MEMORIES ▶️▶️ 🎼 AR RAHMAN 🎼

[MysteRy]

for me ARR is an emotion sis
nice post sis

[MysteRy]

I met Dileep for the first time when he’d come to Bombay to record a jingle. At that time, he told me he’d listened to my ghazals and that he wanted me to sing a song for his first film with Mani Ratnam. I knew Mani sir’s work and liked the track that Dileep played for me. I came down to Madras and recorded the song at his studio. I usually write my lyrics in Devanagiri and sing the song. I remember recording my song for Roja vividly; lyricist Vairamuthu sir was sitting next to me and reciting the lyrics to me. When I wrote ‘Tamizha Tamizha’ in Devanagiri, he was scandalised! “Ennaya idhu, Tamizha Tamizha solrenga… ivar Hindi la ezhudaraar,”he remarked. But then, things worked out fine and the song came out beautifully.

When I saw the song finally, I was really disappointed. It came during the end credits, and everyone was walking out of the theatre when it was playing out. The most interesting thing is that the lyrics actually lend itself to a marching song, but the tune was like a lullaby. That was Rahman’s touch.



- HariHaran

[MysteRy]

We had a very intellectual discussion while creating " Anbendra mazhiyile" . It's about a girl who basically says she finds God appealing. AR was interested in the concept and wanted to catch it in the music. he wanted to create a prayer song everyone could sing. I collected some Gregorian chants and showed it to him, but he didn't think the audience would like it. But he took the sheer scale of them and set it to an Indian raga, not wanting to do a typical church song . It was totally different. He gave it a feel that made it sound like it was coming from deep European valley . It was totally AR.

- RAJEEV MENON

[MysteRy]

"Very few people know that 'Guzarish' (Ghajini) was originally sung by me few years ago. Later, the lyrics were changed and since I was in US then – my wife was due to deliver there – Rahman re-recorded it with Javed Ali. By the time I returned, the song had already been shot. But Rahman realised he'd done something wrong, so he sat me down and felt bad, and hoped I'd understand. He didn't have to do it, but that made me respect him all the more. What's more is that he retained my humming in the song . That's Rahman..

- Sonu Nigam

[சாக்ரடீஸ்]

Alea Mam sema post mam Na mostly hindi songs-ae kekamaten rombo kammi ipovarai paatha 10 to 15 songs tha hindi la keturupen athula oru song than intha Guzarish Song my most fav song ... UC la kuda kekalam nu eduthuvechiruken. Ipo neenga pota intha post pakum bothu already ARR sir mela thani respect iruku but inum athiga paduthiruku super post mam. Thanks for sharing this info mam 

[MysteRy]

Alea Mam sema post mam Na mostly hindi songs-ae kekamaten rombo kammi ipovarai paatha 10 to 15 songs tha hindi la keturupen athula oru song than intha Guzarish Song my most fav song ... UC la kuda kekalam nu eduthuvechiruken. Ipo neenga pota intha post pakum bothu already ARR sir mela thani respect iruku but inum athiga paduthiruku super post mam. Thanks for sharing this info mam 

[MysteRy]

Sometimes, you’re tempted to do a lot of orchestration for a simple melody. Some other directors that I’ve worked with tell me that there’s no BGM, add something more. But with Mani, I can do what I like. ‘Vellai Pookal’ from Kannathil Muthamittal, with just a guitar and a voice, is one example. Even ‘Vaan’ from Kaatru Veliyidai was basically just a piano and voice.

There’s a Thirukkural that says: ‘If you’re with learned people, you also become learned’. It works that way with Manirathnam.

[MysteRy]

The story starts in 1992, with the release of the film Roja in Tamil. I was such an avid fan of Mani Rathnam after Nayakan that I had made the brave attempt of seeing Dalapathy in Tamil, a language that was way beyond my comprehension. My attempt did not go unrewarded and I was completely taken in by the manner of story-telling of Mani Rathnam. I had also become an avid fan of Illayaraja, whose many Tamil cassettes I bought and heard again and again.

So when I heard that a Mani Rathnam film called Roja was being screened, I went immediately to Aurora, a theatre at King’s Circle. I was a little disappointed that Mani Rathnam’s usual music composer, Illayraja, had been replaced by a newcomer called Rahman. My doubts about A. R. Rahman were razed to the ground the moment I heard the first note of the background score play. This sound was BIG… and it was definitely different. Not just different, it was drastically different. Then the first song came – ‘Chinna Chinna Asai’.

The effect of the song, together with Mani Rathnam’s visualisation, Santosh Sivan’s brilliant cinematography, and Rahman’s music was pure alchemy. And how could one forget the background score of the movie? I was so hypnotised by the movie’s background score that I went back to Aurora again the following week, just to hear the background score. I think it must have been the first (and perhaps the only) instance where a Marathi youth went twice for a Tamil film without subtitles to a theatre!

- Kausal Inamdar (Singer and composer )

[MysteRy]

“Whenever the plane takes off, I think this would be my last journey of life.” He went further to describe how music and spirituality go hand in hand. “You cannot take one out of the other. Music lets you look inside within you. It takes you on such a high, far away from this material world, and moreover, it also takes you nearer to God. You feel the purification that takes place within you while listening to music. Maybe this is the reason why music is sometimes called an integral part of devotion – of Dhikr and Ibaadat.”

-AR Rahman

[MysteRy]

For the film Sangamam, our Master MSV Sir was involved. We are all from his school of music. He has a lot of love for me, and he was at the recording session for that film. Hariharan sir sang the initial bit and left. Rahman sir brought 40 rhythms and mixed them. He told me to get all the instruments I possessed for this song. When I started from home with all the instruments, the neighbors asked if I was moving to another house.

