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Tag: AR Rahman

  • Rahman sings ‘Maahi Ve’ for Highway

    Rahman sings ‘Maahi Ve’ for Highway

    MUMBAI: After Patakha Guddi sent the entire nation rocking to the beats of Highway, music maestro A.R. Rahman takes the microphone himself for the next song Maahi Ve.

     

    Directed by Imtiaz Ali, Highway is a road movie starring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda who traverse through six states of north India in the course of the film.

     

    Maahi Ve, written by Irshad Kamil, is a soft romantic number sung by Rahman in his inimitable soulful way. It is picturised on Veera (Alia) and Mahabir (Randeep), as circumstances bring the two strangers close to each other.

     

    “Maahi Ve is coming more from Rahman sir than from Irshad or me. This is one of the songs that Rahman sir makes and one wonders how the hell does he get the soul of the story so beautifully. The song was not a part of the original brief but I cannot imagine the film or the album of Highway without it,” says Imtiaz. 

     

    Produced by Window Seat Films and presented by Sajid Nadiadwala, the film will be released worldwide by UTV Motion Pictures. The music of the film will be available on T-Series.

  • Sony Music Jive claims to be most downloaded app

    Sony Music Jive claims to be most downloaded app

    MUMBAI: Sony Music Jive has claimed to be the most downloaded and accepted app. The app, launched six months back, was created for making legitimate music easy to use for customers. Launched by Sony Music India, the app is also a part of the Sony Xperia range of handsets and the new Sony Vaio range of laptops.

    Sony Music Jive allows consumers to download and stream unlimited music for free for a period of six months after which the consumer has to pay a nominal monthly fee.

    Sony Music Jive president India and Middle East Shridhar Subramaniam said, “Sony Music Jive is our foray into directly engaging with consumer by offering them a unique and compelling digital music proposition. It has been more than six months since the service was launched and we have been very encouraged by the consumer response. As a brand, we have been doing a number of digital innovations and the launch of this new hybrid application is another such.”

     The users can browse through over two million songs across multiple genres -pop, rock, reggae, hip hop, country, classical, dance, Indian regional, Bollywood and download to create a playlist or just listen on the go.  Sony Music Jive has access to iconic Bollywood soundtracks – Lagaan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Guru , Kal Ho Na Ho, Rang De Basanti, Dostana, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gam, Jannat, Student of the Year, Agneepath, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Raanjhaana to 100 years of international music ranging from iconic and pop artists such as Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, Micheal Jackson, Santana, AR Rahman, Shakira, Beyonce, Keisha, Pitbull to pop stars like KK, Lucky Ali, Strings, Daler Mehendi, Harris Jayraj, Kailash Kher and more. 

    The app plans to be available across operating systems and integrated with operators for all consumers to have access to this service.

  • Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman launch social media platform

    Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman launch social media platform

    MUMBAI: Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman have teamed up to launch social media platform Qyuki Digital Media, which has Cisco as a key investor.

    The platform aims to discover the vast untapped talent of India and the Indian diaspora, mentor them, and turn them into brands of the future. It will offer co-creation opportunities, collaboration, recognition and a creative marketplace to the consumers.

    Qyuki will help the youth to experience and co-create differentiated content with the experts and be inspired by the ‘Masters‘ creations.

    Qyuki co-founder Shekhar Kapur said, "At Qyuki, we are creating a world of opportunity, where it doesn’t matter where you come from, but what matters is your creativity and the meaning one can derive from it. It’s a world where people can learn from established domain experts, showcase their creativity and connect with like-minded people. Ultimately, they have the potential to become the brands of the future. This is a hub where I will create compelling content experiences such as Warlord and Animalocity."
    Qyuki co-founder AR Rahman said, “Qyuki will help you creatively explore yourself, open the window for creativity that exists in all corners of India and is a first step to trigger the imagination of Indian minds. Qyuki would be active and focussed in driving creative expression of all art forms. The platform will emerge as a strong medium that will enable Indian youth to follow their creative instinct. Melange, premiered at Qyuki, is content created by young musicians at K M Music Conservatory which showcases the potential of creativity in India.”

