Slumdog Millionaire is a trailblazer of sorts, scooping up awards in every felicitation of motion pictures this year. The movie opened its account at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, continued its victory run through the BAFTA and the SAG Awards and the Oscars.
Much has been written about the movie’s brilliant screenplay, its exquisite cinematography, the superb casting and the endearing performances of the children.
There has been a lot of controversy too, about the theme of the movie - with a section of Indians feeling that the movie showcases Mumbai’s slums in a stereotyped fashion, for a Western audience.
But there is one aspect of this exceptional movie that has been appreciated globally and unanimously and that is its music. The composer AR Rehman has created magic in his melodies.
Deservedly, he picked up the Golden Globe and Oscar awards for Best Original Score and the Oscar again for best original score for song, Jay Ho.
The background score of Slumdog Millionaire ably matches the pulsating tempo of the rags to riches story, permeating each frame with the melody of the mood. You just have to listen to the joyful and energetic melody of Jaya Ho to get to know AR Rehman’s potential. This musician first captured the heart of Indians in the early 90s when he created the music for the movie “Roja”. Since then, his every album has been popular, beautiful and unique.
This young musician has consistently created superlative music, never disappointing his millions of fans. It does not matter which CD of Rehman’s you pick up, because every one is an enchanting musical feast, from start to finish.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Sunday, September 28, 2008
To Form your own Band
Every aspiring musician dreams of joining a band. You could join an already existing band or form your own. If you join a band, you will be performing immediately, but as a new entrant may be accorded a minor role in the concerts. Sometimes joining a band, rather than being an answer to your great musical dream, could just be synonymous to tagging along with the rest of the members. Maybe then you want to have your own band to sing or play the guitar/drums to your heart's content. First of all you have to make up your mind whether you want to form a band that comprises of
1 Friends and you play periodically in clubs and social gatherings; in the process you would have loads of fun too
2. Professional players along with whom you would like to rake in the moolah
Naturally, the best part of creating a band would be your significant role in it. You decide what to play/sing and you remain well in the limelight. The tough part is waiting for your band to get the recognition and popularity for becoming a successful venture. To make this success possible, there is a lot you have to plan and execute. It always helps to have a clear and comprehensive idea about what you have to do. Let us break up your band-creating endeavor into a few achievable phases of action.
The Goal: First of all visualize where you will go, a year from now,..two years... five years from now. Within this framework (and with a reasonable allowance for contingencies) break up the contribution of every performer, you plan to induct into the band. Also enlist the possible areas of your performance and musical compositions as maybe in
1 Friends and you play periodically in clubs and social gatherings; in the process you would have loads of fun too
2. Professional players along with whom you would like to rake in the moolah
Naturally, the best part of creating a band would be your significant role in it. You decide what to play/sing and you remain well in the limelight. The tough part is waiting for your band to get the recognition and popularity for becoming a successful venture. To make this success possible, there is a lot you have to plan and execute. It always helps to have a clear and comprehensive idea about what you have to do. Let us break up your band-creating endeavor into a few achievable phases of action.
The Goal: First of all visualize where you will go, a year from now,..two years... five years from now. Within this framework (and with a reasonable allowance for contingencies) break up the contribution of every performer, you plan to induct into the band. Also enlist the possible areas of your performance and musical compositions as maybe in
- Jingles for commercials
- Background music for shows
- Videos
- Computer games
- Background score for movies
- Live shows
Finding your band members: The sources for finding the members of your band may be listed as
- Your friends
- The local music teacher could be approached about his students who are keen to play in a band
- Advertising in the local paper for the kind of musician you want (keyboard player, vocalist, percussionist, , etc)
- Placing an ad in the papers, requesting applicants to send a recording along with their details
- Placing a similar add on the Internet
- Become a member in online musical forums, participate in discussions and post your request
- Interview the candidates, just as you were appointing them for a job. Ask all the important questions, about their ambition, playing ability, the probability of moving away from your city, why they want to join a band, etc
- The answers will indicate which of the applicants are committed to cause of the band. Select them prudently
- Do not compromise on the quality you expect from the applicants
Somewhere between visualizing the band and finding its members, try and find a nice name for your band. The name must convey your uniqueness and appeal to the public for it sheer ingenuity.
