A Genius that is A R Rahman

  "Do you have some music by A R Rahman?" my friend from Serbia asked me innocently. I was completely zapped at her opening sentence. A R Rahman? Her? Desi Music? What gives??? Shock, horror gasp!! After the initial shock settled down and I was done with my theatrical outburst, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Serbian friend had heard some music from the Genius himself on Youtube and was interested in listening to some more of his music. She explained that she was fascinated by his use of traditional Asian sounds and his effortless control over Western musical instruments too.

  In fact, she described the album Yuva in great detail, outlining every song and its inspiration and possible global connections. Knowing her to be a music student, I'm not remotely surprised that she can appreciate different music from different parts of the world. But that she is curious to hear more and sample more of Rahman's music is truly complimentary to his global appeal.

  Rahman was recently in Washington to perform the Indian national anthem in front of dignitaries such as Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and a host of other big names. He also received an award for excellence in music and art. Awards have never been an issue for this talented man who has a plethora of them, under his belt. On the international stage, he was the first mainstream Indian musician to work in London's West End with the legend himself, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Many may even remember his collaboration with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His film soundtracks have been blockbusters several times over. He has always promoted new talent in some form or the other, be it singers or musicians.

  In the final appraisal, it's not just his achievements that distinguish this man from the rest of the pack. It's his humility and sincere devotion to music. Having heard him in a press conference once, I was amazed to see how unaffected he was by the media attention. His soft-spoken, shy demeanour is backed by perfect manners and astute insights. A spiritual person, he has been known to work late hours in his studio in Chennai (formerly Madras) and call his music his "meditation."

  A lot of great music has been created by this man but there are some personal favourite soundtracks that stand out more than others. Yuva - while the lyrics didn't quite appeal to me, the international sounds he employed in the album were remarkable. For example, there was a touch of typical Indian sounds with the mridangam, tabla; a distinct Mediterranean sound in tracks like Fanaa, etc. Another album I thoroughly enjoyed was Bombay - a decade old album but still good music, even now. Dil Se, Taal, Rang De Basanti, Swades - all fantastic albums that received both critical and popular acclaim. If you ever have an opportunity to listen to something in Tamil, I'd suggest picking up Minsara Kannavu - even if you don't understand the language, it's an amazing soundtrack.

  While I wrote out some of my favourites above, I'd suddenly remember some track that I really loved and realised that to pinpoint a few albums is far too difficult. Then there are times where you like a few tracks on an album more than the others. All said and done, A R Rahman continues to create beautiful music. Have a listen to something (Pray for me Brother) from his latest solo album... LISTEN UP to A R Rahman...