Assistant Editor

 

 It’s windy in the hilly environs of the Film City helipad at Goregaon. Director Imtiaz Ali is shooting a promotional song for his road movie Highway. A rustic truck shop cum Punjabi dhaba, with all the accompanying assortments greets the eye. A full-bodied folk song is playing in the background. You think it’s Gurdas Maan or Hans Raj Hans doing their thing but you’re pleasantly surprised as you recognise the voice. It’s none other than the maestro from Madras, AR Rahman, going great guns like he was born in Ludhiana. And the best thing is that da man is in the da house, wearing black aviators and a designer leather jacket, grooving to the tune like some Funjabi rapper from the London underground scene. Make some noise for MC Rahman peeps! It’s fun to watch him let down his hair. Mention that to him and he grins. “It’s not new but thanks to Imtiaz I’m jiving to bhangra grooves. My sense of adventure took over – I thought, just do it.” 

 

Ask him about how he got the diction down pat and he reveals, “Irshad explained the lyrics and made sure I was saying them right too. He comes up with great imagery,” he says. Admirably, he’s hit the spots in this Punjabi song. He says he doesn’t believe in the North-South divide. “Some people have this thing about who is superior, who is inferior. I don’t have any such prejudices. For me, India is one. That’s one of the reasons I like singing in other languages, listening to other languages. And once you start respecting something you absorb it easily.”  The film’s version of Pathaka guddi has been sung by folk sensation Nooran Sisters (Jyoti and Sultana). “I saw them on Soundtripping. Sneha (Khanwilkar) discovered them. The MTV guys showed me the segment and I immediately contacted Imtiaz.” The song initially was just in his voice but sounded, ‘a bit aggressive’ for the film.  “So we recorded it in their voices for the version in the film. They sang it beautifully and captured the soul of the lyrics. My version is for the promotional video and perhaps the end credits.”

 

His favourite song from Highway is Implosive silence sung by newbie Jonita Gandhi. Another fresh voice Shewta Pandit, who has been singing in his shows, is introduced too. Rahman does have a yen for new, untried voices. One remembers him using Bosnian singer Alma Ferovic, whom he discovered while composing the musical adaptation of Lord Of The Rings in Rockstar. Then arranger Clinton Cerejo, whom we don’t hear in Mumbai films, has sung some memorable songs for him down South. Rahman says both the singers have the ability to light up a piece. He admits his passion for new voices but admits that the scene is cluttered now. “There are so many fresh voices that you don’t know who’s singing what. I’m particular that the voice should have a strong character,” he says adding, “It’s important to have time when you experiment with new voices. Because things can go wrong and you need to go back to the drawing board and straighten things out. People have this perception when they come to me that I can do things in a jiffy, which I can’t. I recently refused a movie because they were giving me just three months for the music.”

 

 He says he finds it difficult to multitask, though paradoxically technology has made it easier than before. “I can listen to a recording via videoconferencing and tweak it from 15,000 kilometers. Skype also keeps you in sync with people across the globe. Also, I’ve an amazing team. They are relentless. They have matchless passion. I wouldn’t be able to achieve so much without them.”I tell him he enjoys a sort of reverence among composers, in that he’s gone beyond envy. “I hope it’s not true as a sense of competition always puts you on your feet. It’s lovely to see the younger generation coming up with great stuff.” He’s said to have inspired a revolution among the younger lot and an Amit Trivedi or a Sneha Khanwilkar can be said to be offshoots of the ARR movement. He shrugs off the compliments. “They have their own sound, I like what they do but it’s also important to have that classic film melody in your repertoire. That’s missing nowadays, which is sad. Like something Laxminkant-Pyarelal employed or what Nadeem-Shravan did. The bread and butter songs.” RD Burman’s off-the-beaten-track approach balanced out the uniformity shown by other composers  in ’70s and ’80s. “Now everything has become westernised. I’d love to hear Indian melody. Ajay-Atul have it, especially in their Marathi songs as in Apsara. You can do different stuff but not always. One should retain one’s roots.” 

 

He explains that’s why he was happy doing Raanjhanaa, “I played with UP folk tunes and utilised tabla, dholak and shehnai, in essence bringing in the Benarasi essence which had been missing from film music of late.” He reiterates the importance of getting on the same page as the lyricist. “Each lyricist brings his own brand of inspiration. The initial cues for Rang De Basanti were written in a week because Prasoon (Joshi) and I instantly connected. For Rockstar, Irshad and I worked for three days to get the initial hooks.” He credits Irshad for his support during Raanjhanaa as well. “Irshad had three ideas for the first song. Then he came up with just one thought – Tum tak. I liked it instantly and worked around it.” Music became a character in the Raanjhanaa. He also incorporated the tunes in the background score. He says he was just following ‘an old tradition’. “When you put the tunes in the background the audience subliminally connects to it. It makes the film and the characters memorable. Shankar-Jaikishan did it often.” 

