This is not the first award for ‘Farishton’ as just a couple of days ago, the music video won an Award of Merit at the Global Shorts.net, an international short film competition…reports Asian Lite News.
Noted music director A.R. Rahman’s daughter Khatija Rahman seems to be doing her dad proud. The gifted singer’s music video – ‘Farishton’ – has won the award for the Best Animation Music Video at the International Sound Future Awards.
Although the award will technically go to A.R. Rahman for being the music director and the producer of the video, it is clear that Rahman considers the video to be the work of his daughter Khatija.
He tweeted the news of the music video has won the awards. “‘Farishton’ wins one more award. @Rahmankhatija EPI.”
This is not the first award for ‘Farishton’ as just a couple of days ago, the music video won an Award of Merit at the Global Shorts.net, an international short film competition.
The video has also received a special mention award at the Los Angeles Film Awards.
‘Farishton’ is significant as Khatija Rahman considers it to be the beginning of her musical journey.
In a post describing her video on YouTube, Khatija says, “I was born in Chennai in a multicultural family with different genres of music and with friends from diverse backgrounds. I’ve always been fascinated with the wonders of life. As Mawlana Rumi says – ‘There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground; there are a thousand ways to go home again. The video’s main character Amal was created with such experiences of mine and the longing to explore the unknown. I hope all of you find your own journey of the unknown.”
Oscar-winner AR Rahman’s all-women ensemble’s exclusive video is released…reports Asian Lite News
Expo 2020 Dubai has released an exclusive video showing the Firdaus Orchestra performing for the first time, capturing the talent and creativity of Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman’s pioneering all-women ensemble.
Expo 2020
With just a week to go before doors open to the world’s biggest cultural gathering, the footage highlights the artistic prowess of the 50 musicians from across the Arab world, as they prepare to debut a fusion of styles and genres at Expo 2020 next month.
Starting from 23 October, the concerts will also feature works composed by A.R. Rahman for the orchestra’s inaugural performance on the global stage.
Celebrating the region’s culture and diversity, Expo 2020’s in-house orchestra – which has appointed Yasmina Sabbah as its conductor – is made up of musicians of 23 nationalities and ages ranging from 16 to 51, demonstrating how music is accessible to and for everyone.
To come to this place, it took quite a while because there are many risks we’ve taken. So for me, it was like a 100 times that kind of energy and responsibility…Rahman speaks with Puja Gupta.
Legendary singer and composer A.R. Rahman says that sometimes not thinking something is the best way to deal with a writer’s block.
One method to break through a musician’s block is, “Something which I think most of the time is physical, not biological. Just as the body needs rest, the mind also needs rest. And sometimes not thinking something is the best way through. I always take my car out and listen to the music, see how people would listen to it in their car; how it would sound on FM. These connectors I personally try out.”
Speaking about his upcoming movie “99”, Rahman said he embarked on a fantastic, path breaking journey right from the start.
Having demanded every bit of his time, effort, energy and patience, he shares the challenges he had to overcome to finally release the movie for everyone to see on Twitter Spaces, “Actually since I’m heading the team, and as the producer and writer who ambitioned this project, I felt this sense of responsibility. Honestly, sometimes when I do music videos, I feel like for many music videos and many songs I only almost finished them and then I wouldn’t have the time and I’d just leave it and move on with my life. So in this film, I said to myself that thought should never come to mind, no matter what happens, I’m heading the team, I’m heading their aspirations, so I have to fulfill this especially since they’ve all trusted me as the team leader. I knew I should bring the ship to the shore, the way we envisioned it and even better.”
He added, “To come to this place, it took quite a while because there are many risks we’ve taken. So for me, it was like a 100 times that kind of energy and responsibility. Moreover, I wanted this movie to have its own voice and it does. It has the collective voice of this whole team.”
While he expressed his love for music and how the movie came to be, Rahman also revealed how he and the crew embarked on their quest for the right actor for ’99 songs’ and eventually landed Ehan for the role.
“We wanted somebody who could play beautifully, who could sing. We wanted the sky. And, of course, for that you need to give time. And music doesn’t come easily. It’s like penance. So there are amazing actors who would have been nice but then we thought will they have that little bit of experience in music and will they have the time to learn music. So we felt like it’d be better to get a new cast altogether where we can nurture someone, and we went through almost 750 to 800 auditions and we found Ehan in the process.”
Adding Ehan became part of the ’99 songs’ journey and the work he put in to take it up.
“We had to change the beginning a bit because initially it was supposed to be a 20-year-old Beatles fan with round glasses and big hair. But then the moment we saw Ehan, I looked at him, and I could envision him, after the movie, acting in bigger movies, maybe even in an English movie. We took the decision to nurture him and prep him for this role. We sent him to Hollywood to learn a bit of acting; he was also in KM Music Conservatory for a year or so, that’s been the journey and I feel good about it. He worked on it.”
