A R Rahman scored a double triumph at the Grammy Awards in LA, scooping two early honours for his music from Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The composer won his first Grammy in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category, before his Jai Ho won in the best motion picture song category moments later. ‘‘This is insane, God is great again,’’ Rahman said as he accepted his second award on Sunday night.
His rivals in soundtrack category included Steve Jordan for ‘Cadillac Records,’ Quentin Tarantino for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, and producers of ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’. In best song category, Rahman beat Bruce Springsteen for his song ‘The Wrestler,’ from Oscar-nominated movie of the same name. Post his Grammy glory and Oscar success, A R Rahman has been a busy man. Jai Ho’s success has clearly opened up new vistas in the 36-year-old musicians career. His office is now regularly flooded with calls from producers and directors wanting to sign him up. ‘‘I am selective about the films I want to do,’’ said Rahman last week after Na Na, the track from his Hollywood film ‘Couple’s Retreat’, was shortlisted for the Oscars this year. ‘‘I have been approached for quite a few films but I am not talking about them yet.
Slumdog Millionaire worked because it is a song of hope,’’ he said.
Back home he is working on Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ravan’ starring Aishwarya
and Abhishek Bachchan and the big budget sci-fi film, ‘Enthiran’ starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya.
He is also committed to Ashok Amritraj’s ‘Street Dancing’.
‘‘Other things are happening globally, but I am not at liberty to tell you the details as yet,’’ he said after winning the Padma Bhushan.
It has been a long journey from his humble origins as a 11-year-old schoolboy in Chennai, hopping from
one studio to another to do the bidding of composers who could find no one else to make the keyboard come alive like him.
Given a break in tinsel town by director Mani Ratnam in 1991 to score the music for ‘Roja’, young Rahman, went on to
become a composer whose appeal cut across linguistic barriers. ‘‘One of Rahman’s greatest achievements is that his
songs never shied of pushing the aural boundary,’’ says director K Balachander.
Awards now seem to have a way of chasing the young musician. These include four national awards, including one on his debut. Career highlights also include composing for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Bombay Dreams’ and scoring for the stage production of ‘Lord of the Rings’. He also composed the music for ‘Warriors of Heaven and Earth’, a Chinese film, while his songs in the Tamil film ‘Muthu’ took his compositions to Japan. His theme music for ‘Bombay’ was recommended as ‘One of the 100 albums to listen before you die’ by Time magazine.
His rivals in soundtrack category included Steve Jordan for ‘Cadillac Records,’ Quentin Tarantino for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, and producers of ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’. In best song category, Rahman beat Bruce Springsteen for his song ‘The Wrestler,’ from Oscar-nominated movie of the same name. Post his Grammy glory and Oscar success, A R Rahman has been a busy man. Jai Ho’s success has clearly opened up new vistas in the 36-year-old musicians career. His office is now regularly flooded with calls from producers and directors wanting to sign him up. ‘‘I am selective about the films I want to do,’’ said Rahman last week after Na Na, the track from his Hollywood film ‘Couple’s Retreat’, was shortlisted for the Oscars this year. ‘‘I have been approached for quite a few films but I am not talking about them yet.
Slumdog Millionaire worked because it is a song of hope,’’ he said.
Back home he is working on Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ravan’ starring Aishwarya
and Abhishek Bachchan and the big budget sci-fi film, ‘Enthiran’ starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya.
He is also committed to Ashok Amritraj’s ‘Street Dancing’.
‘‘Other things are happening globally, but I am not at liberty to tell you the details as yet,’’ he said after winning the Padma Bhushan.
It has been a long journey from his humble origins as a 11-year-old schoolboy in Chennai, hopping from
one studio to another to do the bidding of composers who could find no one else to make the keyboard come alive like him.
Given a break in tinsel town by director Mani Ratnam in 1991 to score the music for ‘Roja’, young Rahman, went on to
become a composer whose appeal cut across linguistic barriers. ‘‘One of Rahman’s greatest achievements is that his
songs never shied of pushing the aural boundary,’’ says director K Balachander.
Awards now seem to have a way of chasing the young musician. These include four national awards, including one on his debut. Career highlights also include composing for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Bombay Dreams’ and scoring for the stage production of ‘Lord of the Rings’. He also composed the music for ‘Warriors of Heaven and Earth’, a Chinese film, while his songs in the Tamil film ‘Muthu’ took his compositions to Japan. His theme music for ‘Bombay’ was recommended as ‘One of the 100 albums to listen before you die’ by Time magazine.