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Malayalam songs are my inspiration, says A R Rahman

Topic started by Jay (@ 203.124.234.164) on Mon Apr 28 01:39:40 EDT 2003.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

[Source: Times of India, April 2003]
KOCHI: Describing Kerala as the 'melodic paradise' of India, internationally acclaimed music director A R Rahman said on saturday that he was waiting for the right kind of music for Malayalam films.

“I have some plans for Malayalam films. I am waiting for the right kind of music for Kerala,” Rahman told a meet the press programme, organised by the Ernakulam Press Club. But he refused to give details.

Most of his creations had been influenced by Malayalam film songs and 'Mapilla Pattu' (Muslim songs), he said.

Sharing his experience of Bombay Dreams in which he worked with Andrew Lyod Webber, Rahman said it was a 'nice opportunity' as he gained good experience. The musical might go to New York, he said.

On any other project with Webber, Rahman said Webber was doing his own musical now. There were no idea at present. There may be some in the future. Rahman is also composing an orchestral piece for Bermingham Symphonic Orchestra.

The work will be based on 'conference of birds' a 12th century Persian poem. The album was expected to be released by next summer, he said.

Replying to a question, Rahman said world wide the music industry was facing a crisis due to piracy and internet down loading. There were no stringent laws in India to curb it, he said adding the Hindi music was going through a 'troubled' phase with the market down, piracy and bad music taking its toll.

Asked about his favourite singer, Rahman diplomatically evaded the question saying for each song a particular singer might be suitable.

Stating that classical music would always have a fan following, he said he liked both melody and fast music.

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Responses:

• From: Mumbai Ramki (@ 203.197.24.195) on: Mon Apr 28 02:11:22 EDT 2003
  
  I also feel Malayalam has more percentage of melodies though i cannot really compare the quality of melody of Malayalam and Tamil ..!!!!
  
  
• From: Prabhu (@ 203.124.130.219) on: Mon Apr 28 06:11:05 EDT 2003
  
  ARR's dad used to work with a Malayalam composer it seems(Ravindran??)
  
  
• From: k (@ 198.85.99.225) on: Mon Apr 28 08:08:50 EDT 2003
  
  I had been saying this ever since I heard "Ottagathe Kattikko". The song is very similar to "mappilla Pattu"s of kerala
  
  
• From: Saagar (@ 202.9.154.198) on: Mon Apr 28 11:08:51 EDT 2003
  
  1.His mother tongue is Malayalam.So, a little slant towards it is natural..- NO denying that there are more "MElodies" & "Pure songs- classical based " in Malayalam.
  
  2.Rahman's father RK Shekhar has composed lot of songs in Malayalam.
  
  3.RK SHekhar has worked with Baburaj ( Malayalam composer known to compose hindustani based melodies)
  
  4.Rahman has during his early days worked with Ouseppachan. It is Ouseppachhan's music that was actually marketed as a Rahman album in Tamil in his early days - "Andhi maalai". The song Andhi maalai has earlier come in a Malayalam movie starring Jayaram called Pookkalam Varavayee with music by Ouseppachan...Ouseppachan, a violinist has payed for several musicians including Raaja before becoming an indepenmdent music director.
  
  
• From: Fan (@ 65.176.169.225) on: Mon Apr 28 12:40:50 EDT 2003
  
  RK Sekar was assistant to three of the most famous MDs - Devarajan, Salil Chowhdry and MK Arjunan. I have 3 songs of RK Sekar, they are very classy, in fact one song has a prelude somehwat like IR's classic song Poovizhi Vasalil Yaaradi Vandhadhu. IR used to play for RKS. Another fact, Rahman is only half mallu (I think Mother is mallu) and he has close contact with MK Arjunan, whose songs are superlatively melodiosuly and of a different feel from all composers I've heard - pls enjoy PICNIC movie at www.musicindiaonline.com - all songs are classics especially MAALE, MAALE; ODI POGUM VASANTHA KAALAMEY. Devarajan had a wider range than most in Malayalm. Baburaj was also very stron in melody. Of course Salil was the king of orchestration and his special bengali songs sounded more mallu than bengali! But, one complaint about mallus is that they have no any compilation release of works of IR or MSV, who both gave generously to the mallu films. Even SankarGanesh gave some special stuff there
  
  
• From: Kalpana (@ 203.94.214.91) on: Mon Apr 28 13:22:17 EDT 2003
  
  There was an one hour program on Kairali TV about A R Rahman.I think it was on the malayali new year day.The questions were asked in english and they were answered in english by ARR.If he is a mallu,why he didn't talk in malayalam ?.
  
  
• From: sindu (@ 203.94.228.12) on: Mon Apr 28 13:37:24 EDT 2003
  
  ARR that way one cannot make out what he is actually from the way he talks.
  He speaks neither English nor Tamil fluently or rather he speaks very less,only his music speaks for all
  
  
• From: Fan (@ 65.176.169.160) on: Mon Apr 28 20:03:11 EDT 2003
  
  sindu, that is true of children educated in a cosmo city like chennai in big schools like don bosco, mcc etc.. generally, they speak in english and so enough exposure to the crowd that speak tamil is limited. today' kids are even more shy to speak their own native tongue. english comes naturally and intuitively to the kids, maybe it is in the genes ;--)
  
  
• From: An (@ 195.217.141.65) on: Tue Apr 29 05:03:43 EDT 2003
  
  ARR is a Tamilian - Both his Parents are Tamil, not Malayalam. That was a rumour passed around in the past. He speaks both Tamil and English fluently, but prefers to talk very little, in interviews. As Sindhu said, he prefers his music to speak.....
  
