123bollywood.com |

Music maestro A.R. Rahman has been nominated for two Grammy awards for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”.

The Mozart of Madras, as Rahman is fondly called, has been nominated in the best soundtrack for motion pictures, television or other visual media category for the film, and in the best song for motion picture, television and other visual media category for “Jai ho”, said the official Grammy website.

Written by lyricist Gulzar, “Jai ho” has been sung by Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Vijay Prakash and Rahman himself.

Nominated for the first time at the Grammy’s, Rahman won two Oscars for “Slumdog Millionaire” and the best original score award at the 2009 Golden Globe Award.

The 52th edition of the Annual Grammy Awards will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Jan 31 next year.

Oscar winner musician A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) will deliver a free concert in Sydney (Australia) to make a “statement of peace” in view of recent racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.
He reportedly said that this concert, to be held at Parramatta Park on January 16, was an attempt to “reunite culturally and spiritually” in view of the recent bad vibe. He hopes that it creates a “bridge of understanding and love” and breaks down “cultural misunderstandings”. Premier Nathan Rees of New South Wales has congratulated Rahman for this offer.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan recently refused an honorary degree from the Queensland University of Technology of Australia in view of these racial attacks.

Rahman, who has reportedly recorded sales of over 300 million, was called “Mozart of Madras” by Time magazine. Pop icon Michael Jackson reportedly approached him before his death to partner on a peace anthem on the lines of “We are the World”. Rahman sees music as a “way to connect to spirituality and embrace it”.

Mozart of music A.R Rahman is shocked like rest of us by Michael Jackson’s sudden death and remembers the King of Pop with sadness.

Rahman says, “I am shocked at the untimely passing away of Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musicians of our times. MJ, for most of our generation was an icon who made uncompromising music. He pushed the milestone of Pop music to unbelievable levels through the 80s and 90s. I am yet to find an artist with that energy, perfection and vision. I met him personally after the Oscars in Los Angeles and we vibed very well. He said that he loved India and the Indian people. He said he heard good things about me and he was praising the chord progression of Jai Ho’s chorus.

He was bursting with energy and told me that every dance move he did came from his soul and did a five second stunning example. It was like a lightning strike. He was concerned about developmental issues such as Global Warming and about wars and its damages to the human community. He asked me to compose a unity anthem on the likes of “We are the World” for him. I nodded in awe…!

He introduced me to his three lovely bright kids. The kids told him “I love you Dad”. And he replied, “I love you more” as a proud father. I wished him well for his concerts and he said “God Bless you”. After hearing the shocking news, I wished it was another rumor which would fade away soon. It took me time to believe that he is no more. I remember, my late sound engineer H. Sridhar had brought me a video of the premiere of ‘Remember the Time’ when I was recording ‘Kadal Rojave’ for my first movie Roja. Seeing it inspired all of us that afternoon.

Now, there is no Sridhar and no Jackson anymore. I hope all of us value people’s existence more and respect them when they are alive. LIFE IS SHORT…! Artists and their art live for ever. Jai Ho, MJ! We love you for your music, regardless of all the controversies!”

How life changes after one award. Ask our very own composing guru A. R. Rahman. After the Oscars ARR who had already been a busy man in India, has been receiving offers and accolades from left, right and centre. Rahman was also named as one of the top 100 influential persons in the world by the prestigious Times magazine recently!

For the Chennai-based music composer life definitely has changed after the Academy awards. When asked how he feels now after the world recognition, Rahman revealed that getting the twin Oscars was a very unnerving experience. The composer who cannot attend even places of prayer without being noticed feels he has to now concentrate more on his music because that is his first priority.

The Indian Mozart who has literally been living out of his travel bags (thanks to the adulations he has been receiving after the Oscars) literally broke his past records for traveling the past week. He was in New York, Dubai, Calicut, Chennai, Pune Delhi Mumbai, the list goes on!

There seems to be only one downside that the Oscars have brought into ARR’s life. The composer is not able to spend much time with his children. But ARR is not complaining. All he says is that before the Oscars his wife had dreamt that she was walking the red carpet by his side. She can now dream of walking to the Oscars with our children, says ARR.

To a scribe’s query on how he felt being voted as one of the top hundred influential persons of the world the music director said and we quote:  At the function I was on the same table as Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and the CEO of Time magazine. When I went up to stage a chant of ‘Jai ho’ went up in the house 

Wow! ARR sir it must have been a moment to cherish!

We at Indiaglitz wish you the best in all your future endeavors and hope your music will be a note of love and peace to the entire world!

Aligarh: Oscar winning composer A R Rahman will be conferred an honorary doctorate by Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Rahman shot to international fame with his compositions in Danny Boyle’s underdog drama Slumdog Millionaire and he also won two Oscar awards.

Apart from Rahman, Gopichand Narang, former president of Sahitya Academy, would also be conferred an honorary doctorate at a convocation on June 7, said a press release from AMU.

