The article which appears below, was originally published on Times of India in February 2009. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
Kylie Minogue, petite and sweet as against pin-up sexy girl, ate with delicate relish in Twinkle and Akshay Kumar’s Juhu Beach living room. In the background, Singh Is Kinng was playing softly on the music system, but I doubt the Australian singer and actress knew the song was picturised on her suave and charming host.
Neither did she know that Akshay, with whom she is doing a song for A.R. Rahman in the film Blue, is a superstar here. Though Bollywood, coming to India and doing a Hindi film, was always on her mind. Now she is here, Bollywood is happening, and Kylie is “loving the little experiences she’s been having ever since she landed in Mumbai on Wednesday night”.
She said over a cup of coffee after lunch, “I love to be taken out of my… well, not my comfort zone, but my world… this is certainly far different from anything I’ve done before.” By which she meant the whole experience of getting involved with Bollywood and doing the film Blue. “Three days — that’s all it took,” she revealed.
“I presented Rahman the award at the BAFTA, next day we met to discuss the concept of the song and the lyrics, third day we recorded! The whole experience was new. I’m not used to recording a song at the last minute and not knowing what I’m going to be wearing the next day. But this is not my world, yet I have confidence in the team, and went along…”
Kylie plays herself in the film, it’s a performance-based role, she has a scene with Akshay and she’s in two songs — yes, with Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan. And though she’s been singing and acting all her professional life, this time it’s different. “The technical aspects are much the same. It’s just that this is not part of an album.
And being in the studio with Rahman is magical, he’s on the crest of a wave, but is yet such a generous spirit, very welcoming, he’s relaxed and calm… such a nice person,” she said thinking of the Indian music genius who’s just back from the Academy Awards with two Oscars. The music they make together in the film is of the pop genre. “It’s definitely got an Indian beat,” Kylie said, “and it’s not difficult… certainly not a challenge for Rahman.”
