Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

Rahman's AVMAX interview....

Topic started by reporter (@ 209.197.174.19) on Fri Mar 16 00:09:39 EST 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi everybody. I have taken the pain of typing up this very long and very good interview of Rahman's that came on AVMAX on their first ever issue this month. It's a cover story(interview) on Rahman and he has given some really great answers. Read the interview!

---

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: comment (@ 63.225.172.8) on: Fri Mar 16 12:43:39 EST 2001
  
  uv2... i was talking about his hair :)
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 63.76.3.20) on: Fri Mar 16 12:45:40 EST 2001
  
  Comment,
  Yaar thaan vesham podalai.
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 63.76.3.20) on: Fri Mar 16 12:46:41 EST 2001
  
  comment,
  :-))) Hair enga vanthuchu inbetween music
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 63.76.3.20) on: Fri Mar 16 12:46:58 EST 2001
  
  comment,
  :-))) Hair enga vanthuchu inbetween music. Mayir ezhayil thapichuteenga
  
  
• From: Observer (@ 144.92.164.198) on: Fri Mar 16 13:01:56 EST 2001
  
  Defending ARR = castigating IR - that is the trend here.
  
  Impartial music fan = castigate IR, another custom out here. Agreed that many IR fans are biased but why blame IR for this?
  
  We should have seen the reaction of the so-called impartial souls had ARR made snide remarks against MSV. IR never did that when he took over from MSV.
  
  Finally, IR didn't become famous either because of his words or because of a samiyar vesham but because of his music alone.
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 63.89.188.189) on: Fri Mar 16 13:03:12 EST 2001
  
  Reporter,
  Thanks for taking the pains in recreating the interview. Neels, you've addressed my only problem with ARR.
  
  
• From: doubter (@ 208.142.210.36) on: Fri Mar 16 13:10:17 EST 2001
  
  Trend
  
  The question to ARR was about using Udit in TFM. ARR himself said that 'Udit was my Khalid to TFM'. And immediately says people forgive diction-murder if tune is good. So obviously people here refers to tamils.
  
  Moreover, he could not have said the same about Hindi listeners because he has never 'experimented' hard-core tamil voices in HFM. Has he? Can you tell me one song in which he has done that?
  
  Until then I will maintain my opinion that ARR thinks that a tamilian is an 'iLichchavaayan'. He deserves only this. But in HFM, use proper Hindi singers who can sing Hindi properly.
  
  
• From: Trend (@ 216.68.113.227) on: Fri Mar 16 13:27:52 EST 2001
  
  doubter,
  
  "diction-murder"
  If you trying to quote someone use exact words or words of the same degree.Rahman hasn't used murder in his interview.I searched the whole interview.
  
  I dont know what do you mean by Hard-core tamil voices!Do you think he should make Malaysia Vasudevan sing in Hindi?
  Srinivas is a singer who sang only in Tamil first.Rahman made him sing in Earth 1947.
  In Rahman's music,more or less the singers he is using in Tamil he has used them in Hindi too.
  Unnikrishnan sings in Tamil but not in hindi similarly Alka Yagnik sings in Hindi but doesn't sing in Tamil.
  Few of my Hindi friends complained about Srinivas' pronounciation in Earth.
  
  I think in Hindi he goes for conventional choices mostly b'cos he doesn't know Hindi and its diction.So he naturally wouldn't experiment.
  He is learning Hindi.So very soon we can expect a Hindi kolai too.
  
  About your earlier reference to P.Kuppuswamy and Kunjaramma.Correct me if I'm wrong,P K hasn't sung a song for ARR and he has used Kunjaramma very sparingly(couple of songs) when there was a special need of some sort.
  
  
• From: Fliflo (@ 130.203.161.247) on: Fri Mar 16 13:41:17 EST 2001
  
  Trend;
  
  "I think HJ has his unique style"
  
  FYI, I did not make a this claim...When HJ released "Minnale" audio magazines like kumudam, vikatan, indiainfo, chennaionline (i don't remember more) etc..etc..published "Varukiraar xerox copy of ARR". Many would accept that. Somewhere I read ARR was also angry on HJ..
  Probably, all these new guys including HJ learnt the sound creating technique and adopting more fluently in their films...Hence ARR's uniqueness is gone...
  