Writing songs: Once the band is created your next task is to write the songs. For that you have to
- Read extensively to get ideas for lyrics
- Keep writing and writing, until you hit on the right words
- Keep a Thesaurus beside you for a greater source for words
- Buy a rhyming book to help you find the most apt words
- Listen to hundreds of CDs to help you identify the general style of the song
- However, limit the use of the these tools only to get you started; what you finally create must be
- Fresh
- Original
- Sincere and Appealing
Equipment: Plan and acquire the equipment as per your budget and requirement. Resort to attractive Special Effects for your music performances. Write down your plan of performance, and your practice schedule and ensure all members of the band has a copy of this. This way all of you come prepared even for every practice.
Copywriting: Once the song is ready, apply for its copyright if you plan to use it in a performance. Copyright gives you the sole right over the song. You have to register the song with the United States Copyright Office. The lower filing fee is $35. If you have more than one song to copyright, solicit the help of a lawyer, who can help you get on with the work. The application form is downloadable from http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/
Your music is heard: The song is written, the musicians ready, and you have practiced hard and sincerely. Only the performance is yet to begin.... This is how you can get to be heard.
- Place a requisition for a slot in the radio station at the local band hour
- Give away superior quality recordings of your performance to the local music dealer, radio stations, producers of shows, etc;
- You could even request the music dealer to play your CD in his shop and revert back to him to get the feedback - did his customers like the music, did they enquire about it, and so on
- Affiliate yourself with a charitable organization, and play for their special occasions. This way your band gets recognized well
- Approach the local club to allow you to perform there
- Hand over copies to local DJs, RJs to play on their shows
Play in the local park to create an awareness about your band - While you are busy with all these popularization endeavors, keep in mind that you cannot compromise the quality of music. You have to keep on practicing, creating more songs, and try to reach high levels of perfection.
- Practice and perseverance lead to perfection that will bring in more invites for your band
If a license is required in the specific area you plan to perform, acquire it without delay and well in advance. As money starts coming in you may need the services of a Certified Pubic Accountant (CPA) to help manage the funds.
Talent, foresight and hard work can take your band from one successful performance to the next. Now you are the leader of a music band, something you always wanted to do. Whether this would, in future become your career, or remain a much cherished hobby is always up to you.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Teachers' Day
September 5 is celebrated as Teachers' Day in India as it is the birthday of the most famous Indian teacher, President Dr. S Radhakrishnan.
Once I worked as a parent volunteer in my daughter's school. I was assigned the kindergarten class for three days, I had to teach them letter recognition, sing songs, tell them stories, and play games.
Though looking after 60 + children was quite a feat, and I was tired at the end of the first day, the lovely faces, the beguiling smiles and the unbridled enthusiasm of the children made me look forward to the next 2 days.
On the second day, the children were more familiar with me, they sang louder, laughed more, were more mischeavous and were in a mood of gay abandon during the last hour of games. "I told my mummy about you", said a pretty girl smiling shyly at me. "Oh did you? " I asked, returning the smile. "She will meet you", came the reply. "Ok!" I replied and waved to her while walking back home.
On the third day, true to her word, the little child came leading her mother and said, "Mummy, see new teacher". The parent gave me a lovely bouquet and said "Happy Teacher's day!" and went away.
This was 10 minutes before the school began.... As the children trouped in every single girl had brought in a bouquet, some had got chocolates too... Soon the room was filled with all those lovely flowers. there were roses, gladioli, carnations...
There was a lot of celebration, singing and dancing, besides a few skits created by the senior girls. It was a fun day, and the children loved it... As the day drew to a close, the headmistress walked in to thank me for volunteering for three days... She seemed to be taken aback by the flowers she could see everywhere...
"So many bouquets!! Why dont you take some home?" I took several bouquets to the beautiful church close by, gave some away to my parents and took home half a dozen! As I was leaving the school, a few more parents came to me and wished me for the day and said their children loved the school and its teachers.
The next day when I got back to my regular work place and thumped away on the keyboard the images of the last three days kept flashing before my eyes....
The laughter, the tears, the songs and the games, the willingness to learn and their charmingly defiant ways.... childhood's most precious moments are framed within these happy places of learning....
And September 5th, with all its flowers and good wishes and the smiling faces of parents and children, will always remain etched in my memory for a long time to come.
Once I worked as a parent volunteer in my daughter's school. I was assigned the kindergarten class for three days, I had to teach them letter recognition, sing songs, tell them stories, and play games.
