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Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued.

Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet?

A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.” From the early buzz it sounds like the movie 127 Hours is going to be a solid and intense drama movie, and most people are confident that the film will shine during the next Awards.

Well, judging from the plot, and considering James Franco’s talent and Danny Boyle’s magic touch, we are pretty sure the movie 127 Hours is going to be a hit.

Boyle had been wanting to make a film about Ralston’s ordeal for four years. Boyle wrote a treatment for the film and Simon Beaufoy wrote the screenplay. News of the World reported in November 2009 that Cillian Murphy was Boyle’s top choice to play Ralston.

Continue reading “Rahman scores for Danny’s 127 Hours” »

Mr. Rahman presented his song to a committee of ministers recently appointed to oversee the progress of the six-billion-dollar Games organization, which has been plagued by delays and accusations of corruption Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy heads the group, which includes Sports Minister M.S. Gill and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, among others.

“The song is about energy, winning and not giving up,” composer Mr. Rahman said at a press conference organized Monday by the Games’ Organizing Committee. “Once you hear it I think you’ll like it.”

Mr. Rahman seemed reluctant at first to reveal much more about the song, saying he was still tweaking the lyrics and that it would be released in 10 days.

But the journalists were persistent. “It’s kind of ‘Waka Waka’?” one journalist asked, referring to the song Colombian pop star Shakira sang for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa this year.

“Exactly no,” said Mr. Rahman. “We wanted to go further and do something else. And doing same thing like ‘Waka Waka’ was not my thing.”

Continue reading “Rahman ready with Delhi Games Anthem” »

Says the director, “Unlike Jaane Tu the heartbreak is real in Jhootha Hi Sahi. When heartbreak happens it actually pains. Jaane Tu was little playful and childish. However in case of Jhootha Hi Sahi there is lot of pain. It is more serious film. Though it’s a rom com there is a dramatic aspect to it.”

The film underwent a few name changes before settling for Jhootha Hi Sahi. Initially it was called 1-800 LOVE, which was then changed to Call Me Dil. “It was actually never renamed. From the kind of movie that was conceived out we had set a working title 1-800 LOVE. But eventually we realized that the whole concept of toll free number is not that popular.

The idea that alphabets stand for number seemed less convincing, so we always knew that for broader Indian audience it will never work. So we locked on Jhootha Hi Sahi. In between, one of the other titles that we were considering was Call Me Dil, which never really happened. However, somebody leaked to the media and they decided to call it Call Me Dil,” Abbas says.

The music of the movie is composed by Academy Award Winnig musician A R Rahman and director Abbas quotes “Whatever the time taken over the music is worth it. Rahman doing the music adds a totally new dimension to my film.”

It’s finally here — the music of the much-awaited Rajinikanth-Aishwarya Rai starrer “Enthiran — The Robot”. Chennai may have lost out on hosting the formal music launch event (it was held in Malaysia), but the album has hit the stands in stores across the city, and it’s time to check out what the maestro A.R. Rahman has to offer the Superstar this time, after their super-successful last outing in “Sivaji — The Boss”.

The first track of the album, Pudhiya Manidha, truly sets the mood. A futuristic trance number, the songis all robotic voices and hypnotic rhythms, and captures your imagination right away. In typical Rahman style, it’s more than just another trance track — it also has a haunting, invocatory tone, both in the lyrics by Vairamuthu (the recurring refrain is Pudhiya manidha boomiku vaa)and in the music itself, which can be goose-bump inducing. A terrific opening for an otherworldly sci-fic epic’s soundtrack, for sure.

Kadhal Anukkal, the second number, is the perfect contrast to the first, and opens with a gorgeous guitar intro. A lilting romantic duet, sung with style by Vijay Prakash (and ably supported by the sweet-voiced Shreya Ghosal), this song comes as a breath of fresh air, infused as it is with pretty harmonies and dreamy musical interludes. In an album filled with thumping beats and futuristic robotic voices, it provides welcome respite (even if its lyrics are liberally sprinkled with words such as ‘neutron’ and ‘electron’ and ‘Newton’). An instantly appealing number, with Rahman at his melodic best.

And then, it’s back to future with Irumbile Oru Irudhaiyam (featuring Rahman and Kash n’ Krissy), a purely techno track with pounding breakbeats, a mix of English and Tamil lyrics, and more of the computerised voices and sound effects and such. It’s almost certain to become all the rage at clubs around the city, along with the next track, Chitti Dance Showcase, which, as the name suggests, is a hardcore dance number, with virtually no lyrics.

The first look of Abhishek Bachchan taking a dive from top of a cliff into a river below and him riding a bike and Aiswarya Rai’s face with fear written all over is the visual.

The Tamil and Telugu Raavanan teaser trailer will be released only close to its audio launch.

T- Series have acquired the Hindi audio rights of the film, which has music by AR Rahman. T-Series, president- marketing media publishing Vinod Bhanushali said: “It is a magnum project which brings together the winning combination of Mani Ratnam and A R Rahman. The film’s star cast is also quite an attraction.”

Meanwhile the Tamil and Telugu audio rights negotiations are going on, with Sony Music emerging as the front runners. As soon as the deal is firmed up, Raavanan audio launch in Tamil and Telugu will take place probably in May.

