A.R. Rahman and Ehan Bhat on the journey of '99 Songs'

We remain entrenched, for the most part, in dated concepts of how we should live our lives, the ‘rules’ we should follow, while choosing an academic pursuit, a job, or even, at times, our friends and partners. But shouldn’t there be something more to life? The opportunity to evolve, and broaden our perspectives?

These are some of the thoughts that passed through my mind while engaged in an insightful and inspiring conversation with music composer, singer and Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman and his protege Ehan Bhat, about their new trilingual film 99 Songs, which revolves around the inspirational power of music.

Rahman credited his debut as a writer and producer with 99 Songs to the time he spent in Los Angeles post his Oscar win in 2009. Joking about “traveling and boredom”, he elaborates, “When I was working in Los Angeles, I was doing movies and there you just do one thing at a time. Unlike here, where I work on four or five films at a time. In LA, there was a lot of spare time to study, to take workshops… and also, looking at these two lives, the life in India, the life in Hollywood, I think I learned so much and felt - why can’t we tell these stories this way? Our way, and my way.”

Talking about how those experiences, as well as friends who were established directors and professionals, “provoked” him into thinking differently and branch out into writing, Rahman also gave a shout out to Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur.

“It (this project) was also the influence of Shekhar Kapur in my life; I’ve shared an apartment with him, I’ve hung out with him. There was a time when actress Brittany Murphy walked into my room. Shekhar introduced me, and I was praying or something and was like, what are you doing? Who is this girl? (Laughs). So the past 12 years have been fun, with those crazy people around. Shekhar is one of the biggest inspirations who actually in a way made me realize that I can also tell stories.”

Inspired by life

The story of 99 Songs, about a boy named Jay who adores both music and his girlfriend but is challenged by her father over his ‘inferior’ passion, is one that could well have many parallels in real life.

How often have we come across youngsters who are forced to take up academic or professional courses they have little or no interest in, due to parental and societal pressures? How often do they crack under the strain?

When asked if there was a particular incident that inspired the story of this film, Rahman reveals that it was based on “many things” and not just the story of a musician. “Of course there is a social question or social challenge which every artist faces. If somebody does music, it’s like ‘you’re good for nothing, go find a job, a steady one that pays your rent’. Things are now different. The world has changed. This is the old world we are talking about, which is not fully educated about what is happening in the artist’s mind, what challenges they go through and what good things they can have in the future if they invest their time with art.”

I am on ‘Cloud 99’

So, according to Rahman, times are changing. And he hopes his protege Ehan Bhat, who is making his debut in the pan-Asian 99 Songs (which will release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu), will be one of the faces of these changing times.

The charming Ehan expresses his delight at making such an impactful debut. “I feel ecstatic and so elated to have my launch through A.R. Rahman. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And to have the film release in three languages and to have songs in each language, it’s such an overwhelming feeling, you know? I am just on ‘Cloud 99’, I would say!”

Ehan who was picked from many hopefuls wasn’t a trained musician prior to taking up the film. He shares, “I went to the KM Music Conservatory in Chennai and that’s when I saw the piano for the first time in my life! While I wasn’t inclined towards being a musician I had been a big listener of Rahman’s music all my life. His aesthetics were always different. A.R. Rahman would always be in my ears.

“In the beginning I was kind of taken aback. But when you’re doing Rahman’s film all you think about is that you have to cross boundaries, limits, you have to leave everything behind and wholly dedicate yourself to this project. Because he believed in me out of so many hopefuls.

“So it was my job to not disappoint him in any way. My friend and I spent nearly one year at the conservatory, polishing the craft of playing the piano and drums. I was trained under Surojeet Chatterji, who is more like a friend, a brother, and father figure to me. He guided me and taught me the keys and made me learn pieces with him. It was a beautiful journey.”

Explaining the process of going through numerous auditions and considering, then deciding against, a prospective lead star, Rahman admits that what he finally saw in Ehan was more than just his role as Jay in 99 Songs. “I was pretty tired and audition number 38 was Ehan and I’m like, who is this guy? Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy (my director) looked at me and said, he’s not trained sir. But I said, you are there, you are an amazing actor, director, you can shape him up. He looked at me, and said, really? (Laughs). That was the magic moment of deciding that Ehan is going to be the one. So we called up and said, sign this guy. We’ll train him up and get him to the conservatory. Because I think I was not looking at Ehan’s audition, I was looking at his future. I was imagining him in various other roles in other people’s movies, not just this movie and that triggered the decision to take Ehan.”