India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
India takes cue from Pakistan as Coke Studio crosses border
By Annie Banerji
Usually known to adapt shows from the west like American Idol, The X Factor and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, India is set to start Coke Studio @ MTV, a rendering of Coke Studio Pakistan, which is currently airing its fourth season. It seems the two initialised an exchange of television programmes last year when MTV Pakistan asked the Indian counterpart for the licence to produce Roadies, an Indian home grown reality show.
Coke Studio, which originated in Brazil in 2007, welcomes and celebrates the diversity in unity in the genres of music, wherein the artists collaborate to offer a plethora of cultural and diverse influences ranging from classical, Sufi, folk to contemporary, pop and even bhangra (a type of music combining Punjabi folk traditions with Western pop).
Similarities between Coke Studio @ MTV, the official name of the show, and its Pakistani version may be drawn due to both countries’ historical and cultural nexus in Punjabi and Sufi music. In spite of this, having hundreds of languages across the nation, the show’s Indian adaptation hopes to reach the next level by showcasing a myriad of multi-lingual musical collaborations.
“Music is what feelings sound like,” reads the official Facebook page of Coke Studio @ MTV. The anticipation of the launch is palpable through social media. The yet-to-be aired Coke Studio @ MTV Facebook page already has over 200,000 fans and sneak peeks on YouTube have been viewed over a few thousand times.
It appears that the root to the rising anticipation of the show is its move away from exclusively highlighting commercial Bollywood music, which most Indian music-related programmes tend to do. The audience is looking forward to the assortment of talent from different corners of the country, all under one banner.
Unlike every other show in India, this programme is neither a competition nor any form of a reality show. Its main objective is to design a platform for popular musicians as well as upcoming talent to come together in order to create a fusion with their individual musical tastes and to finally record the product on the spot.
Is ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ A.R.Rahman’s best score?
Waking up on a Monday morning is so much nicer when you wake up to good news, isn’t it?
A.R.Rahman winning two Grammys for “Slumdog Millionaire” certainly made my day, but as television channels played its theme song “Jai Ho” over and over again, I found myself wanting to hear some of his other compositions.
“Dil Hai Chota Sa” from “Roja” perhaps or “Naina Milaike” from “Saathiya”, “Ay Hairathe” from “Guru” and my favourite — “Arziyan” from “Delhi 6″.
While “Slumdog” and “Jai Ho” have captured the world’s imagination, I wonder if it is his best work.
When Rahman won the Oscar last year, I remember lyricist Gulzar telling me he thought Rahman’s music for Mani Ratnam’s upcoming film “Ravana” was his best.
And while I love the beats of “Jai Ho” and the haunting music of “Latika’s Theme” from the “Slumdog” album, they are not in my top five list of Rahman songs.
But then, how often is it that an artiste wins awards for his or her best work. Director Martin Scorsese won his first Oscar for “The Departed” which is not considered his best work. And just last year, Kate Winslet took home the best actress trophy for “The Reader” but many critics say she deserved it more for “Revolutionary Road”.
Shilpa, at the risk of getting beaten up by Rahman fans, I do not even think AR Rahman is India’s best talent. He is very very talented, yes. He stands out especially when compared to a mass of very average performers in a over-competitive industry. Who are we comparing Rahman to, SD Burman? Naushad? If these award committees ever cared to research Indian music deeply or seen beyond India’s beaten-to-death poverty, they’d be in for a shock. So, to answer your question, no, Jai Ho is at best a pop song, a very poor one at that.
Growing up with the ‘Moonwalker’
It was the late 80s and I was in school, contemptuous of rules and looking for a cause to rebel against parental interference. I was too young to run away and wise enough not to push it so as to end up without dinner.
I was itching for an icon, a just cause to let out my angst, when I saw him for the first time on our black and white television one night.
I could have sworn Michael Jackson was looking straight at me and I stared right back, unabashed, mesmerized. “He knows,” I remember thinking.
Back then we had no cable connection and only a single channel — the government-run Doordarshan — that like a venerable grandfather took our education in its hands, combining crop rotation with calculus and regional films with Indian classical music.
Some urbane, convent-educated, upper middleclass families did listen to “Western Music” comprising mostly Bach, Mozart and the occasional Belafonte.
But when MJ unashamedly burst into the screen during a programme on Doordarshan called the Hot Tracks, with his hip gyrations, metal-studded jacket, top hat and sheer energy — it was just too much.
“Why would any self-respecting adult declare he’s ‘Bad’ on national TV? What’s happening to lyrics?” my father seethed with righteous indignation. But I wasn’t paying attention.
i am a girl of 29 years,,,,,but i remamber that from my childhood i have always heard about michel jackson,,i always dreamede about him,,,,but now my dreams can never be true
‘Slumdog’ magic rubs off on India abroad
(Click here to watch video)
Bollywood and Indian culture is getting plenty of attention worldwide — thanks to the “Slumdog Millionaire” effect.
Danny Boyle’s rags-to-riches romance about a poor Indian boy competing in a TV game show scooped eight Academy Awards earlier this year.
The film’s global box-office success brought its relatively unknown young stars on the global stage (with lead actress Freida Pinto slated to star in Woody Allen’s next project).
In the U.S., Bollywood’s arc of influence is creating thriving ancillary industries and garnering buzz for the likes of celebrity stylist Shalini Vadhera.
The Los Angeles entrepreneur, with her Global Goddess beauty products, sits atop a business that brings in a million dollars annually.
“I always feel like Obama winning for the African Americans is ‘Slumdog’ winning for us as Indian Americans and South Asians was fantastic,” she says.
Is an Oscar next, Mr Rahman?
His voice is soft over the phone, almost inaudible. He has just done a lot of interviews, and the tiredness in his voice is clear.
There are no niceties, no formal hello; instead he plunges straight into the agenda of the day — that’s a typical A. R. Rahman interview for you. The 43-year-old music composer is as humble as he is talented, as unaffected by success as he is successful.
“Unbelievable,” he said as he stood on the podium with a Golden Globe statuette in his hand. And it was. That an Indian composer could win such a coveted international honour for what is essentially such an Indian soundtrack — and do it all with a minimum of fuss, is a matter of pride for all Indians.
“If I win it, it will be a surprise,” he told the media the day he was leaving for Los Angeles. “But if I do win, I want to win for India.”
He didn’t forget to mention his country in his acceptance speech on Sunday, thanking the “one billion” people of India for the praise.
Those one billion will now be egging him on for even greater heights — don’t forget, the Oscars are just a little over a month away, and to see an Indian composer hold that coveted trophy in hand is something we could only have dreamed of — until now.
Join us in congratulating Rahman and wishing him all the best for the Oscars. Jai Ho!
Congratulations Rahman.
You made all the indians proud. you did it.
All the best.
-
The Wall