Though looking after 60 + children was quite a feat, and I was tired at the end of the first day, the lovely faces, the beguiling smiles and the unbridled enthusiasm of the children made me look forward to the next 2 days.
On the second day, the children were more familiar with me, they sang louder, laughed more, were more mischeavous and were in a mood of gay abandon during the last hour of games. "I told my mummy about you", said a pretty girl smiling shyly at me. "Oh did you? " I asked, returning the smile. "She will meet you", came the reply. "Ok!" I replied and waved to her while walking back home.
On the third day, true to her word, the little child came leading her mother and said, "Mummy, see new teacher". The parent gave me a lovely bouquet and said "Happy Teacher's day!" and went away.
This was 10 minutes before the school began.... As the children trouped in every single girl had brought in a bouquet, some had got chocolates too... Soon the room was filled with all those lovely flowers. there were roses, gladioli, carnations...
There was a lot of celebration, singing and dancing, besides a few skits created by the senior girls. It was a fun day, and the children loved it... As the day drew to a close, the headmistress walked in to thank me for volunteering for three days... She seemed to be taken aback by the flowers she could see everywhere...
"So many bouquets!! Why dont you take some home?" I took several bouquets to the beautiful church close by, gave some away to my parents and took home half a dozen! As I was leaving the school, a few more parents came to me and wished me for the day and said their children loved the school and its teachers.
The next day when I got back to my regular work place and thumped away on the keyboard the images of the last three days kept flashing before my eyes....
The laughter, the tears, the songs and the games, the willingness to learn and their charmingly defiant ways.... childhood's most precious moments are framed within these happy places of learning....
And September 5th, with all its flowers and good wishes and the smiling faces of parents and children, will always remain etched in my memory for a long time to come.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Snow White and the seven little boys
School days come and school days go... but we wanted to make this one special for the children and theit parents. So we, the staff of this little school in a remote corner of India decided to stage "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
One of the most challenging and delightful roles of a teacher is to prepare the children for a play...especially if the children are in Junior school... The experience of training and getting them to practice defies description.
Snow White and the rest of the cast were from grade 5 or less. A pretty and talented third grader became Snow White more so because she was relatively less naughty. The role of the wicked queen went to a smart 5Th grader who was really good at acting.
The seven dwarfs were chosen for their bright eyes, exuberance and general optimism about everything.. as you will soon see... The prince, who appeared only in the last scene was a quiet boy who learned his lines and recited them when asked to, a redeeming quality... as you will soon see.....
With minimum and minor hitches we managed to get the children word perfect for the play. They emoted well, even the seven little boys... as they just had to be themselves, funny and in high spirits.
The great day arrived... All were excited. The children were angels as far as punctuality and dress rehearsals were concerned. With the play scheduled at 7pm, the kids were brought to the green room at half past five, to get ready.
As the dwarfs' costume was uncomplicated they got ready first, their beards and whiskers and wigs fitted on and they were marched out to stand in a line, waiting for their great moment.....This was a great mistake....
They waited, 10 minutes... like good little boys, silent and happy... The next 10 minutes they looked around, and attracted others' attention to their costume.. Some posed for pictures... They started talking ... softly, louder.. louder until they were commanded to stand with fingers on lips.
It was then that the tallest of the boys noticed a lovely pit dug just behind the green room. he gestured silently to the other boys and said "Let's see who jumps in and comes out first?"
Those that couldn't jump just slithered in, shouted in victory and then clambered back to level ground. This seemed to be a nice game to pass the time... By the time they were missed and spotted, each dwarf could be credited with at least 3 attempts in jumping in and clambering out....
Their attire bore faithful testimony to this fact... The costumes were terribly muddied, the whiskers and beards were askance, there was no trace of make up and little fights of one up-manship had erupted...Of course they were lucky to have the pretty silver cardboard axes we had made for them, to begin their skirmishes. "Bang! Clash!" they mouthed to simulate a well fought axe duel....
However, the axes had not been designed for this eventuality and thus bore the brunt of the fights... all axes drooped and then came apart....
The whiskers were stuck back, the clothes were dusted clean, spare axes given, and make-up was applied again.....
The play began..The queen, king, Snow White and the queen's henchman were unbelievably good... Now our little boys were sent up on the stage...All got ready with their axes on shoulders and a happy grin.on their faces.. except one.. This little boy did not want his whiskers... they were tickling his nose! He cried for his mother and kept twitching his nose and sneezing until it fell away... he now looked what he was... a third grader...
