him are Rajinikanth and Shankar.They have both stated A.R.Rahman that Rahman has made Indian and Tamilians, in particular, proud.
Others who sent him their wishes are Abirami Ramanthan, Rama Narayanan, Vairamuthu and AVM Saravanan. The widespread talk in Kollywood is that music of the same quality can be expected in films like Endhiran and Mani Ratnamsʼ Ravan for which A.R. Rahman scores the music.
Famous Malayalam cine music director M.K.Arjunan on Golden Globe award winner A.R.Rahman
A.R.Rahman knows music by its pulse. It is for his hardwork that this youngman has received this award. I know Rahman possesses superhuman skills which others in the industry hardly gets.
Right from childhood 'Dileep' did not show much attention to school education. He was always with the keyboard. He spend sleepless nights with the keyboard. When he is composing songs he won't stop until he gets the sound he has in mind.
I do not disagree with the new technologies he is using for composing music. Everyone has their own taste. One can change by time. It is not wrong in changing oneself to influence music in that way.
Rahman has no one to credit in his growth, but his hardwork. I do not know of he going behind anyone for recomendations of any kind. He does what he thinks fit.
Dileep became Rahman in 1992 while 'Roja' was released. Changing ones own faith is their right, and if it is after understanding pros and cons it is perfectly okay.
I came to this industry through 'Karutha Pournami' in 1968. Rahman's father R.K.Shekar was a pioneer at that time. He was Numero Uno with Devarajan, Dakshinamurthy, K.Raghavan. Even for Salil Chowdary R.K.Shekar would be the assistant.
Devarajan Master had introduced me to R.K.Shekar. From then on we were like brothers. It could be because of this intimacy, that Rahman treats me like a Guru. I have not taught Rahman music of any sort. Even though he considers me as a Guru. I do not know why.
I am very glad to see this growth of Rahman. And I am proud for him to have got such a great award. I hope more and more great awards are waiting for him and I wish him best.
This interview appeared on Malayalam Daily Malayala Manorama. Translated in English for sharing with Rahmaniacs.
Prominent film personalities and the who's who of the music industry have greeted Rahman after he won the coveted Golden Globe Award for Best Original Music score for 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Here's what the stars said….
Shahrukh Khan: It is a proud moment for every Indian. Rahman has made us proud by winning the coveted award. I was an invitee to the award ceremony. To witness an Indian achieve the feat is an achievement in itself.
Drummer Sivamani: He is a musician par excellence. He deserves the award. I had been associated with him for a long time. To watch him working in close quarters is a delight. 'Slumdog Millionaire' is a jewel in Rahman's Crown. He deserves many more honors.
Aamir Khan: A great musician….Rahman is a rare talent. He is sure to go places. I wish him all the very best for his future endeavors.
A R Rahman, a more media shy music director from India is now getting loud applaudes from all over the world. His background score in the Hollywood flick Slumdog Millionaire has been well appreciated by critics and now has been recognized by the Golden Globes awards as well.
He is the first Indian to win the prestigious Golden Globe Awards. On Sunday night A R Rahman became the first Indian to win this award.
He dedicated his award to the billion people of India. It is remarkably an underdog film which is sweeping all the awards.
His journey from Roja which was a trendsetter of that time to Slumdog Millionaire has been simply outstanding. He is been seen as a trendsetter in Indian music Industry. He has been credited with the current musical boom in the Industry.
Our team wishes him all the best for upcoming OSCARS.
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Perhaps, this isn't Karan Johar's first time in 
