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Kolkata gears up to ring in rahman fever

Pramita Bose

Music is certainly in the air for the music-loving Kolkatans. For less than a month is left before Rahmania spreads around the culture capital. Come November 14 and the Mozart of Madras will take centrestage to enthral millions of his fans. A press conference was recently held in Kolkata wherein the Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman himself made a formal announcement of his impending live charity concert Jai Ho to be hosted at Yuva Bharti Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium). The event is a fund-raiser and will be organised in aid of constructing a Liver Health Institute by the five-year-old non-profitable voluntary NGO Liver Foundation, West Bengal, to benefit the underprivileged sections of the society and support the indigent.

The buzz is loud and reverberating in the culture-friendly ambience of Kolkata, with the local musicians rooting for the imminent musical extravaganza by the composer extraordinaire. More so because, this is his maiden visit to the City of Joy after his twin Oscar toaster at the Kodak Theatre of Los Angeles eight months back. Hopefully, a grand reception is waiting for the brilliant scorer.

Back from his New York trip where he recently led his fusion troupe Shastriya Syndicate to a captivating musical extravaganza, reputed young sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee swears to be a huge fan of Rahman.

"Well, I’m looking forward to the maestro’s scintillating magic in this soiree and hope to catch him perform live on stage. I feel extremely privileged to have received a mail of appreciation from his end, about a year ago wherein he had mentioned to be immensely impressed with the sound of music that we generate. He had also expressed his desire to make music together with us someday in the near future. I wait for that moment with a bated breath," he says, unable to hold back his excitement. What is most amazing about Rahman’s scores is that "he is deeply rooted in his traditional Indianness, yet at the same time, he has an aura of a global phenomenon around him". "This attracts listeners from all quarters, transcending geographical boundaries. He gels his indigenous ideas with universal flavours. His ethnic elements are punctuated with a contemporary package that cuts through cultures and generations," says Purbayan.

Soloist singer Francis Lepcha says: "I’m a die-hard fan of the Roja composer. He is a great exponent of his craft and has a very distinct style and class. Without diminishing other musicians’ calibre or credibility in Bollywood or elsewhere, Rahman is the best thing to have happened to the mainstream Indian music industry in this cyber age. He unleashes a strong influence of bass guitar in his notes and this simple connectivity completely changes the mood of a given song. His illustrious repertoire reflects his trademark trait. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a great evening."

The mercury of excitement is already soaring. From an elite to a daily wage earner to a seller at a pan shop or a dancer at a disc floor under the psychedelic lights, Rahman can play host to every creed with his commendable craft. Hopefully, the concert will be an opportunity for the denizens of Kolkata to get up, close and personal with the prodigious master and remember his tryst with the town as a lasting impression on their lives.

"The feel of his music is so different that it cannot be equated with only popular mass-centric tastes. It has a touch of class too. On the organisers’ part, more such concerts should be arranged to pool in economic revenue. Hence, instead of clamping down with stringent rules, a little relaxation of the regulations can escalate a city’s cultural image," says Francis.

For the rest of the nation, he might be a powerful musical whiz but for her, he is another local boy with whom she can converse in Tamil or exchange notes on music. Veteran vocalist Usha Uthup praises Rahman for his unswerving humility and low-profile disposition. "He is nice and suave, a very good-natured person and really soft-spoken," she says. The versatile crooner adds: "The audience in Bengal is more or less musically inclined and pretty good clued in about the nitty-gritties of tunes. So, every other instrumental virtuoso or a renowned classical artiste looks for connoisseurs to make their musical outings both satisfactory and successful."

Ace percussionist-cum-composer Bickram Ghosh savours the fever-pitch frenzy that the Rahman rockers are currently submerged under. "I’m not sure if I’ll be in town around that time but, of course, I look forward to the best from the Bombay Dreams musical boss on his sound-n-beats. Hope he unfurls a fantastic bundle of fresh surprises. I can only imagine his stint to be of a brand new pulsating sound, hitherto unheard," he says. "Albeit there are doubting Thomases who are sceptical about his Slumdog Millionaire numbers, yet I’ve no qualms in admitting my addiction to his every single track, ranging from his earlier compositions like Roja, Bombay, Rangeela, Lagaan, Swades to Jodha Akbar or Dilli-6. The manner in which he combines electronica with acoustic layerings is incredible," he says.

Corroborating that usually such shows are pre-orchestrated, so a chance of the maestro breaking into an impromptu gig is slim. Ghosh, however, says: "But given an offer at someplace else, I’d surely grab the golden chance with full hands to jam with the master musician and that’s going to be straight from the heart. It would also depend upon the prevalent mood and time and am a huge sucker for such heartfelt extempore."

"I would have rather put my money on Rahman’s superlative composition at the behest of late pop legend Michael Jackson. That would be an ideal creation for us Indians by the maestro as a tribute to the iconic King of Pop," says vocalist Shuvayu of upcoming Bangla band Shorojontro.

"He is classic yet quite ultra-modern in feel. The Jodha Akbar album sounds intricate yet aesthetic. These large-scale concerts with enormous star power and high stakes involve a lot of pre-designing and planning. So, automatically, the shows get streamlined with a measured performance. In that case, even Michael Jackson would rehearse a zillion times before taking the final call and all his antics on stage would be tailor-made including his famous noises and shrieks as well," he says.

Who knows, this time, Rahman might just pull a rabbit out of his hat. So wait and watch for the National Awardee to spin some soul-stirring magic out of nothing at all. For the catchline here is to expect the unexpected. Jai Ho!