Bollywood Wave

Among the few Indians who are taking Indian music to an international level is A R Rahman. On Sunday, Rahman performed at the Hollywood Bowl, one of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a current seating capacity of just under 18,000. Generally, Indian artistes attract NRI audiences or people other from Asia countries, but this time Rahman pulled in many Americans too. In fact, it was the Americans who formed majority of the audiences for the show.

The show titled ‘Bollywood Night with AR Rahman’ had doses of Bollywood movie clips, with guest artistes and of course dances. The song which rocked the evening was ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ performed by Sukhwinder Singh. Other performers at the show were Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam and Madhushree.

Reportedly, people from Warner Bros., Fox, and Universal Studios were also present at the concert and were highly impressed. It is even said that they are thinking of adding a Bollywood touch to Oscars next year.
indiafm.com

Singer Sonu Nigam purchases his own studio in Mumbai. And after long delay from his previous album, he has started recording his new solo album. He made the following statement when asked what the advantage of owning a studio: he says, “I have realised that the music industry today is a huge business proposition. I thought since I was into it then why not make the most of it. And shows like Indian Idol and Fame Gurukul only confirm my belief that music sells like crazy.”

“I have my own team of musicians and technicians to engineer the work,” he stated. Sonu also said that Deepak Pandit, a well-known classical musician will score the tunes for his latest album. HMV SaReGaMa has already acquired the rights to it. Would he be renting his studio to other singers? “Other singers could definitely use my studios to record their albums. I am open to it,” he says.

Does he plan to revive his acting career? “The critics had given me positive reviews for Love In Nepal. Before the film released I had done Kaash Aap Hamare Hote. I have realised that for a film to be successful you need to have an intelligent technical team and an extremely talented director. Plus a producer who will leave no stone unturned to market and promote it. That has not happened in my case,” he said.

The fluid versatility of Sonu Nigam’s voice and his stunning command over melody has kept him at the top for several years now, and he has a hard-to-beat unofficial record of spinning hits after hits with the audiences. Few weeks ago Sonu Nigam performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London; also performing at the same show was the world’s renowned singer Abida Parveen and the popular Pakistani band called Fusion. According to sources, Abida Parveen was so moved by Sonu’s performance that she was heard saying that there has been no singer born in Pakistan or in India in recent times that could surpass the talent of Sonu Nigam. “I don’t take the compliment seriously as there’s no end to learning music and I also know my plus points and minus points. But having it said from Abida Parveen it was humbling and I appreciate it as hard work is paid off”, reacted humble Sonu.