Mumbai: Renowned composer AR Rahman says his work in Subhash Ghai’s musical romance drama “Taal” inspired him to compose music for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bollywood-themed musical “Bombay Dreams”, which brought him international recognition.
The multiple award-winning composer said filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who served as executive producer on Webber’s 2002 musical film “Bombay Dreams,” had played the soundtrack of “Taal” as the English producer of musical theatre completed 25 years in August.
Rahman, who has already made a name for himself across India with Tamil films like “Roja” and “Bombay”, said Ghai’s film helped him reach out to a new section of audience.
“It was the soundtrack of ‘Taal’ that Mr Kapoor played to Andrew Lloyd Webber, and on hearing the songs of ‘Taal’, he wanted me to work on ‘Bombay Dreams’. I was no longer called a ‘South Indian doing only Tamil music’ and things like that.
“However, ‘Roja’ and ‘Bombay’ crossed that limit. I felt it needed more space and ‘Taal’ filled that gap perfectly. If you see ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, it is pure Punjabi. Doing all these films gives you confidence,” Rahman told PTI in an interview here.
He was speaking at a special screening of ‘Taal’ organised by Radio Nasha.
The composer later transcended geographical boundaries to enter the international music scene and mesmerised global audiences with his compositions in major productions such as Kapoor’s “Elizabeth – The Golden Age”, “Couples Retreat”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, which made him the first Indian to win two Oscars, “127 Hours”, “People Like Us”, “Warriors of Heaven and Earth” and “Million Dollar Arm” among others.
Rahman shared another anecdote about how he became a part of the 1999 film “Taal”, which will be re-released in select theatres across India on September 27.
Rahman, 57, said anyone he met in the 1990s would ask him to do a Hindi film with Ghai. Rahman’s first Hindi film was 1995’s “Rangeela”, directed by Ram Gopal Varma.
“And then suddenly, when this fax came. I was thinking ‘Wow, the guy himself has sent the fax’. He invited me to come to Mumbai and we went for a trip together.
“He talked to me about various aspects of my music and also told me what I should do to learn Hindi. We did a film called ‘Shikhar’ which he launched but it didn’t work. And then we made ‘Taal’,” the composer said.
“Taal”, starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna and Anil Kapoor, is widely loved for its soulful tunes like “Tal Se Tal Mila” and “Ishq Bina”, the notable “Nahi Samne Tu”. “Ramta Jogi”.
Rahman said that composing its soundtrack did not take much time. He said that the film gave him a platform to explore new dimensions in music.
“He would say, ‘I want a symphony and then I’ll go and do something else or I want it to be a hillbilly folk song.’ So, I was like, ‘My sensibilities are expanding too.’ Coming from the south, I was always open to what else there was to do.
He said, “For example, in ‘Roja’ I used Hindustani ragas and not Carnatic ragas. I wanted it to have a different feel. So, I became a fan of Darbari, Bhairavi and Des ragas, which were not common in South India. So, while it was more on the classical side, it is more on the folk and Punjabi side.”
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