I brought all the instruments in five auto rickshaws. I replied, “No, Rahman sir had called for a recording. He instructed me to get all the instruments to try something new.”

Rubob, Sauce, Mandolin, Utilin, Basukin

We mixed all six instruments into the rhythms to make it perfect, and the outcome was brilliant.

- Santoor Seenu

[MysteRy]

Before Kadhal Desam, AR got me an instrument from Kuwait called the Oud. I haven’t seen that instrument with anyone in India. No one has even used it before. These are available only in Arabic countries, and they use it for the title music there.

He gave it to me and told me to check if I could get some sound out of it. I tried hard to get the “Sa” and went on till “Pa” (in Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa). He told me, “This is enough.” Then he called me and uttered, “Sa Ga Ma Pa Pa Ma…” (Mustapha song’s notations). He finished it in Sa Ga Ma Pa. He said, “Take” in those lower five notes.

It was the first time this instrument, the oud, was used in India, and it was used by him, and I played it. It’s a wonderful song

- Santoor Seenu

[MysteRy]

Hit music is important for a mainstream film. It helps you get a good opening. And as an artist, I am happy when people say this is the highest selling album. I am really happy about it because we worked so hard on it – not only me, but the whole team.”

“There was so much stuff in Bose, so much energy and thought. But the producers didn’t release it properly and it suffered a great deal.”

“I went to a restaurant in San Francisco. This Iranian lady came to me and said: ‘You are AR Rahman.’ I said yes. She said: ‘Oh we love your Zikr in Bose. It’s so famous in Iran.’ I never expected that.”

Delayed recognition is not new to Rahman, for each release of his goes through a familiar two-step programme: (a) derisive dismissal, followed by (b) inevitable capitulation after multiple listens, reinforcing the urban legend that His Songs Take Time To Grow On You. Rahman, at first, gets defensive. “When we do a song, the director listens to it thousands of times, and only when everyone likes it, we go ahead.” The song goes through a filter. There’s already some kind of assurance there. “So when people react negatively, we have to wait for three weeks, because we know that the song works (or doesn’t work).”

But Rahman understands. After all, he’s been through the same cycle with that other King of Pop. “I used to wait for Michael Jackson’s albums, and the very first time, I used to say: Oh, I don’t like any of the songs.” Three days later, he’d find that a song was actually good. Then he’d watch the videos, and yet another one would become an earworm. Finally, all the songs would make it to the list. “Because so much hard work goes into an album, and when something is new, you can’t judge it.”

[MysteRy]

The first time I met Rahman Sir was during the “Muthu” film. Myself, Rahman Sir, Director K.S. Ravikumar, Rajni Sir, Thenappan, and Vairamuthu went to Cochin and stayed in a hotel. Rahman Sir was in the adjacent room. Rajni Sir came just for the music composing and has a lot of love for Rahman Sir.

We four members would stay in one room, and Rahman Sir would stay alone in another. He would participate in some discussions during the day, and when we were asleep at night, he used to play some sounds on his keyboard. I used to sneak out silently to hear them. The next day, he would play something and show it to everyone. I didn’t have any knowledge of charanam or pallavi, but our director had a feel for it. When Rajni Sir used to ask, “Enna pa. What is this? What is that?” Rahman Sir would answer, “Don’t worry. Please wait, and everything will come out fine.”

Everyone knows how great a hit “Muthu” was. From that time, my fear of Rahman Sir started to reduce as he behaved very simply all the time.

Once, when I went to the studio at night, I saw Director Subhash Ghai sleeping in a corner, and in another corner was Director Shankar. Everyone was sleeping in a corner, and I felt, “OMG. I have come to a very big place. I need to be careful.” Rahman Sir used to keep working late into the night with his tunes. I had many experiences with Rahman Sir while working on “Muthu.”

- Ramesh kanna

[MysteRy]

One day during a chorus session, Rahman said, “You, the guy without spectacles, you stay there, others come out”.

That was me. I know he is going to ask me to sing. I thought this is the opportunity and I have to prove myself else pack my bags and go back to studies. He asked to sing a sad alaap, I was singing and he was guiding by playing the chords. He wanted more cry in the alaap and I just forgot myself and started singing continuously, closing my eyes. After a while, I opened my eyes to see everyone laughing. Rahman had already standing next to me and said “Good Job. You did well”.

Next day, he asked me to come to the studio for a track. He said he is going to try something and also said if it works well, he will use it. That was the song for the movie star and the song is “Nendhukittaen Nendhukittaen”. I was nervous but Rahman has a special capability. He knows what technique to use to extract the work from the singers. He sets the right mood to each singer. He started cutting jokes with me and made me really comfortable before recording the song. It took me 45 minutes to complete the song. After the recording, he said, it’s good, let’s see, if it works out, we will use it. This is how I got my first break with Rahman.

- Karthik

[MysteRy]

I had few experiences with Rahman Sir while working on “Muthu.”

One song was supposed to be shot in Mysore. They were supposed to give me the song, and I was supposed to take it to Mysore. The director told me to come on the next flight. That same night, when I went to Rahman Sir, he told me to wait. I was sitting there, and he was doing something. He went upstairs after 1 AM for Namaz. He didn’t return for about 90 minutes, so I slept on the nearby sofa. Rahman Sir, having composed the song, made everything ready and told his people to give it to me before 4 AM. Suddenly, I woke up and saw no one in the studio, and I was afraid the director would scold me for getting it late.

I was fear-struck, thinking the crew would scold me if I didn’t get the song the next day. To my utter surprise, I saw Rahman Sir sleeping just below me. I had to confirm if it was really Rahman Sir. It was a great shock to me. Slowly and stealthily, I went and opened the door, and a person named Sukumar told me that everything was ready and I could leave.

- Ramesh Kanna