Mumbai, April 1 -- AR Rahman's mentor Mani Ratnam whom he fondly calls "Mani sir" will launch the music maestro's first-ever official biography, written by Nasreen Munni Kabir, on April 6 in Mumbai, along with some high profile actors and directors.
A source informs Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan and filmmaker Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra are some of the people likely to grace the occasion.
Nasreen reveals that in her book Rahman talks about working with Mani's cousin Sharada and her husband Trilok on an ad and eventually meeting Mani through them. The director-composer duo went on to first work together in Roja (1992) and continue to work together even after their 20-year-long association. Rahman says, "I felt a kind of vacuum when the production of Roja ended and told Mani Ratnam, 'I am not going to work on another movie or another director. Working with you has been so satisfying.'" Rahman also says Mani prodded him to not limit his music to his films or him. "It should be for the whole world," director had told him.
Nasreen says the success of Roja helped him gradually overcome doubts over his abilities. Mani Ratnam believed in him from day one and gave his ego and talent a huge boost till Rahman started believing that he could do something. Rahman also credits Roja's success for giving him "a kind of status". Time Magazine listed his music for Roja among the ten best soundtracks of all time in 2005. He says, "People started to respect and take me seriously."
However, Rahman disagrees when asked if he gives his best compositions to Mani. He says, "I don't need to impress Mani sir with grand ensembles and elaborate arrangements. Sometimes, he likes simplest melody. He doesn't think twice about experimenting. That's a great quality."
Published by Om Books International, AR Rahman The Spirit of Music offers foliomusic of The Bombay Theme and Cry of the Rose by Rahman and a CD containing unreleased sound recordings.
