RAHMANIAN PHAPSODY A. R. Rahman, having scored for over 75 movies and sold over 150 million
albums, is almost worshipped as a god in some parts of India. However,
despite his huge success he is ever the reluctant celebrity, preferring to
let his work do the talking. Rahman will bring his Live, 3D Concert to
Wembley Arena Pavilion on 30th July 2005.
If I told you of an artist whose albums have outsold Elvis, The Beatles
and all of the Jackson clan added together, I wonder how you might
respond?
Well, the artist in question is A. R. Rahman, dubbed “the Mozart of
Madras”, whose tunes have mesmerised music lovers the world over. Having
first made his name with numerous hit Bollywood soundtracks, he has since
composed the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams. His next musical
offering, the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings
trilogy, will open in Toronto later this year and, at a cool £10 million,
it is the most expensive musical ever.
The good news for London though, is that, in July, A.R. is embarking on
his first live UK tour. Expect magical musical soundscapes, stunning
visuals and, for the first time in concert history, experience it all in
3D. The publicity release explains it like this: “…the audience will
receive 3D glasses to transport them into a magical galaxy, where they
will be able to ‘virtually’ reach out to their favourite stars…”
Apart from A.R., the concert will feature the very best classically
trained, Bollywood playback singers, all of whom are popular artists in
their own right. These include Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan and Sadhna
Sargam, to name but a few.
However, life has not always been so kind and, A.R.’s own meteoric rise to
fame is itself the stuff of “Bombay Dreams”.
Born in Chennai, India, A.R.’s earliest memories are of long periods spent
sitting by his father’s hospital bedside – something he assumed that all
children did. Following his father’s untimely death, A.R., aged just nine,
felt the mantle of responsibility for his family pass onto his young
shoulders. Aged eleven, he left home to become a touring musician, working
with many eminent names, including the table maestro, Zakir Hussein.
In time, the young Rahman earned a scholarship at Oxford University’s
Trinity College, where he studied Western Classical Music. On returning to
India he set up his studio, Panchathan Record Inn (now one of India’s most
technologically advanced recording studios, housing one of the biggest and
most comprehensive sonic libraries).
His big break, however, came in the form of maverick film director, Mani
Ratnam, who offered A.R., then 26, the role of Music Director on his 1992
film Roja. The gamble was worth it, as the Roja soundtrack revolutionised
the sound of Indian film music and went on to win every music award
imaginable, including Best Music Director for A.R. Rahman, at the National
Film Awards.
Since Roja, A.R. has provided the scores for most of Bollywood’s biggest
blockbusters, including the Oscar-nominated Lagaan. His skills are in
demand the world over and in 2003 he provided the score for the Chinese
martial arts film Warriors of Heaven and Earth.
Shabnam Rahi |
