The Oscar winning musician and composer is celebrating his 55th birthday on 6th January. A young boy from Madras to turning into one of the most celebrated artistes across the globe, Rahman’s journey has been wonderful.
Lataji remembers about the pleasure of singing for Rahman. “I suppose he was a little intimidated by me when we did ‘Jiya jale’ in Chennai. But he allowed me to do it my own way. And when I began humming an impromptu alaap at the end of the tune, he told me to simply go on. He recorded that as well. Subsequently, I recorded other songs with Rahman inclusive of ‘O paalan hare’ in Lagaan and ‘Door kahin ek aam ki baghiya’ in Zubeida. My duet ‘Luka chuppi’ with Rahman for Rakeysh Mehra’s Rang De Basanti became so popular. It’s rare nowadays to get a excellent song like Luka chuppi.”
Rahman also spoke sincerely of how he wishes new generations of musicians to discover their bearings. “I choose to instruct young musicians how to play inside an orchestra. As things stand if I favor to record orchestral track I’ve to go to Prague. If Ilayaraja wishes to file an epic rating he goes to Budapest. Why can’t we do it proper right here in our very own country? I favor to construct a repertoire of musicians who can play western instruments as expertly as the sitar or tabla. Our gifted young musicians who choose to learn western classical music have to head for London. I want to supply a certain legitimacy to western classical music in our country.
Poet Prasoon Joshi feels Rahman has an fantastic talent. “Artistes and human beings like Rahman are rare. All my work with Rahman is very distinctive to me. Much as I loved writing enjoyable songs like ‘Masti ki Paathshala’ and ‘Masakali’ I cherish exploring the religious facet of my creativity in the songs ‘Arziyaan’ and ‘Zariya’ (the latter for Coke Studio). May God bless him with some of the happiness that he has given us through his music.”
According to his biography ‘Notes of a Dream’, A.R. Rahman pondered suicide until the age of 25 and his father’s passing should be deemed a primary cause for this. Insecure, unsure of his future, and also bored of things around him, Rahman sought inspiration constantly to soon realise that he had it all buried inside him. He would construct his recording studio ‘Panchathan Record Inn’ in the outside of his home in Chennai which soon beckoned a variety of thrilling chances and allowed him to indulge in what he cherished the most – making music.
Director Ram Gopal Varma, with whom A.R.R collaborated on the iconic ‘Rangeela’, narrates a humorous incident to enunciate Rahman’s quirky style of working. Varma was very eager on including a unique track in the movie which, eventually, turned out to be Hai Rama and in the pursuit of working on it together, he decided on taking a trip to Goa with the composer. Ram Gopal Varma stayed in an adjoining room, guaranteed of usual magic that A.R. Rahman would weave however the wait for the tune solely grew longer. A couple of days would go by but there was still no sign a tune and by the end of it, A.R. Rahman had to depart Goa and head again for different commitments. He would then request Ram Gopal Varma, on a parting note, to never e book a room with a tv set because he had spent all the time looking at TV and ought to get nearly no work done! Ram Gopal Varma, in the same interview, reveals that he “wanted to punch Rahman in the face”
Roja’s success bought Rahman a National Award, and while he persisted to be a sensation in Tamil cinema .