  "Rahman is Rahman". I mean to say "Rahman-1992 is not Rahman-2001". The hype was different, the enthoo was different, the situation was different..expectation was different.. Present day Rahman is repetitive, wore out, normal, fearsome and a posing guy (you know by reading his interviews..no consitentcy in his interviews)
  
  "Pottu Thaakunnga"
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 166.90.248.158) on: Fri Mar 16 13:46:51 EST 2001
  
  HJ was the one who did rythm program for Mustafa Mustafa. That is why he used the same kind of rythm for minnale. (Source - Close associate of HJ) ARR has nothing to claim over this, since it was HJ rythm. Now HJ has come out of ARR's shadow and he is doing music. I don't see why ARR has to get angry with this, unless he is jealous?.
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 63.76.3.20) on: Fri Mar 16 13:53:06 EST 2001
  
  ARR followed 'A' style,
  now HJ, YSR.....all follow that 'A' style.
  ARR has not invented any new style or HJ, YSR are not neither copying ARR's tyle(since it was not his style completely). So it is a common source, and now everyone has access to it. ARR can take credit for using this style first in TFM...that is all...he did not create it.
  
  
• From: Trend (@ 216.68.113.227) on: Fri Mar 16 13:59:42 EST 2001
  
  Fliflo,
  
  "Somewhere I read ARR was also angry on HJ"
  I'm pretty sure this is not true at all.But if you point me to the source and if the source is credible I will change my opinion.
  
  "The hype was different, the enthoo was different, the situation was different..expectation was different.. Present day Rahman is repetitive, wore out, normal, fearsome and a posing guy "
  Nothing has changed for me inspite of rare disappointments now and then from his music.I don't think he is repetitive ........ posing guy.
  
  Could you ppoint out specifically what makes him fearsome or a posing guy without baseless accusations?
  In fact I think two of my all-time favourites of ARR are Dilse and Kandukonden Kandukonden which came during his later years.
  
  "Varukiraar xerox copy of ARR".
  We have seen it's the same journalists who pass scathing criticism on IR when he means it in a different way.They just want to make things sensational.
  
  If you are ready to go further on this, comment on his music and psychology/character separately.
  
  
• From: Trend (@ 216.68.113.227) on: Fri Mar 16 14:05:17 EST 2001
  
  UVII,
  "ARR followed 'A' style,
  now HJ, YSR.....all follow that 'A' style."
  
  I don't know if they all follow the same A style.But if they are I think we should make an effort to understand their styles more deeply without trivalising it and making it look like there are only two categories A or B.
  
  I guess YSR,KR and HJ all deserve to be known for their unique style.
  
  Digression:
  I'm going for lunch will be away for an hour
  
  
• From: UVII (@ 63.76.3.20) on: Fri Mar 16 14:08:41 EST 2001
  
  Digression:
  Where for lunch?
  
  
• From: Fliflo (@ 146.186.113.254) on: Fri Mar 16 14:34:40 EST 2001
  
  Trend;
  
  "I'm pretty sure this is not true at all.But if you point me to the source and if the source is credible I will change my opinion."
  
  Oh yes! I read it somewhere, for sure. It sucks a pinch of my time to go back and get this. Doesn't matter, I will post ASAP. Interestingly, the article also said "Rahman asked for a salary of 300 crores for shakesphere project" was a rumour, spread by HJ.
  
  "I don't think he is repetitive"
  
  Rahman himself mentions this in his interview about this. Well, there were many articles published on this and nothing new for me to say on this.
  
  "Varukiraar xerox copy of ARR".
  
  When KR/YSR entered people did not say IR's xerox has entered. ARR's touch is perfectly reproduced in HJ's songs..and hence the complaints..If every magazine is converging to the same point then there is something to believe!!
  
  "Neruppu Illama Pugay Varathu"
  
  
  
• From: Trend (@ 216.68.113.227) on: Fri Mar 16 15:16:21 EST 2001
  
  Fliflo,
  "ARR's touch is perfectly reproduced in HJ's songs"
  
  Consider two songs from Minnale say "Vaseegara" and "Varenna Varenna vendum".IMO,it doesn't resemble any of the songs ARR has composed till now.I'm sure someone with good musical knowledge can give a more correct opinion.
  
