Often considered as the 'Mozart of Asia,' musician Allah Rakha Rahman has done everything from classical to reggae and now with Shekar Kapur's 'Elizabeth: the Golden Age' awaiting release, where he pairs up with Hollywood actor Craig Armstrong, he is very excited.
"It has been really a wonderful experience working with Craig. We travelled a lot in places like Glasgow...remotely working with the guys in London," says Rahman who was in the capital recently.
The singer-composer has his hands full with a lot of films, the latest being Ashutosh Gowarikers 'Jodha Akbar' starring Hrithik Roshan and Ashwariya Rai Bachchan.
"Jodha Akbar is a romantic story about a king falling in love with a princess and I have tried to keep the music contemporary so that it satisfies both critics and the music lovers," he says.
"The music of the film is very much what is required for the film. We have celebration songs and quawallis," he adds. Rahman, who composed the music of Subhash Ghei's 'Kisna' is once again paring up with the director in his latest flick, 'Yuvraaj'.
"Yuvraaj is a very challenging project. We had a hard time composing the first two songs but now as those have been cracked, we hope we will be able to wrap it up quickly," he says.
"We have a very unlikely combination in this film as we have Gulzar saab, Subhash Ghaiji and me in this venture," he adds. Rahman who was in the city to mark the one year celebration of an FM channel, will be performing live in the capital in November for the first time.
"I was planning to perform in Delhi for the last 10 years and now I have got the chance to perform and I am very excited about it," he says.
Rahman had composed the tracks of 'Shivaji-The Boss,' which struck gold at the box office in India and abroad and now since the film is being dubbed in Hindi, Rahman is a little apprehensive about it.
"After a long time, I have decided to dub my songs in Hindi. I had almost stopped dubbing in Hindi but this time I am convinced that it will do well. The music is ready and will be released soon," he says.
While other music directors of tinsel town have already started cashing on their popularity by joining the small screen and also vying for the big screen, Rahman is unperturbed and says he is a musician and would love to remain so.
"I have enough musical commitments to fulfill and I love to be a musician and would love to continue the good work. And anyways, I am not well versed in acting so it doesn't matter to me," he says.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Jodha Akbar's music will satisfy all sections: Rahman
I've done my research for 'Jodha-Akbar': Gowarikar
In the backdrop of the court case filed by a Rajasthani community against his under-production historical film Jodha-Akbar, director Ashutosh Gowarikar said he would not do anything that would hurt the sentiments of any community.
Recently Rajput Sabha filed a petition in a local court saying Jodha Bai was not a daughter of Amer ruler Bharmal.
The Sabha claims that historically there was only one Jodha Bai, who was the daughter of Marwar ruler Udai Singh, and she was married to Akbar's son Jahangir.
"I did my research even when I did Laagan. I have gone through historical books before finalising my script. I have done my research for Jodha-Akbar also and would not do anything wrong and take every precaution to see that sentiments of no community is hurt," Gowarikar said at the second anniversary of ND studios on Wednesday.
He said that animals in the film were used only after obtaining required permission from the authorities.
About the disagreement of the facts by historians, the court said the Censor Board will look into these aspects before certifying the film.
Jodha-Akbar stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai and is produced by UTV.
Amitabh in Jodhaa Akbar!
You will not see him but hear him in the film as he is all set to give a voice-over to the film, the way he did for Ashu's Oscar nominated Lagaan .
"Ashu included me in the cast and crew of Jodhaa in his speech. This is a little unfair for others as I am just giving a voice-over to the film. My association with Ashu goes back to Lagaan where I did the same. Lagaan did very well and I am sure Jodhaa Akbar will repeat its success. My work in Jodhaa hasn't started as yet", said Amitabh.
We are sure Ashu now definitely has BIG hopes from Jodhaa Akbar now that Big B is in it!