Though he went on stage un-whiskered, he played his part well, as did the other six boys... We were almost getting complacent when the other shocks in store for us were revealed...
It was the scene of Snow White's happy domesticity in the dwarf's' hut... She sang and danced and dusted and cleaned... The parents of the girl playing the part were so proud of her that her dad decided she should be photographed/videographed/captured on mobile right then... So like any loving father he asked his other daughter (aged three years) to get up on stage and pose with her famous Snow White sister..
Snow White loved all the attention, stopped singing and started posing for the pictures... I mean.. how often would this moment repeat for her? She made the best of it...
Play commenced after 10 minutes when one of us lifted the three-year old away from the stage and told her dad that people were waiting to see the play go on... Being magnanimous of heart he complied and settled back in his seat to watch the rest of the drama....
A real drama it was now... the wicked queen came with the pretty laces and bows .. she was applauded for her acting prowess by the parents while children watched her wickedness open-mouthed...Then the step mother disappeared...
It was the scene when she had to give Snow White the poisoned apple... Well... Snow White sang and knitted and danced and cleaned, waiting for the queen to appear, so did we... there seemed to be some commotion backstage...
What actually had happened was... the basket of shining red apples (five of them) tipped and the apples had rolled away... not one could be traced...A first grader wanted to help find it... he looked all around and then came running back to the director.. "Is this ok?" he asked... he had a melon sized red ball in his hand, which he had found somewhere.. It had bright wide stripes on it too..
I will not dwell on the director's plight, nor will I pause to consider whether he considered using the huge plastic ball..for the apple..... because at that moment one apple was traced.. It had rolled onto the stage and settled below Snow White's chair...
One enterprising 4Th grader, who was the presenter for the evening skipped onto the stage merrily, said "Hi Snow White! How are you? I'll just be back.." and adroitly picked up the apple and went back stage....
There were no hitches after that... The prince brought Snow White back to life and the dwarfs cheered and the curtains came down......
Much later, while the Chief Guests and the School Management warmly appreciated the teachers' efforts in making the play a success... I wondered whether we would be game enough to direct another play next year.... Maybe ..."Aladdin and the wonderful lamp".... Want to help us direct it anyone?
One of the most challenging and delightful roles of a teacher is to prepare the children for a play...especially if the children are in Junior school... The experience of training and getting them to practice defies description.
Snow White and the rest of the cast were from grade 5 or less. A pretty and talented third grader became Snow White more so because she was relatively less naughty. The role of the wicked queen went to a smart 5Th grader who was really good at acting.
The seven dwarfs were chosen for their bright eyes, exuberance and general optimism about everything.. as you will soon see... The prince, who appeared only in the last scene was a quiet boy who learned his lines and recited them when asked to, a redeeming quality... as you will soon see.....
With minimum and minor hitches we managed to get the children word perfect for the play. They emoted well, even the seven little boys... as they just had to be themselves, funny and in high spirits.
The great day arrived... All were excited. The children were angels as far as punctuality and dress rehearsals were concerned. With the play scheduled at 7pm, the kids were brought to the green room at half past five, to get ready.
As the dwarfs' costume was uncomplicated they got ready first, their beards and whiskers and wigs fitted on and they were marched out to stand in a line, waiting for their great moment.....This was a great mistake....
They waited, 10 minutes... like good little boys, silent and happy... The next 10 minutes they looked around, and attracted others' attention to their costume.. Some posed for pictures... They started talking ... softly, louder.. louder until they were commanded to stand with fingers on lips.
It was then that the tallest of the boys noticed a lovely pit dug just behind the green room. he gestured silently to the other boys and said "Let's see who jumps in and comes out first?"
Those that couldn't jump just slithered in, shouted in victory and then clambered back to level ground. This seemed to be a nice game to pass the time... By the time they were missed and spotted, each dwarf could be credited with at least 3 attempts in jumping in and clambering out....
Their attire bore faithful testimony to this fact... The costumes were terribly muddied, the whiskers and beards were askance, there was no trace of make up and little fights of one up-manship had erupted...Of course they were lucky to have the pretty silver cardboard axes we had made for them, to begin their skirmishes. "Bang! Clash!" they mouthed to simulate a well fought axe duel....