The soundtrack of the movie will be done by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Gulzar. According to unofficial sources, Rahman has reused two songs he composed for the shelved Aamir Khan film Lajjo and a Qawwali composed for Jodhaa Akbar which was not used in the film. There are also reports that Mani Ratnam recently shot a big budget song Kata Kata Mara Mara with 500 dancers in Jhansi, Madhya Pradesh.

“A huge set was created in Jhansi to shoot this song which took four days to wrap up and has been choreographed by Ganesh Acharya,” says a Unit hand.Asha Bhonsle have recently recorded a song for Raavan. A song titled Pairon Pe Jannat Hai sung by Lucky Ali has leaked through the internet and is listed as a song from Raavan. However Rahman claimed that no songs have leaked from Raavana. He also denied the news that Aishwarya Rai has recorded a song titled Kadhale(in Tamil version) for the film.

“Everyone dreams of winning an Oscar,” he says. “It gave my work a new level of recognition and legitimacy.” Rahman’s gongs, for best song and best score, made him only the third Indian to win an Academy award. The success of Slumdog Millionare brought other advantages – “I had the chance to meet some of my great heroes,” says Rahman. “I got to meet Barbra Streisand and work with Celine Dion, and I was the first Indian to perform at the Hollywood Bowl.”

Today we’re a long way from Los Angeles, in his north London base, a house near Hampstead Heath. Rahman has been visiting and working in the UK for the last 15 years, and later this month will attend the Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival (“exploring the culture of India, its diaspora and its relationship to the UK today”), at which the London Philharmonic Orchestra will perform some of his best-known works – from his Oscar-winning soundtrack of course, but also from the likes of Elizabeth: the Golden Age, the hit musical Bollywood Dreams, and some of his landmark Indian films, such as Lagaan and Jaane Tu … Ya Jaane Na.

Interestingly, about 100 singers and stars including Carlos Santana, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Miley Cyrus, Enrique Iglesias Akon, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Usher, and William, will be a part of the song. The remake will be recorded in the Henson Studios, the same place where MJ recorded the original.The song will be premiered on the NBC network during the Winter Olympics that is set to begin on February 12th.

None of the singers of the original song were invited to participate in the update, which was recorded at the same Hollywood studio once again under the oversight of Quincy Jones and the song’s co-writer Lionel Richie.

In all, more than 70 stars lent their voices to the song, and they all seemed in awe of each other.

The composer bagged the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture and another one for “Jai Ho” for the best motion picture song at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

He won the award with veteran lyricist Gulzar and Tanvi Shah who wrote the Spanish lyrics for it.

“This is insane, god is great again,” a beaming Rahman said after receiving the award at the biggest show in the music world. The other Indian contenders, Zakir Hussain and Amjad Ali Khan, could not manage to win the golden gramophones.

“Insane eh? I never even dreamt about winning all these awards,” Rahman posted on his Twitter page shortly after receiving the award.

Just a year ago, Rahman’s music for “Slumdog Millionaire”, a screen adaptation of Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q & A”, had propelled him to the record books as India’s first double Oscar winner.

Besides the Oscars and now the Grammys, the Chennai musician’s composition for the film has also won him other prestigious international awards like the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe.

“We all are very proud of him. This magical musician has brought more honour to India, his family, fans, friends and his entire team. Such a young man has made his mark on the music map of the world. All of us should put him on our shoulders,” said Gulzar who shares the prestigious award with him.

This is Rahman’s first Tamil composition after wining the Oscar. This is also the first time Gautham Menon is working with Rahman.It would be fair to say this was the most anticipated album of the year.

Omana Penne | Singers: Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon

The percussion in this song stands out right from the start. The kind of rythmic song that is soothing to the ears. Well suited for Benny Dayal and he has excelled as usual. The nadaswaram bit, heard on and off in the background, takes the song to another level towards the end. Unfortunately, the music masks the lyrics at places, thereby reducing the pleasure to some extent, but with such lovely music, the complaints wont be loud.

Anbil Avan | Singers: Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayi

A peppy number if you can call it. The initial segment sets up the song very well. Devan has done a commendable job. Chinmayi adds a soulful effect to the song and has backed up Devan very well. The chorus has done as good a job as the lead singers. The traditional marriage music that comes in the middle of the song offers splendid transition.

That finish to the two and a half hour production came in the form of crowd favourite `Jai ho’, which saw fireworks light the sky while concert-goers danced and chanted the chorus. The Slumdog Millionaire composer addressed the crowd before the finale on what he had earlier in the night called “one of the most historic concerts of my life’’.

“Thank you for being part of change,’’ he said, a reference to his wish to end the attacks against Indian students in Victoria. I want all of you guys staying here to bless the children of India with love.’’

Rahman also asked the crowd to spare a thought for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.“Life is just like that. Anything can happen,’So Jai ho, God bless you all.’’ he said.

They were words of wisdom to his adoring crowd, mostly expats from the subcontinent who came from across Sydney and interstate. The crowd stretched over 500 metres through a tree-lined corridor in the park, many families seated on picnic rugs.