  Devarajan is a very talented MD, who did the famous song, KANNUKU NOORU NILAVU in Shanmukapriya. He was the MD for the great movie, Vedham Pudidhu.
  
  IMO, in Chennai, the children are muliti-lingual, speaking Tamil, English, Hindi and perhaps other regional languages very fluently. This is what I noticed from my trip there are my meeting with school children. This is actually a great thing, as in the West, language learning is a rare thing, where kids rarely speak their mother tongue, let alone other languages. I would say that Indians, in India have the best natural linguistic capabilities, considering the complexity of the Indian languages!
  
  
• From: jibi (@ 163.238.34.132) on: Tue Apr 29 09:37:59 EDT 2003
  
  sorry ann arr is not tamilian ..he is a mallu ..he was born in chennei thats wht i heard ..first of all he was hindu ..his real name was dileep and still singer sujatha calls him dileep ...his father r.k shekar was a md in mal ..and in tht time most of the recordings were done in studios in chennei ..bec no studios in kerala .
  
  
• From: An (@ 195.217.141.65) on: Tue Apr 29 10:01:53 EDT 2003
  
  jibi - yes, his Dad worked on Mallu films, but that doesn't make him Mallu. The MD Shyaam Joseph also worked on Mallu films throughout his career, with only a few Tamil movies, but he's a pure Tamilian.
  
  No one calls ARR Dilip nowadays, as he and his family converted from Hinduism to Islam many years ago.
  
  Read his profile by sony music here:
  
  http://www.arrahman.com/profile.html
  
  
• From: An (@ 195.217.141.65) on: Tue Apr 29 10:03:44 EDT 2003
  
  You can also read is history on:
  
  www.rahmanonline.com/
  
  
• From: Saagar (@ 202.9.152.197) on: Tue Apr 29 10:20:58 EDT 2003
  
  Rahman is a Mallu, He has married a Mallu. He married Mallu actor Rahman's wife's sister (in Tamil he is known as Raghuman - Pudhu Pudhu arthangal - also a malayali).
  
  As far as not speaking in Mal, Fan has summed up... & being brought up in Chennai many Mallu's don't know Malayalam well.. even common people...& u end up making a fun of yourself in TV interviews especially in a state like Kerala where people look into these nuances & ridicule a mallu who cannot speak in mal.
  
  
• From: Kalpana (@ 203.94.233.42) on: Tue Apr 29 12:29:22 EDT 2003
  
  So what if he is married to a mallu ? Actor Jayaram is married to a nair.So does that make him a nair and not a pattar which he is ?.People who are born and brought up in US are able to understand their respective language even if they are not able to speak.And tamil and malayalam being so close to each other,assuming he is born to mallu parents and brought up in chennai where there are many mallus,at least he could understand if the questions are asked in malayalam.Otherwise why a one hour malayalam program had a seperate q/a segment in english ? ARR not even being able to understand malayalam which is supposed to be his mother tongue just doesn't make any sense.
  
  
• From: An (@ 195.217.141.65) on: Wed Apr 30 03:36:42 EDT 2003
  
  Saagar: RUBBISH
  
  ARR's wife, Saira is not Mallu! She's of Gujarati Muslim origin, with mother tongue KACCHI. Yes, ARR's brother in law may be Mallu, but he married Saira's sister for being a Muslim, not for being a Mallu!
  
  ARR is not MALAYALAM - I have confirmed this myself - go to ASKGOPS in www.rahmanonline.com
  
  He will confirm this for you!
  
  
• From: Sagay (@ 61.11.88.3) on: Wed Apr 30 04:28:49 EDT 2003
  
  I don't know why u people are so bothered about the origin of A R Rehman than his compositions. An Artist is an Artist, wherever he is born. We have other things to be discussed on him rather than wasting our time on his mother-tongue and father-tongue...
  
  
• From: geeth (@ 195.39.134.84) on: Wed Apr 30 05:41:58 EDT 2003
  
  An, you are confusing Devarajan with Devendran.
  Deverajan is a legend in Malayalam film world.
  Devendran did the music for vedam pudhidhu.
  
  
• From: Prabhu (@ 203.124.130.219) on: Wed Apr 30 06:49:30 EDT 2003
  
  Who cares whether ARR is a Malayalee or from Malawi? I wouldnt mind if he borrows a bit from mallu tradition of music and sticks to melodies.
  
  After years of listening to S.Janaki, Chithra, Sujatha, Yesudas, Swarnalatha, Jolly, Jayachandran, Unni Menon, Jency, does it really matter?
  
  
• From: An (@ 195.217.141.65) on: Wed Apr 30 08:26:04 EDT 2003
  
  geeth: I was under the impresion they were one and the same. Obviously I was wrong! Thanks for the enlightenment. :)
  
  Prabhu & Sagay: What U say is very true. I was just refuting the misnomers alleged by Saagar! I'd prefer the facts to be plain and not assumptions made by people.
  
  
• From: S.ViIjai Ananth (@ 192.228.143.41) on: Wed Apr 30 09:17:56 EDT 2003
  
  Well, Im a die hard fan of Rahman and i know that he is a Tamilian of Mudaliar clan by birth. people mistook him for a Malayali becaause his dad worked extensively in Malayalam films and under many malayalam film music directors. Both his parents are of Tamil origin.Anyway, i dont understand what's the point in arguing whether he is a Malayali or Tamilian. he is a down-to-earth extraordinary human being, that i know!
  
  
• From: dinesh (@ 210.186.42.115) on: Wed Apr 30 09:53:01 EDT 2003
  
  A.R.Rahman is Tamil-Muslim u guys...He was a TAMIL - HINDU...thats it....no malayali bussines in there,his dad just worked with malayalam md's only...
  
  

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