    Qyuki’s technology platform has been developed in-house to bring to the consumer a unique multi-modal experience deployed on Cisco’s state-of-the-art datacentre technology. The entire Qyuki platform is built on Cisco’s cloud infrastructure.

    Hilton Romanski, Vice President, Head of Corporate Business Development, Cisco said, “Cisco has a long track record of driving IT market growth through investments. We have invested in Qyuki to co-create a technology platform that enables conceptualization of creative content, contextualising it and delivering it through mobile devices and cloud. With Cisco, Qyuki has the capability to build an online human network in India.”

    Qyuki will enable brands to leverage the creative community in many different ways. It will allow brands to reach out to a targeted community, interacting with content and co-create brand communication with them, directly or through online and mobile advertising. It also provides them with a chance to gauge the emotional pulse of the consumer or associate with specific genre of creativity.

  • Whistling Woods to celebrate 100 years of cinema

    Whistling Woods to celebrate 100 years of cinema

    MUMBAI: Students and Alumni of the Whistling Woods International are set to host a three-day film festival to earmark the centenary celebrations of Indian Cinema from 1 to 3 June at its Film City campus.

    Titled Cinema 100, the initiative will showcase a blend of film screening – classic films, curated films, documentaries, thematic compilations among others, knowledge sharing and learning, exhibition of film posters and rare cinema artifacts.

    Whistling Woods International founder chairman Subhash Ghai said, "Whistling Woods has always promoted quality film education and we have been thought leaders in providing the latest knowledge and infrastructure to our students. Cinema 100 is our tribute to the fascinating 100 year journey of Indian Cinema. Industry stalwarts and legends have agreed to share their knowledge and experiences to make this experience even richer."

    Celebrities who will grace the occasion or conduct workshops or panel discussions in the three-day festival are AR Rahman, Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Roshan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Habib Faisal, Rohit Shetty, R Balki, Saroj Khan, Parineeti Chopra, Arjun Kapoor, Javed Siddiqui, Gulzaar, Zoya Akhtar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Jackie Shroff, Hema Malini, and Khalid Mohammed among others.

  • Rajnikant-starrer Kochaidaiyaan to release in September

    Rajnikant-starrer Kochaidaiyaan to release in September

    MUMBAI: The first phase of shooting of Mediaone Global Entertainment‘s Rajnikant-starrer Kochaidaiyaan has recently been completed in London and the film has been slated to be released in September this year.

    Kochaidaiyaan is inspired by the name of Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran, the Pandya Dynasty king. Son and successor of Arikesari Maravarman, he asserted his superiority over the Cheras and Cholas and subdued the Marathas in the city of Mangalapuram, the modern day Mangalore.

    He also started the hostilities with the Chalukyas of Badami and the Gangas. He undertook a campaign against the Ay (Ayangar) chieftains. He defeated them in Kurunadu in south Travancore after which he earned the allegiance of the Ay chief.

    Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone is the heroine and the music has been scored by double Oscar-winner AR Rahman.

    Rajinikanth‘s daughter Soundarya R Ashwin is directing the film with the supervision of director-actor KS Ravikumar. The film stars Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone besides R Sarath Kumar, Shobana, Nassar and Jackie Shroff.

    The film is likely to be released in Telugu, English, Hindi and Japanese.

  • Rahman gets Lifetime Achievement at Dubai Filmfest

    Rahman gets Lifetime Achievement at Dubai Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Oscar-winning maestro AR Rahman, 45, has won one more Lifetime Achievement Award – this time at the Eighth Dubai International Film Festival.

    Hollywood and Bollywood stars walked the red carpet at the opening of the Festival which will continue till 14 December. The Festival opened with the world premiere of ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘. ‘Laptop‘ by Kaushik Ganguly is among the nine Asian films in competition.

    Tom Cruise returned to Dubai after shooting major scenes for the action-thriller in the emirate over 23 days, including stunts on the 828-metre high, 160-floor Burj Khalifa skyscraper, currently the world‘s tallest freestanding structure. He was joined on the red carpet by the film‘s director Brad Bird and his co-stars Paula Patton, Simon Pegg and Anil Kapoor, one of several Bollywood stars attending the festival.

