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

December 25, 2012

ar-rahman

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
April 29,2020

Mumbai, Apr 29: Irrfan Khan, one of India's finest and most versatile actors, lost his battle with a rare form of cancer and died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, a statement from his family said. He was 54

Irrfan, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour in 2018, is survived by his wife Sutapa and his sons Babil and Ayaan.

It is the second tragedy for the family in less than a week. The ?Maqbool? actor lost his mother, 95-year-old Saeeda Begum, in Jaipur just four days ago and could not attend the funeral because of the nationwide lockdown.

Irrfan, that rare actor who straddled multiple worlds, making his mark in both international and Indian cinema in roles intense and light-hearted, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital with a colon infection

?It's saddening that this day, we have to bring forward the news of him passing away. Irrfan was a strong soul, someone who fought till the very end and always inspired everyone who came close to him. After having been struck by lightning in 2018 with the news of a rare cancer, he took life soon after as it came and he fought the many battles that came with it,? the statement from his family said

?Surrounded by his love, his family for whom he most cared about, he left for heavenly abode, leaving behind truly a legacy of his own. We all pray and hope that he is at peace. And to resonate and part with his words he had said, 'As if I was tasting life for the first time, the magical side of it',? it added.

The news of his death was first confirmed by his "Piku" director Shoojit Sircar who sent his condolences to the family and doffed his hat to the actor's fighting spirit

"My dear friend Irfaan. You fought and fought and fought. I will always be proud of you.. we shall meet again.. condolences to Sutapa and Babil.. you too fought, Sutapa you gave everything possible in this fight. Peace and Om shanti. Irfaan Khan salute," the director said on Twitter.

Irrfan's death came the morning after news that he had been admitted to the ICU with a colon infection.

The self-effacing National Award winner, who acted in films as diverse as ?Life of Pi?, ?The Namesake? and ?Haasil?, had stayed away from the public eye after his diagnosis in 2018 when he went to the UK for treatment.

He returned home in 2019 and shot for "Angrezi Medium", the sequel to his 2017 hit "Hindi Medium". However, his health condition prevented him from promoting the movie, which hit the theatres in March just before the lockdown that began on March 25.

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News Network
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: With more than 50 movies under her credits and being one of the few actors from Bollywood to make a strong imprint in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra started it all by winning Miss India 2000 pageant.

Chopra who is currently celebrating the completion of 20 years in the entertainment industry, on Friday looked back and reacted to the video where she was crowned as Miss India.
The' Fashion' actor shared a video on Instagram, where she is seen watching the throwback video. The 'Dostana' actor recalled winning the title and joked about her sense of style and poses back then.

Sharing the reaction video, she wrote: "Alright guys, we're doing this! I'm watching footage from my Miss India pageant in 2000! This is where it all began... If you've never seen these before, you are in for quite a treat. #20in2020 @feminamissindia."

Throughout the video, the 'Gunday' actor is seen casually commenting on her hairstyle, enacting her own movement on stage, and also recalled her luscious hair, which she now wonders where it all got lost.

However, she took a moment to appreciate the "clever and profound" answer she gave for the question that won her the crown.

While watching the winning moment, the 'Don' star noted how she never expected to win it. She explained that she had a train booked as she was to go back and take her board exams.

Going through the old photographs that run parallel to the video, she says: "These pictures are hard to look at." Pausing at a particular photograph, she laughs and says, "I don't even know how to do that pose."

"Well, this is where everything started. These are the pictures that sent me to Tinseltown," said the actor towards the end of the video.

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News Network
April 6,2020

New Delhi, April 6: Acknowledging on being scared and talking of not seeing his family for three weeks, actor Salman Khan along with nephew Nirvaan on Sunday shared their lockdown experience in a video message.

The 54-year-old star, without disclosing where the actor actually is, shared a video message on Twitter along with his brother Sohail Khan's son, Nirvaan.

Salman began the one-minute and 26-seconds long video, by saying: "We came here for a few days and now we're stuck and scared"

The 'Bharat' actor then introduced Nirvaan and asked him "How long has it been since you saw your father?", to which Nirvaan replied, "It must have been three weeks."

"I have not seen my father for three weeks. We are here and he is alone at home," Salman added.

The 'Sultan' actor then asks the boy: "You remember the film dialogue, 'the one who got scared, died.' It does not apply here in this situation. We are scared and bravely we admit that we are scared. Please don't be brave in this situation."

Nirvaan also further requested everybody to stay safe and maintain social-distance.

"I think it's better for everyone to stay home, avoid contact and I think the longer we stay indoors the faster this ends," he added.

The 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' star concluded the video by saying: "The one who got afraid saved himself and lives of others around him. Moral of the story, 'We're all scared'."

Urging people to take the government's advisory of self-isolation seriously amid the rising cases of coronavirus in the country, the megastar had earlier shared a video message for fans. 

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