I am deliriously happy: A R Rahman

The honour of being the first Indian music director to be nominated for three Oscars sits lightly on the shoulders of A.R. Rahman, who attributes his success and fame to divinity.

"Allah the merciful has blessed Indian music. I am lucky to be one of his chosen representatives," said Rahman.

The humble music maestro is, however, proud of India's musical heritage.

"Our scintillating sounds have moved billions for ages. Our musical gurus could make the oceans throb and the skies pour nectar to quench mother earth's thirst. But we have waited for eight decades for this sort of recognition," said Rahman.

Rahman received the three Oscar nominations for the music he composed for British filmmaker Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches Bollywood style musical Slumdog Millionaire. While one nomination is for best original score, two are for the best original songs - Jai ho and O saya.

"My inspiration to compose the music was the movie, its thought and the message in the film," he said.

"I am already deliriously happy about the nominations. But the happiness will be manifold if and when we get at least one Oscar," Rahman added.

After winning a Golden Globe award for his music for the same film earlier this month, Rahman had said: "For the people of India to get an Oscar is a big thing. So for their sake, more than mine, I hope my song Jai ho and my music score in Slumdog Millionaire win the Oscar."

Born as A.S. Dileep Kumar on Jan 6, 1966, Rahman's family converted to Islam in 1989. His father R.K. Shekhar, a music arranger for Malayalam films, died when Rahman was just nine years old. The family earned its living by hiring out musical instruments.

Rahman began his musical Odyssey at the age of 11 as an accompanist in a troupe that hired his father's wares. It was run by the then rage of Tamil films Ilayaraja.

Soon Rahman was also seen in the company of another maestro M.S. Vishwanathan. His arranging in the band Roots with childhood friend and percussionist par excellence Sivamani provided opportunities to create jingles, musical ambiences for television serials and documentaries.

Rahman got his first big break in Mani Ratnam's "Roja" and later composed music for many films in southern India. His first full-fledged Bollywood project was Ram Gopal Varma's hit "Rangeela". Most of the songs, including "Tanha Tanha", "Hai Rama" and "Yaaro sun lo Zara", were chartbusters. After that there was no looking back for him.

In the late 90s, S.S. International, one of the earliest FM radio companies, approached Rahman for a byte on New Year.

"My late husband Aiyappan went with his portable recorder and was asked to wait by Rahman 'for a few minutes' that lasted for almost three hours," recalled the company's director A. Chitra.

"Finally, Rahman came out from his music room with a cassette that had a short composition. When it was broadcast, fan mail flooded us for a fortnight. They were enough to fill 10 sacks," Chitra added.

Rahman became a household name with soulful compositions in Dil Se , 1947 Earth, Taal, Lagaan, Guru, Rang De Basanti and Jodhaa Akbar.

Rahman not only won hearts in India, but also made a mark on the global music scene. He got his first international break when Andrew Lloyd Webber invited him to compose music for Broadway musical Bombay Dreams, which won him immense international fame. He also composed for the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings that premiered in Canada in 2006 and in London in 2007.

Rahman launched his first full-fledged orchestra last year. It has been named Global Music and is the first homegrown orchestra.

He is all set to enthral his fans with his upcoming projects Delhi-6 and Blue.

source: NDTV.com

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Review

Forget the Oscar nominations, the Golden Globe wins, the rousing reception at dozens of film festivals and the approximately $60 million grossed so far. Slumdog Millionaire is inherently a Bollywood film. I mean that in the best sense of the word.

Slumdog is unapologetically life-affirming, fantastical and totally implausible.

For years, Bollywood directors have aspired to create a Hindi Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That is a Hindi film that can shatter barriers of language, geography and sensibility and connect across the globe. Slumdog Millionaire is that film. Only its creator isn’t Indian, he's British.

Slumdog Millionaire is director Danny Boyle’s passionate love letter to the city of Mumbai. Danny and his cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle perfectly capture the grime, grotesqueness and frayed glory of our maximum city.

It’s a horrifying, Dickensian space in which children are casually orphaned, mutilated and prostituted. But it’s also a space in which an improbable love story, which has its origins in a totally Hindi film-like childhood romance, finds a happy ending.

Working from the novel by Vikas Swarup, Danny and his writer Simon Beaufoy have essentially turned the Bollywood film on its head.

So, instead of realistic emotions tethered to an unrealistic landscape and plot, we have an unrealistic plot tethered to a hyper-realistic landscape. Mantle’s camera pores over Mumbai, from its over-arching high-rises to its filthiest slums. But the story that takes place here is pure fairy tale.

