India Maestro Music Ar Rahman turned out to be wiser today and even though there was no one in a country that was not a fan of living legend, etimes held very talented, Jonita Gandhi on the occasion.
The singer, who had worked with Ace musicians many times in the past, talked about his first meeting with Rahman, the quality that made him stand apart from other people, birthday greetings for him and more.
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Tell us about your first meeting with Ar Rahman?
I was called to the studio after I had done an episode of Coke Studio with Clinton Cerejo.
I remember waiting in the waiting room and when I was called to the studio, I starstruck when I saw him but he was very warm.
I was very nervous but he was very friendly and made me feel at home.
He talked to me as if we were friends, who were really sweet and humbled!
How do you experience with him?
It was amazing! I have never had such an experience in my previous life.
The way he created while noting the singer was a magical experience.
This is a great learning process – it is a learning curve and you have to be on the toes and become learning quickly to follow it.
This experience is truly encouraging.
Mention one quality that makes maestro music stand apart from the others.
I think his ability to adapt to the artist, his sensitivity of music is so extensive that I feel like he can understand his musicians and singers are really good.
He was able to adapt music to adjust their strength.
The imagination also made him apart – he was able to extract things from the people they did not know that they could do because they had never done it before but in his imagination, he knew they could.
Your favorite Ar Rahman song all time …
It’s a different song every time I requested.
What I usually talk about because I have a happy memory of doing it as a child in karaoke on different events in Toronto, and then years later it was able to do a living song with Rahman Pak as a duet was ‘Tere Bina’ from the teacher.
Maybe not the most my favorite song Ar Rahman, but it’s one of my songs has the most special bond with.
One advice he gives you or one thing you have learned from Ar Rahman …
To keep experimenting and doing unexpected things.
I have studied this from him for years because he was very dedicated to trying new things.
I think it’s really inspiring.
I have so many examples of my experience recording with him where he shows me that there are no rules – just because a song is one genre or language, doesn’t mean you can’t mix it a little.
There are no rules and you always have space to try new things.
He made extraordinary music for years and he continued to do it, and people asked in an interview why we couldn’t hear more music like ‘Roja’ for example, or ‘bombay’ and I loved the answer – he said he had Do that and he wants to do something new now.
So I thought who really inspired and I thought I had actually started to follow.
It must be something behind my mind all the time, and I always try to rediscover myself, experiment and try new things, learn and grow.
I think part of it must be because I was affected by him.
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Have a message for him on his birthday?
I just want to tell him that his birthday is a celebration for all our fans of Ar Rahman.
I will forever become a first fan and I’m always happy about his new project because he is a bag of surprises.
I feel like I’m always on the edge of my chair waiting to see what he is doing next because it’s always something interesting! I was very blessed to work with him and I was excited about my relationship with him to develop even more in the coming years, hopefully, and to continue to learn from him!
Jonita: Will forever become a fan of Rahman
