A R Rahman jets into Dubai to announce his concert

Oscar and Grammy award winning musician A R Rahman jetted into Dubai yesterday to announce details of his forthcoming concert on December 9 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sports City. The press conference was held at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa.

The event marks the beginning of his world tour and will include chart-topping hits from his earlier movies like Roja and Dil Se as well as his latest composition for the Ranbir Kapoor starrer Rockstar.

“The main language is music-and there will be songs in Hindi, Tamil and maybe even Malayalam,” the crooner promised, saying he “hopes to satisfy his fans in the region” with his selection.

“We have an orchestra from LA, there are going to be saxophone players from the US and of course Indian singers,” he continued.

Rahman spoke fondly of his first concert in the region way back in 1998 which he said was “one of the most memorable concerts” he ever performed in.

To a query as to the challenges faced by Indian music today, the maestro replied, “there are no challenges. Today if you do something well, people will notice it. “

And while he admitted that the rise of the social media “keeps you on your toes,

it also means that people have access to all kinds of music today, which percolates down to them unfiltered, which is both a good and bad thing.”

Rahman admitted he had too much on his plate right now to think of any further collaboration with musical heavyweights from the West like the Super Heavy which saw him joining forces with the likes of Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart and Joss Stone.

“My focus is on finishing whatever I have taken on. Right now I am composing the music for Ek Deewana Tha, the remake of the Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa.”

The highly anticipated three and a half hour concert will feature besides Rahman, Mohit Chauhan and Javed Ali of Rockstar fame, percussionist Sivamani, playback singers Suresh Peters, Neeti Muhan and Shweta Pandit. Supporting acts include Canadian singer Natalie Di Luccio and guitarist Sanjeev Thomas.Pak youth wins chance to perform with Rahman

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For 23-year-old Pakistani national Jibran Raheel, Thursday evening proved to be a lucky one when he was hand-picked by music maestro A. R. Rahman from among ten finalists of the ‘Sing Like a Star With A R Rahman’ contest sponsored by Emirates NBD. The win gives Raheel who works for a local courier company the chance to perform alongside the award-winning music composer during his December 9 concert in Dubai.

“I had a feeling I might win when I went in for the contest,” says Raheel who has been in Dubai for just nine months. “But the competition was tough. Seriously, it is a strange feeling to have won this, and it is yet to sink in.”

“I just went in to try my luck,” said Raheel who got just one night to practise the song Phir Se Ud Chala from Rockstar that all contestants were expected to sing.

“I am a big fan of A R Rahman, so am looking forward to performing with him though I don’t have the details of the final show yet.”

Courtesy:khaleejtimes.com