  "Neruppu Illama Pugay Varathu"
  IF someone writes ARR and Jennifer Lopez are performing together does it have atleast 1% truth in that.But we lapped it up and I think there was a separate thread for that.
  Neruppu illamaye pugay varuthey!
  
  Digression:
  UVII,
  Wendy's
  
  
• From: doubter (@ 208.142.210.36) on: Fri Mar 16 15:54:26 EST 2001
  
  Trend
  
  'diction-murder' was my term. I cannot think of a better term to describe Udit/Sukhwinder singing. ARR did not use that.
  
  Your posting itself defines a hard-core tamil singer. Srinivas is from Kerala and he must know decent Hindi. That is why ARR made him sing in Hindi. The complaints your Hindi friends made should be about the accent. SPB is also made fun of for this. We can classify KJY's tamil with mallu accent under this category. But what Udit/Sukhwinder does is first degree murder.
  
  Just because ARR knows tamil well, how is his murder of tamil (thru Udit) justified? I don't understand this at all.
  
  pushpavanam and kunjaarammaa are just examples of hard core tamil singers, who do not know a word in Hindi. This is again an assumption. When Udit (a person who does not know a single tamil word) sing tamil songs, why can't push sing in Hindi? It would bring the same effect.
  
  ARR does not do that because he knows that he cannot take the Hindi listeners for a ride, but can do that to tamils.
  
  You think that ARR does that because he is a tamil himself. Partly true. Since he is a tamil he knows that tamils are 'iLichchavaayans'.
  
  
• From: kiru (@ 192.138.149.4) on: Fri Mar 16 15:56:53 EST 2001
  
  ha.interesting digression. Does ARR have a style ? Did he create one ? Well, I am not that music savvy. Still I think ARR does have a style in the usage of intruments, flow of melody etc. But many listeners (or majority ??) are reacting to the recording 'sound' more than the music itself. Also, the groove based song making is followed by everybody else now. We all are aware that in the pronounciation dept other MDs are using the same singers, english lyrics etc (I guess these were also his style :)) . So the market is always trying to 'neutralise' the ARR style by 'coopting' many of the features of his music. Shankar in Hindi and HJ in tamil have completely replicated the 'ARR sound'. If ARR's albums still sells well then ARR would have proved he has a style and people want to buy the albums just for him. If you ask my opinion, I would say, he is losing ground (mainly because of the various factors that have been 'coopted' by various MDs). It is like Compaq coming up with those transparent cover on their PCs after iMAC. Somebody majored in Economics wanna comment ?
  
  
• From: Fliflo (@ 146.186.113.254) on: Fri Mar 16 15:57:53 EST 2001
  
  Trend;
  
  Excerpts from The Music Magazine for HJ's Minnale
  
  "Let's say this first: Harris Jeyaraj follows Rahman's style closely. If you could talk of a Rahman gharana, there's no doubt Jeyaraj belongs there. His orchestral arrangements bring to mind the familiar Rahman style; the texture is identical."
  
  "A report in the Tamil magazine Kumudam takes some swipes at the new composer, calling him a replica of Rahman, and prudishly attacking him for wearing a coat and launching the album at a bar, "where people drink and dance". But the report isn't without its merits: it identifies Harris Jeyaraj's avoidance of "traditional instruments" and concentration on "new sounds". Seenu, the reporter, gives this parting shot: "Having started a new xerox shop competing with A R Rahman, Harris is surely going to take some business away from A R Rahman."
  
  "When you hear the first song on this album, you'll wonder why it sounds so much like Rahman's Mustafa mustafa from Kadal Desam. Azhagiya theeye has the same sort of orchestra arrangement: the same Latin chords, the emphasised bass, and the same chorus and the Anglicised enunciation of the words."
  
  "The press is now going to town with news that Harris Jeyaraj has fallen out with Rahman. Regardless of their personal equations, the debutant composer will have to think of ways to stop his critics from calling him a 'xerox shop owner' who has set up business in Rahman's neighbourhood."
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments