A.R. Rahman’s 'Infinite Love' for the world

December 25, 2012

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Long before Indian musician and composer A.R. Rahman became an Oscar-winning global phenomenon, the Jai Ho! writer was already legend in his home country, credited with changing the face of contemporary Indian music. In a nation obsessed with Bollywood music, his unique ability to blend Indian classical music with electronic sounds redefined an industry, and propelled him to the top, following his acclaimed debut in 1992 with the film ‘Roja’.
Then came 2008’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Rahman is officially one of the busiest composers in the world, shuttling between Los Angeles where he is lunching with Steven Spielberg one day, and Chennai in south India where his studio is based.


It’s no wonder then that it has taken the ‘Mozart from Madras [old name of Chennai]’ 15 long years to release his solo single. Following the seminal 1997 album ‘Vande Mataram’, which is still the largest-selling non-film album in India, Rahman last week released ‘Infinite Love’, a single and video, which he calls his “message of peace and hope amidst a time of dark omens of destruction”.


A project two years in the making, the song, and the upcoming album, sees Rahman back in his element. Although the first single is in English, details of the rest of the album are still held in secrecy.


The musician spoke recently about the inspiration behind the solo effort, music, world peace and living in Los Angeles.



‘Infinite Love’ was conceived about two years ago…
I worked on a scratch and then got busy and came back to it about a year ago and things sort of fell into place.
I think it’s a very relevant issue to talk about love and peace right now. There are so many things going on right now which we need to change and that was the trigger for the song.



If the world ended tomorrow…
I think it’s important to live your life every second. When you do that, you give your time to things that you get the most pleasure out of. Sometimes you can live 10 seconds and that could define your whole life. Sometimes you can live for eternity and it may not be valuable at all.



I want to inspire children…
I wanted to make ‘Infinite Love’ kid-friendly. Kids don’t have exciting content to watch these days. There are so many inappropriate things all around. I was focused on triggering some kind of inspiration for kids, to inspire them to be leaders and to remind them that we have such a great culture. There are such great pools of wisdom hidden in our country and we need to take them and give it to the world.



My son Ameen makes his acting debut in ‘Infinite Love’…
He really wanted to do it. He’s always wanted to be a musician but I’ve told him he has to work hard for it. For the video, he took acting lessons for three days before the first shot.



I like Priyanka Chopra’s voice and attitude…
She approached me when she was an upcoming actress and I didn’t really know her. And we lost touch. But I’m really glad that a major actress like her is taking this direction [moving into music]. She has fallen into the right hands and is working with the right people. I’m happy that people are branching out and expanding. I hope she grows and gets even more experimental.



Tabu and I are working on some songs…

It’s a work in progress. She has the right spirit and she loves singing. But we’re still working on it.



I am hoping for good things on qyuki.com…
The social media platform was Shekhar Kapur’s (Oscar-nominated director) brainchild. It’s a platform for creative people to express themselves with a mission to create creative leaders and to moderate the mediocre from the genius. It’s a great opportunity for people around the world and I am so happy it has caught on so beautifully.



I’m currently reading a book about screenwriting…
It’s called ‘Save the Cat!’. A really funny book. But I read half of it and slept off. Most of my reading is done on flights. It’s a long way to Los Angeles from Chennai.



I don’t have time to listen to music much…

I don’t even have an iPod. As they say, when you’re working in the kitchen, you don’t want to eat.


The last time I did something for the first time was drive in Los Angeles…
I recently received my international licence and I leased a convertible and drove all over town. It was interesting because in India, you drive in the left and in the US, they drive on the right. I haven’t driven for three years, so it was nice to take the top off and have the heater on full blast. It gets cold in LA, you know.


*Catch the full interview with A.R. Rahman on Josh Drive on Josh 97.8 with Samer and Valda tonight between 7 and 8pm. For more, go to joshfm.ae.




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News Network
June 15,2020

Mumbai, Jun 15: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's brother-in-law O.P. Singh, who is the Additional Director General of Police and posted as Special Officer in the Haryana Chief Minister's Office, suspected some foul play in the crime, it is reliably learnt on Monday. He is seeking a thorough probe into the incident.

"Sushant Singh Rajput has been murdered, he cannot commit suicide. I demand CBI enquiry into the matter," Jan Adhikar Party Chief Pappu Yadav told media persona at the actor’s residence in Patna, where his family resides.

The 34-year-old actor was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai's Bandra on Sunday.

His sister lives in Chandigarh.

State officials said Singh has left for Mumbai soon he came to know about the suicide incident.

Expressing condolences, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said actor Rajput's death is an "irreparable loss" to not only the film industry but also for the entire society.

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News Network
April 10,2020

New Delhi, Apr 10: Actor Akshay Kumar has pledged to contribute Rs 3 crore to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to assist the making of personal protection equipment, masks and rapid testing kits to help the battle against COVID-19.

Film critic and movie trade analyst Taran Adarsh announced on the same on Twitter on Friday and wrote, "After donating Rs25 crores to the PM CARES fund, Akshay Kumar contributes Rs3 crores to BMC to assist in the making of PPE, masks and rapid testing kits."

The 'Good Newwz' actor has been informing people about the necessary precautions to be taken to stay safe amid the coronavirus outbreak through his social media handles. On Thursday, Akshay acknowledged the contribution of all essential workers during the lockdown period, and encouraged people to use the hashtag 'Dil Se Thank You' to express their gratitude to the people "who work to ensure our safety."

Earlier, the 'Mission Mangal' actor joined hands with actors including, Kartik Aaryan, Tiger Shroff, Taapsee Pannu, Kiara Advani and launched a hope anthem - 'Muskurayega India,' and made an attempt to pump up Indians with positivity amid the testing times of coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412.

Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll reached 199, according to the ministry.

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News Network
April 16,2020

New Delhi, Apr 16: Actor Salman Khan on Thursday put out a sharp message to the "jokers" who were flouting government-imposed guidelines and venturing out during the ongoing lockdown, putting at risk countless lives to the deadly coronavirus.

In his characteristic 'Bhai' style, Salman also appealed to people to not attack doctors, nurses and police personnel who are in the frontline of the battle against COVID-19.

In a 10-minute hard hitting video shared on Instagram he begins with a "Hello, namaste, salaam, sasriyakaal, Kem Cho' in typical TV reality show 'Big Boss' style and goes on to say 'Zindagi ka Bigg Boss' has begun with the entire country staying in lockdown mode at home.
He said he had taken a two-day "chhutti" (leave) but "This corona, COVID-19 has given everyone a 'chutti'."

Khan said he was staying at his farmhouse in Panvel near Mumbai with his family including his mother, two sisters their children and some other people who had come to visit.

In the video he said that he had sent a friend to get rations for the family from a village around five kilometres away. He recounted that the police stopped him and in the process, his friend took off the mask to speak to the policeman who reprimanded him and asked him to put the mask back on. Salman said that he too chided his friend for doing such a thing.

"Don't go out, don't do social gatherings, stay with your family, the government has said if you are doing namaaz, do it at home, do pooja at home..." the actor said, adding that those who had a wish to kill their families should step out.
"Go out get your ration, nobody is stopping you, go nearby but wear your masks, your gloves, go alone," the actor said underlining that the government has assured that everybody will get ration.

The actor said that whoever does not understand a coronavirus positive patient's pain is anti-human.

He pointed out that doctors, nurses and policemen are putting in long hours to curb the spread of coronavirus and urged people to respect their work and stay inside.

The actor said policemen would not have taken action and hit people if they followed guidelines and stayed inside. "If you weren't going out with friends, police wouldn't have hit you. Do you think police are enjoying it?," he asked.

"Doctors and nurses are working to save your lives and what do you do? You started pelting stones at them? Those who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, are running away from the hospitals. Where are you running? Towards life or death?," he questioned in his video.

The 'Dabangg 2' star appreciated the efforts by the frontline warriors and said, "the virus that started in China is over in China now, but because of a few jokers, the whole of India will sit at home for a long time."

The 54-year-old star said that he was aware of many people who wouldn't come out of their homes earlier but have started doing so since they've been asked to not go out.

"You are putting everyone's lives at risk," the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor said.

Salman concluded by urging people to respect the work of the doctors, nurses, police personnel and those who work in banks, take care to ensure that the disease does not spread further and pray that it does not come to a situation where the military has to be called in to stop people from doing the wrong thing.

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri took to Twitter to shared the video message. "Very well said @BeingSalmanKhan I hope wisdom prevails everywhere," he tweeted.

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