So Jamal Malik, a chaiwalla at a call center, played by Dev Patel, is on the brink of winning the top prize on Kaun Banega Crorepati. The show’s arrogant and creepy host Prem Kumar, played terrifically by Anil Kapoor, has Jamal arrested because he is sure that Jamal is cheating. But as the police interrogate him, we go into a series of flashbacks and discover how and why the slumdog has all the right answers.

At one point in the film, the police inspector, who has been listening to Jamal’s story remarks "It is bizarrely plausible". Actually it’s not.

Would the Mumbai police, for all its corruption and brutality, torture a young boy only because he may have cheated on a quiz show. Would a famous talk show host publicly belittle a winning contestant only because he is poor? I don't think so.

There are many places in which the film stretches credulity to snapping point but Danny tells the his story with such a propulsive momentum that you can’t stop watching or ask 'how can this happen'. The visuals are superb and even when the plot wobbles, the acting stays on target.

Three sets of actors play the three leads - Jamal, his brother Salim and the love of his life, Latika. The child actors Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, are the lifebloods of Slumdog. They are excellent. Their section is the best part of the film.

Dev Patel has an endearing presence but a shaky accent and Frieda Pinto, playing Latika, seems more fashion model than slumdog.

Unfortunately, the two also have to exchange dialogue that might make Karan Johar cringe. At one point Jamal says to Latika, "Come away with me". She asks, "...and live on what?" to which he replies, "On love".

Eventually then, Slumdog Millionaire isn’t a great film but it is an immensely pleasurable one. As Veeru said in Sholay, "is story main emotion hai, drama hai, tragedy hai".

What more can you ask for? Slumdog Millionaire is a must-watch. I strongly recommend that you see it.

source: NDTV.com

Terrorists in Pak, Afghan a global threat: Obama

President Barack Obama has sounded a stern warning to the world on terrorists operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Speaking to State Department officials, Obama said the worsening situation in the region poses a grave threat to global security. Obama made it clear that his administration's terror policy would be reviewed and refocussed on the region.

He said: "Afghanistan and Pakistan are the central front in the America's war against terrorism and the deteriorating situation in the region poses a grave threat to the global security. It's an international challenge of the highest order. That's why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy"

President Obama has not yet said anything on India.

In Delhi, Defence Minister A K Antony said India welcomes Obama's remark on terrorists in Pakistan. "World has realised Pakistan is the epicentre of terror," he said.

PTI adds: Addressing the officials of the State Department after Richard Holbrooke was appointed Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said, "There, as in the Middle East, we must understand that we cannot deal with our problems in isolation."

Obama said his administration is committed to refocusing attention and resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to spending those resources wisely. "That's why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy," he said.

Terming it as an international challenge of the "highest order", he said, "There is no answer in Afghanistan that does not confront the Al-Qaida and Taliban bases along the border, and there will be no lasting peace unless we expand spheres of opportunity for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan."

However, Obama said the situation can't be resolved so quickly in the region.

Meanwhile, special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke said he would soon head towards the troubled region in South Asia to have a firsthand assessment of the situation on the ground.

In his acceptance speech, soon after he was appointed as the Special US Representative for the troubled region by the Secretary of State

, Hillary Clinton, Holbrooke termed Pakistan situation as extremely complex.

"I don't think I would advance our goals if I tried to discuss it today," he said yesterday in presence of the President, Barack Obama, and the Vice President, Joe Biden, besides Clinton at a function held at the State Department headquarters.

source : NDTV.com

Team Slumdog celebrates 10 Oscar nominations

Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's rag-to-riches story about the coming of age of a Mumbai slum child, has bagged 10 Oscar nominations this year. Though the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards also known as Oscars were announced in Los Angeles, the real party was on in Mumbai.

The team of Slumdog Millionaire celebrated the 10 nominations and many Bollywood, too, turned out in full support.

"They have showed us the way and we'll now follow," said Hrithik Roshan while Sonam Kapoor added, "I am overwhelmed. It's film about underdog, which India is all about. It's a story about love, it's a story about resilience."

Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit too backed the film for Oscars.

"I have heard a lot about the film. There are a lot of expectations from the film and especially after the Oscar nominations," said Madhuri.

Priety Zinta and Ness Wadia also acclaimed the film.

"I think it's a very good film," said Priety. "It is high time Indian cinema gets recognition," said Ness.

The film premiered in Mumbai on Thursday shortly after it earned 10 Oscar nominations and the talk of the premiere was the man of the moment AR Rahman, who was incidentally was not present, whose three nominations at the Oscars made not just Team Slumdog but the country proud.

"He will only go higher and higher. Wow, he is such an inspiration. What a genius," Hrithik said about Rahman.

Irrfan Khan who plays the key role of an inspector in the film said, "He (Rahman) will get back one award back. I am sure."

And if the film wins Oscars, then one can be sure that Team Slumdog and the entire country will celebrate it in a big way.

source : ibnlive.com