West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi will be the chief guest at the 59th annual convocation function. AMU chancellor, AM Ahmadi, also former chief justice of India, will preside over the annual event.

Fans of Rahman got the shock of their lives on seeing Akon’s new hit ‘Beautiful’. The music video has a 3-second shot of A.R. Rahman smiling and posing in front of beautiful models who were dancing behind him. The video also features American pop singer Colby O’Donis and Canadian hip hop artist Kardinal Offishall.

A.R. Rahman, after winning two Oscars, is in no mood to rest as he is already making his presence felt. With
the Oscars in the kitty, a Grammy is not far away. From behindwoods.com we would like to wish the Mozart of Madras all the very best and greedily ask him to go International and grab all the possible awards he can lay his hands on.

Considering the demand for his compositions, getting A.R.Rahman on board for a project was never an easy task for the producers back in India. Now after his twin-Oscar triumph, it has become all the more difficult. In all probabilities the music maestro will be seen doing less music for Indian films.

Well this situation is due to the newly formed upsurge in the international music markets for his contributions. The celebrated pop star Akon has now collaborated with Rahman for a song titled ‘Beautiful’. A.R.R is also being featured in the video of this track along with the American Pop singer Colby O’ Donis and Canadian hip hop artist Kardinal Offishall.

The other person to soon work with the music wizard will be Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer of the girl band “Pussycat Dolls”. The band had already worked on their English version of the song ‘Jai Ho’ from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. It looks like Nicole has taken a great liking for Rahman’s kinda music.She will soon start the work on a full album with Rahman.

There are also murmurs going around that the composer will be working with the gorgeous lady vocalist from India and a video will also be shot in the typical Bollywood style.

Oscar winning music director A.R Rahman arrived with his Oscars late at night in India and was overwhelmed to see fans and friends waiting eagerly to catch his glimpse. Check out the photos.

ts a SPECIAL Day in the History of Bollywood Cinema. Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman became the first Indian to bag two Oscars for his work in British filmmaker Danny Boyle’s much acclaimed “Slumdog Millionaire”, which tells the rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai slum dweller.
rahman_oscar Jai Ho: AR Rahman bags two Oscars
He got his first Oscar on the night of the 81st Academy Awards here for best original score for the Mumbai-based drama.

The composer was overwhelmed and interspersed his speech with Hindi as well as Tamil on receiving the coveted trophy here Sunday.

“There is a dialogue from an old Hindi film - “Mere paas ma hai” - which means I have nothing but a mother. My mother is here, I have her blessings. I am glad she could be here,” said Rahman.

He ended the acceptance speech by saying “God is great” in Tamil, something he says after winning every award.

He shared the second Oscar for best original song for the film’s theme number “Jai Ho” with noted Indian lyricist Gulzar.

“All my life I had a choice between hate and love. I chose love and I am here,” said Rahman after receiving his second golden statuette.

Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman’s wife used to wake up in the middle of the night and say “I want you to win an Oscar”. Now he has won two. It’s not only her dream that has turned into reality at the 81st annual Academy Awards, it’s a milestone for Bollywood too.

Bollywood celebrated as Rahman bagged the Oscars for best original score in “Slumdog Millionaire” and its theme song “Jai Ho”.

Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap is all praises for the singer-composer. He said: “This is a happy moment for all of us. We all should celebrate because he (Rahman) has made us proud. Finally we did it!

Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who has worked with Rahman for his films “Rang De Basanti” and “Delhi-6?, says the singer-composer truly deserved the award.

“I am proud and so happy that it’s A.R. He brought north and south India together when he started composing music and now he has successfully bridged the gap between the east and the west. It’s incredible! There are more people in the west who know him now than they know about his work,” Mehra told.

Rahman, the first Indian musician to win the annual Academy Award, was listed for three of the film’s ten Oscar nominations - one for his original score and two others for songs composed by him, “O Saya” and “Jai Ho”.

According to singer Mohit Chauhan who has sung in Rahman’s latest hit composition “Masakalli” from “Delhi-6?, this Oscar win is an inspiration for the Indian music industry.

“It is very encouraging. Rahman is a great inspiration for all the musicians in the country. And it’s a great honour also. Our films are going places and so is our music. We can look ahead to good times,” said Chauhan.

Veteran filmmaker and critic Aziz Mirza says: “The international recognition that Rahman has earned for himself makes every Indian proud. He deserves it more than anybody else for his wholehearted dedication to music. It’s a rare honour. I congratulate Rahman.”

Southern actor R. Madhavan feels Rahman should have won an Oscar the very first time he composed music because he truly deserves it.

Actress Divya Dutta hails the composer and says she is extremely proud of his win.

“Like every Indian, I am very happy about the win. I was sure Rahman will come back with the award. The film was amazing,” said Dutta.

Before this, only two Indians have won the Oscar in its 80 year history - Satyajit Ray was given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 and Bhanu Athaiya won the best costume design Oscar along with John Mollo for the 1982 film “Gandhi.”