However, the axes had not been designed for this eventuality and thus bore the brunt of the fights... all axes drooped and then came apart....
The whiskers were stuck back, the clothes were dusted clean, spare axes given, and make-up was applied again.....
The play began..The queen, king, Snow White and the queen's henchman were unbelievably good... Now our little boys were sent up on the stage...All got ready with their axes on shoulders and a happy grin.on their faces.. except one.. This little boy did not want his whiskers... they were tickling his nose! He cried for his mother and kept twitching his nose and sneezing until it fell away... he now looked what he was... a third grader...
Though he went on stage un-whiskered, he played his part well, as did the other six boys... We were almost getting complacent when the other shocks in store for us were revealed...
It was the scene of Snow White's happy domesticity in the dwarf's' hut... She sang and danced and dusted and cleaned... The parents of the girl playing the part were so proud of her that her dad decided she should be photographed/videographed/captured on mobile right then... So like any loving father he asked his other daughter (aged three years) to get up on stage and pose with her famous Snow White sister..
Snow White loved all the attention, stopped singing and started posing for the pictures... I mean.. how often would this moment repeat for her? She made the best of it...
Play commenced after 10 minutes when one of us lifted the three-year old away from the stage and told her dad that people were waiting to see the play go on... Being magnanimous of heart he complied and settled back in his seat to watch the rest of the drama....
A real drama it was now... the wicked queen came with the pretty laces and bows .. she was applauded for her acting prowess by the parents while children watched her wickedness open-mouthed...Then the step mother disappeared...
It was the scene when she had to give Snow White the poisoned apple... Well... Snow White sang and knitted and danced and cleaned, waiting for the queen to appear, so did we... there seemed to be some commotion backstage...
What actually had happened was... the basket of shining red apples (five of them) tipped and the apples had rolled away... not one could be traced...A first grader wanted to help find it... he looked all around and then came running back to the director.. "Is this ok?" he asked... he had a melon sized red ball in his hand, which he had found somewhere.. It had bright wide stripes on it too..
I will not dwell on the director's plight, nor will I pause to consider whether he considered using the huge plastic ball..for the apple..... because at that moment one apple was traced.. It had rolled onto the stage and settled below Snow White's chair...
One enterprising 4Th grader, who was the presenter for the evening skipped onto the stage merrily, said "Hi Snow White! How are you? I'll just be back.." and adroitly picked up the apple and went back stage....
There were no hitches after that... The prince brought Snow White back to life and the dwarfs cheered and the curtains came down......
Much later, while the Chief Guests and the School Management warmly appreciated the teachers' efforts in making the play a success... I wondered whether we would be game enough to direct another play next year.... Maybe ..."Aladdin and the wonderful lamp".... Want to help us direct it anyone?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Dreams
"The royal road to the unconscious" is what Sigmund Freud said of dreams.
The subconscious, the imagination and myriad thought processes, emotions, memories and sensations woven together by the finest gossamer of fascinating connectivity are what dreams are made up of....
Physiologically dreams are believed to be rapid eye movement coupled with responses to thoughts, words, and actions. Whatever they are, dreams are remarkable, sometimes happy, sometimes scary, sometimes mundane and sometimes defying logic and reason.
Not all dreams can be recalled... sometimes they come back to the mind in bits and pieces like odd pieces of a jigsaw...incomplete and hazy...without a beginning or an end...
I dream sometimes that buildings just walk away from their locations..... a pride of lions surround my home and rivers flow uphill just when I sail across!
In the more ordinary dreams I lose my way to office, miss a flight, or all my teeth just fall off! Meeting a friend after years, winning a lottery, and holidaying in exotic locales are some of the pleasant dreams I remember.
And of course there are those dreams I could rather do without... the scary, tension ridden ones.... waking from which I feel a deep sense of relief...
There are vivid day dreams I have... call them wishful thinking, call them a waste of time, call them escapism... whatever they are.. they are significant in my waking hours... and I lucidly dream of successfully finishing off tasks, spending quality time with the people who count in my life and passing tests with flying colors.
Curiosity persuaded me to surf several sites on the net about dream interpretations. I even joined a dream forum to discuss dreams and get mine analysed...To my relief some of the more bizarre dreams had reassuring interpretations... How authentic the analyses are and how many dreams will come true... I do not know...
Meanwhile, I continue to dream.....
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