Mumbai: Music maestro AR Rahman has forayed into script writing and film production with the upcoming musical-romance drama 99 Songs and for him the experience was quite a challenge.
“When you are composing the music of a film, you have a director who is very experienced, you have a lyrics writer and there is the producer, too. So, we usually sit, and then jam and exchange ideas. But in this film, I am the writer. So, the writer does something which the producer doesn’t like – who incidentally is also me (laughs). Then, if I come out it, he (points at the film’s director Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy) doesn’t like it, Rahman said Thursday while interacting with the media here.
“So, we did three to four versions of each song with different tunes and arrangements. Till three months back, a lot of things were changing and now it is in front of you. It was an exhausting but beautiful experience,” said Rahman,” the Oscar-winning composer added.
Rahman was accompanied by co-writer and director Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy and film’s lead actor Ehan Bhatt.
Besides winning two Oscars for Slumdog Millionare (Best Original Song and Best Original Score), Rahman has also won six National Film Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award, besides numerous others awards in the Hindi film industry and down South. In 2010, the he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Does his stature as a world figure in contemporary music make it easy for his film to find a worldwide release? “That’s the hope. Jio (Studios) is involved with our film and they have the plans. Whatever we will do, we will follow their plans. We are just like students waiting for them to say the magical words. They have been great so far and I hope they push it up and take your (media) suggestion seriously,” Rahman said.
Backed by Rahman’s production company ‘YM Movies’, 99 Songs is presented by Mukesh Ambani’s ‘Jio Studios’. Set to release in the summer, the film will play in three languages, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Besides co-writing and producing the film, Rahman has also composed the original score and 15 songs for the film, starring newcomers Ehan and Edilsey Vargas. The film also features Rahul Ram of the rock band ‘Indian Ocean’, composer Ranjit Barot, with actors Manisha Koirala and Lisa Ray.
IANS