AR Rahman shares how mentoring Dubai's Firdaus Orchestra transformed his life

Gulf News

Oscar-winning Indian music composer AR Rahman completes a significant milestone this month as Dubai’s all-female Firdaus Orchestra celebrates its second anniversary, but its star mentor believes they’ve just scratched the surface when it comes to tapping into their potential.  The all-female ensemble, shepherded by Grammy-winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ composer, boasts of 55 musicians from 25 countries who have performed at prestigious events, including the Expo 2020 opening and closing ceremony.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/music/watch-oscar-winner-ar-rahman-on-how-mentoring-dubais-firdaus-orchestra-changed-his-life-1.96762440  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #Dubai #ARRahman

Transcript

00:00Each culture has its own values, their own set of rules, set of identity.

00:06And if they film, they do tell a story, it's going to be different.

00:12Certain things have to fall in naturally, it shouldn't be forced.

00:16And like we did the first promo was the Turkish march, you know,

00:20the kanon and bazooka and so it kind of resonated very well with everybody.

00:27We felt like this is the song of the coast.

00:29And the more we play, the more I think it has to come from within the orchestra too.

00:34But right now, it's staying true to Brahms and also introducing that kind of music culture,

00:41at least here at Dubai Filmco studio.

00:44We've not even done 5% of what I wanted to do, I'm still

00:47discovering because one thing is good thing is that the government is helping and hosting

00:52them beautifully, Expo City is hosting them.

00:55And that sense of security is there.

00:57So that now all they have to do is accept, you know,

01:00they just come and practice at various times and play and accept that.

01:04My thing is to select the direction for that, the various directions.

01:12But what is the priority?

01:14And because it's a unique set of people playing here,

01:17and they're all from different traditions, and be the best.

01:21That there's a compromise, edging towards perfection and dedication and the sense of

01:27articulation.

01:28This is not just a broad stroke thing.

01:31It's got minute details and iterations constantly, you know, excelling.

01:38There's recording, the way we play it, the way they're together, the way it's presented.

01:44So there's no sense of, ah, now they're going to come and play in the studio with the same

01:47lighting, no, let's do something different.

01:49Each culture has its own values, their own set of rules, set of identity.

01:56And if they film, they do tell a story, it's going to be different.

02:00So the sense of learning, adapting, giving, taking.

02:03And this is what the world needs.

02:05It should not be one narrator.

02:06You know, we only see Hollywood films, we only see European films, we only see that.

02:10Yes.

02:10There should be a voice from the Middle East, there should be a voice from the international

02:14market, there should be voices from different parts.

02:15Naila is fascinating because she's got so much knowledge already.

02:19I'm just nodding what kind of decisions she takes and how much she knows about cinema.

02:24It's fascinating observing what she does.

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