“When you see around, the same things are happening, and that is what bothers me,” said A. R. Rahman as he unveiled the prelude to his upcoming directorial venture Le Musk , the world's first virtual reality multi-sensory feature film at PVR ECX in Noida. Written, directed and scored by Rahman, the movie has an ensemble cast including Nora Arnezeder, Guy Burnet, Munirih Jahanpour and Mariam Zohrabyan in lead roles. “VR provides three dimensional view and brings the picture much closer and clearer which makes the emotional response novel and amazing,” said Rahman as he interacted with a select media gathering on the sidelines of the event.
“In 2015, somebody gave me a virtual reality gear and at the same period of time, we were thinking of doing a theatre with projections all around. Meanwhile, I had a discussion with my wife, who is fond of perfumes. She asked me to do something on perfumes,” he said. “Why don't we make a virtual reality combining all things together, I said to Grace Boyle, an olfactory artist who specially-designed scents for it and after that, all things came together,” revealed the composer as he reclined on a chair for a quick chat.
Instead of making a theatre, he decided to contribute to something which is evolving. “I like what I am doing in music but I wanted to do it as it is a very impressionistic medium.” Having said that, he added that filmmaking is very tough and this one did not seem to him that exhausting, as it was a short schedule with lots of people taking care of things for him. “After all, we have a lot of good directors to do big projects, I do not want to take their job,” the maestro laughed.
On a Jaunt
In his biography A. R. Rahman: The Musical Storm , the composer had revealed his love for the technology and he has always been a front runner in adapting the new technology in practice. Indeed, the craving for the best travelled with him in his love for cameras as well and the artist possesses some of the best cameras in the world. “At the time of shooting, Jaunt was the best camera in the VR field which we used and certain experimental things that I wanted came about with certain hacks and innovation of rigs on the sets,” said Rahman. He asserted that he always tried to experiment with music in conjunction with storytelling and suggested that it was the right time to find a possibility of experimenting with “narrative-music” which he had tried through his score in the film. “It was all about music and natural beauty mixed together with eye candy visuals. The idea was to put people in places where they have never been before such as in between a symphony, a yacht or a perfumery and where ever the camera travels, the viewers are transported there. The story is of a heiress on the trail of the smell of musk that runs from her childhood to adulthood, and it takes you to various olfactory sensations as you travel from the picturesque Romania to the serene Rome,” described the Oscar winner.
He contended that being fans of Hollywood movies, we had a responsibility to give something back to them through the reflection of our culture. “We are in a space and time where we can give them something in return. I like to work only with people with passion and with my team, I share a value that we have to be honest and do only those things which excite us and make us sleepless in delivering our best,” reflected Rahman.
Talking about the success of his international projects, the composer asserted that internalising the culture is the only way for him to understand an alien culture. “The voice should come out as your own voice and one need not wear a different hat for making music for the western audience as they are not 'others'. We grew up watching Hollywood films and it is as much our culture now. The difference is only as much as between speaking in a formal party and to a close friend. You know how to respond in different situations and that applies here as well,” said Rahman.
The artist, who is known for adoring Sufism both in his works and life, recently found himself in a controversy when a Muslim group issued a fatwa against him for giving music to Majid Majidi’s Iranian film Muhammad: Messenger of God .
“The names are different but we are all made up of compassion. We feel good to be generous, to give love, do charity and all religions teach that serving is more pleasurable than taking. Loving is more satisfying than hating and that is how I reacted to them. Being a lover of Iranian cinema, it was an honour working with Majid Majidi,” said Rahman. With another VR project based on Indian culture and dance forms in the pipeline besides 99 Songs , a film which he has written and produced, and Gurinder Chadha's Viceroy House, Rahman is in no mood to take a pause. “I cannot afford to have a musician’s block like a writer’s block. What comes from the heart goes to the heart and it will continue,” concluded Rahman.
