AR Rahman Brings East and West to the World Stage Although AR Rahman has been one of India’s best known and most successful composers ever since his breakthrough in the early 1990s, when he composed the music for films such as Roja, Rangeela, Bumbai and Dil Se, he recently revealed that the international success of his soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire gave him a whole new level of confidence.
“The main thing is self-confidence which is there,” he told the Association Press in April while discussing his upcoming North American tour. “Coming from South India, you’re always very timid, you’re within your shell . . . we always think that, you know, maybe I don’t fit here, that kind of uncomfortableness,”
After seeing him win two Oscars, a Golden Globe and two Grammys for his music for Slumdog Millionaire, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Rahman does indeed fit in the top tiers of the music industry. And fans across North America will soon be able to get a live taste of his talent.
Rahman, 44, says the goal of his tour, entitled AR Rahman Jai Ho Concert: The Journey Home World Tour, is to bring East and West together. “An international composer cannot make music that is purely national in quality,” Rahman says. “It is important to play music that will be accepted by an international audience but which retains an essential Indian quality.”
Staged by American creative director Amy Tinkham (who has worked with Madonna, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Paul McCartney), the two-and-a-half-hour show will feature a cast of musicians, dancers and acrobats, plus changing sets and an extensive video production.
“What is added is a new dimension which nobody has ever seen, the Asian audience has never seen,” Rahman told Billboard. “Normally what happens is we go and sing and there’s some dancers and some kind of visual effects. But this one is so integrated, and every (musical) bar and every second is integrated with technology and stuff which moves around, and it’s done with so much passion.”
The concert will include music from every phase of Rahman’s career, from its inception with Roja to Slumdog Millionaire, which brought him the Oscar. Also featured will be songs from Laagan, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Dil Se, Rang De Basanti and his other creations.
“It will be a blend of the East and West, from Bharatnatyam to pop and tap dance,” said Tinkham. “The concert will keep intact the heritage and tradition of India with a new modern presentation. The show will feature changing sets, large images on LED screens and a spectacular cast of musicians and dancers from across the globe.”
Rahman will play keyboards and sing during the show. He will also explain the meaning of his songs to the audience. “We’re looking at a universal appeal to this,” he told Billboard. “There’s some songs in English, of course, but even for those that aren’t you can still come and enjoy the musicality and the whole culture and colourfulness and the vibrancy of Indian stuff. That’s all going to be there.”
The extravagant production seems at odds with Rahman’s low-key persona but he said in an interview with India Today that he feels it’s appropriate for his music.
“The music is exuberant and it won’t do justice to the music to lock it into a room. If you go to a Beyonce concert it’s mostly about her but in this it’s the music that is the hero.”
In addition to the tour, Rahman is also working on an album of original songs aimed at the Western market. “The music is probably an extension of what ‘Jai Ho’ did, but going more friendly in terms of English audiences,” Rahman said in his Billboard interview. “It’s retaining the same kind of magic, hopefully.”
Among the songs that might appear on the album is a track he recorded with Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.
Filmgoers will hear Rahman’s latest soundtrack when Raavan, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, hits screens in the coming months. The film is a modern-day take on The Ramayana epic in which Raavan abducts Sita, wife of Lord Rama.
Rahman is planning to expand his career in films to include producing. He said in a recent interview that he’s looking forward to “being a part of the creative vision of a movie rather than just playing the backseat and doing all the music.”
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