 

Rahman was known as the young kid gone wild with the synthesizer at one time and has progressed to being a conductor for 200 piece orchestras. He explains it as a natural progression. “Synthesizer was just a tool. I wanted to experience new sounds and a single tool allowed me to do just that. Music is about writing. It’s easier to have a setup where you can listen to different instruments at one go. It’s like a drawing board.” Rahman reveals his earlier obsession with the synthesizer has helped him conquer Hollywood as well. “There you have to temp everything and show them. Once they approve you get a real orchestra and finish everything in a day or two.” He loves to work with London and LA symphony orchestras.  “It all depends on the film’s budget. If it’s big we go to Paris or London or LA. If it’s small we go to Prague.” 

 

From folk to world music, he’s indeed come a long way. He insists the formula is dead easy. “I try to have sounds which are friendly to the ear. If the tune is strong and the lyrics are strong then the common man doesn’t care about the orchestration. I trust my instincts. I believe whatever I like people will like, whether it’s a masala song or a Sufi number. That’s my yardstick. It’s like a mother judging her child. When a mother doesn’t like certain things about her child, chances are others won’t either. So I throw out tunes that don’t turn out well. Fixing takes more time than doing something new. It’s better to start from scratch.”

 

 I take him back to his salad days, when he was a young acolyte of melody king Illaiyaraja. He smiles and says he was a completely different person then. “My mindset was different. I was a complex person. The motivation to enjoy the journey of life was never there. I was living in a rut. All that changed when I did my first independent film, where I started interacting with different filmmakers, especially Mani Ratnam. I’m a case study of sorts. Never judge your present state; there are better things around the corner. Keep your faith.” He advises the young guns to take it easy. “If you’re just in a shell and constantly working, it’s like withdrawing money from the bank and not investing anything back. Life teaches you to regenerate and constantly replenish your inspiration. You should pay heed to that.”

 

Right now he’s busy straddling two worlds – the East and the West, though it took him time to come to term with different sensibilities. “Out in the West, they need instant results. It’s stressful but an exciting rise at the same time. I’m an Academy member; I get to see all the movies, attend promotional dinners, screenings... it’s a whole new life.  Here I’m constantly working on five things at the same time. There I can do only one thing at a time because I don’t have a big set up. I can be relaxed. It’s good to see one brown skin among the white and black folk. I’m kind of a novelty for them. A nice duality is happening.”  He’s part of the Grammy’s board as well. “The Grammy covers everything from classical jazz to mainstream pop. You suddenly bump into Usher or Paul McCartney. It feels unreal sometimes.” Being on first name terms with world leaders is disorienting as well. “I keep getting White House Christmas cards. This year was something different. You pull it out and up came a miniature of the White House. The Obamas have two dogs and it had footprints of the dogs too.”  He’s managed to remain unaffected by the hoopla. “I try to be normal when I’m not working. Back in LA, I drive, watch movies and attend concerts sometimes. Doing stuff which I have never done before is a good thing. Like I attended Jodie Foster’s dinner, then a private screening of Wadjda (a film by first female Iraqi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour), a Cohen brothers do, Disney’s 90th anniversary celebrations… It helps to interact with creative people from different fields. They broaden your approach. I also do a bit of photography to relax.”

 

Marriage and fatherhood too have helped him stay grounded. “For the past 15 years it’s been a learning experience. Rather than taking it for granted I’ve become more grateful to my family for their love and support.” Waxing philosophical, he explains his take on life. “Each day if you remember death, you will stay normal. All the dancing is only till we die. Everything comes to a halt. This is the universal truth and will keep you grounded. Anybody who is jumping around has to just remember that and it will instantly make you feel normal. Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. People adored him and one day he just falls flat and dies. He didn’t carry anything with him. Be nice to people as much as you can.”

 

He’s opened up a music school for talented kids. A part of him wants to give it all up and teach. “You hear kids playing some incredible music as you pass by each room. Someone would be on a violin, another on the piano. There would be Hindustani classical, or Sufi music being played in other rooms. It’s inspiring. You want to write a symphony piece for the kids but I simply don’t have the time. I want to spend time in my school more often.” He also wants to sit besides the sea and sing to the waves one day. “Music is such an ocean that a lifetime isn’t enough. I feel like running away sometimes and immersing myself and enjoying it for its own sake. What brings me most joy is the morning riyaaz, it makes me start the day on a bright note.”

 

The Sufi in him has partnered with his business instincts to turn producer. Rahman would be announcing a Hindi film soon, a coming of age love story helmed by a budding director. “I was compelled to become a producer. After 20 years in business, your mind expands. You come across different forms of music but in films you work along the same song structure. Not that it’s wrong but it’s good to experiment, be more adventurous.  I can’t ask my producers to experiment on my behalf. So I want to make films, which will showcase my music philosophy.” 

 

We are waiting with bated breath, that’s for sure!