By Ramola Talwar Badam www.thenational.ae
DUBAI // The Indian music maestro, AR Rahman, says music is therapeutic, and has promised his fans a celebration of songs at a concert scheduled for next month.
The famous music composer was at the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa yesterday to promote the event, which will take place on December 9 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai Sports City.
“For me, music is therapy,” Rahman said at a press conference during a day-long visit to the emirate. “People say they get a lot of peace when they listen to some of my songs. They always speak of the love songs from Roja.”
The haunting melodies and score from Rahman’s first movie Roja (Rose) in 1992 are still considered his all-time best by fans across the world. The Tamil-language film was a huge hit and was later dubbed in Hindi and three other Indian languages.
Rahman, 45, has composed the score for more than 100 Indian movies. He has won two Oscars, a Bafta and a Golden Globe two years ago for his soundtrack to the multi award-winning Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle.
He will be the youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dubai International Film Festival next month.
Despite all the hoopla surrounding him, the soft-spoken musician said he tries to stay focused on his music.
“I’m honoured but I never bother about all this,” he said. “I bother about the song, what do we have to do with the music, how it’s got to be done. That is my priority.”
He promised fans that his Dubai concert would include hit songs from down the years.
Rahman will be joined on stage by singers Mohit Chauhan, Javed Ali, a singer from the latest Bollywood film Rockstar, and well-known musicians such as Sivamani.
“It will be a concert of a celebration, it’s a concert of love and the main language is the music,” he said.
The songs will draw from a range of Rahman’s songs in Indian languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and English. More info
The AR Rahman – Live concert will be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Sports City on December 9. Tickets are available online and at Virgin Megastores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