    A “public interactive session” with the director Farhan Akhtar and stars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra of upcoming Bollywood action-thriller ‘Don 2‘ proved to be a major attraction. Other attractions from India include the world premiere of Maneesh Sharma‘s comedy ‘Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl‘ with stars Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

    This film is within the annual “Celebration of Indian Cinema” section which includes a diverse range of Indian films in Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam as well as Hindi. It includes a special two-film tribute to composer AR Rahman.

    The festival will screen 124 feature films, including 11 from India, six from Japan, three from South Korea and two films from both Hong Kong and the Philippines.

    The Muhr AsiaAfrica Competition includes Asian films that have previously competed at this year‘s Cannes Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.

  • DIFF lifetime achievement honour for AR Rahman

    DIFF lifetime achievement honour for AR Rahman

    MUMBAI: This year the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will honour music director AR Rahman with a Lifetime Achievement award. Rahman will receive the award during the 8th DIFF to be held from 7-14 December.

    Winner of two Academy Awards and two Grammy Awards, the 45 year old Rahman will be the first musician to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the film festival.

    Rahman‘s Slumdog Millionaire, which was screened at DIFF 2008, won the musician two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song, while his score for 127 Hours, which screened at DIFF 2010, won him Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nominations.

    While at Dubai, Rahman will also kick off his world tour with a concert supported by the Festival in the city on 9 December.

    This year DIFF will also present the Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran Egyptian actor Gamil Rateb.

    Others from the Indian film industry who have won the Lifetime Achievement Award at DIFF include Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai.

  • MEC wins Harman’s media duties for India

    MEC wins Harman’s media duties for India

     
    MUMBAI: GroupM‘s MEC has been awarded the India media duties of audio and infotainment solutions provider, Harman International.


    The Stamford, Connecticut-headquartered company, whose brands include Harman Kardon, JBL, AKG and Infinity, recently awarded its creative duties to Law & Kenneth, and roped in AR Rahman as the brand ambassador for JBL “Hear the truth’ campaign.


    MEC MD T Gangadhar said, “We are proud to be associated with HARMAN International, a legendary name in the world of sound. As HARMAN International, India’s Agency of Record, our mandate is to create communication solutions across platforms. We look forward to creating exciting engagement between HARMAN brands and audiophiles.”
     
     
    The US audio systems maker is also expected to establish its first manufacturing facility in India soon. The company supplies audio products for cars made by BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler, Toyota, Fiat SpA and Ferrari.
     
     
    Harman competes with Bose, Yamaha, Panasonic Corp, Sony Corp and Denso Corp, and is looking for aggressive growth in India.
     

  • AR Rahman joins JBL’s new campaign

    AR Rahman joins JBL’s new campaign

    MUMBAI: Manufacturer of audio solutions, Harman International India, has roped in AR Rahman, as the India brand ambassador for JBL by Harman‘s “Hear the truth” – a multi-year campaign featuring an evolving roster of international musicians.

    In the coming weeks and months, Harman will launch its advertising campaign, social media engagement, intended to challenge listeners to “Hear the truth,” a campaign designed to resonate with JBL‘s long-time fans and music lovers, through the artists and songs they adore.

    Musicians across genres around the world will be inducted throughout this multi-year campaign. Harman will also re-launch the JBL website (JBL.com) featuring the brand tagline and introduce expanded e-commerce and multilingual capabilities.
     
    Rahman will feature in the campaign highlighting “How AR Rahman listens to AR Rahman”. He joins Grammy Award-winning rock band Maroon 5, rock bands Styx and Night Ranger.

    During the course of the campaign, JBL aims to utilise social media channels to share unique behind-the-scenes video content and video shoots with the featured artists.

    These engaging clips will showcase the commitment, artistry and vision that the musicians bring to their craft so listeners and fans can “hear the truth.”

    Rahman said, “The ‘Hear the truth‘ message from JBL is what I strive to achieve every day and I am proud to be part of this campaign. I‘m very fortunate to have passionate fans who expect exciting music from me – and I sincerely believe music should be heard the way every musician intends the audience to experience it. For me, that means it should be heard on JBL equipment.”