No matter what the source of the inspiration, AR Rahman has undoubtedly changed the syntax of Indian music. The Oscar-winning composer spills the beans about his multi-sensory episodic film, le Musk, as director. Unnati Joshi listens in
Composer, producer, singer, songwriter AR Rahman now adds director to his list of credits. Adding another feather to his cap of creative pursuits, the celebrated music composer has attempted the world’s first Virtual Reality (VR) film, le Musk.
As the title suggests, the film is based on smell, and the protagonist is lost in the aroma that has engulfed her. “I just felt that it was a right time to do this kind of venture because no one else was doing it. And big ideas are being born all the time. My whole team encouraged me. My screenwriter Gurachi Phoenix said, ‘this is bang on man, you should do it. And if any other director comes, I will drop out’. So I said, ‘ok let me try.’”
Ask him about the film, and he first falls short of words, takes a deep breath, pulls his mike and explains, “Where do I start from… In the year 2015, somebody gave me a VR headset and asked me to use it, I threw it. At first I was hesitant and then after three months I thought of trying it. Then I started using it for six hours a day. I was watching all the VR films just to see what’s working and what’s not. Some of the content was incredible and some insensitive. I did this analytic study for three-four months. One day I was casually talking to my wife, she is so much into perfumes that she just asked, ‘why don’t you do a movie on perfumes.’ I liked that idea. le Musk is a sensory perfume film.”
Shot in Rome, the film follows the journey of an orphaned child Juliet, full-time heiress and a part-time musician, who grows up to be a diva on a mission. All through, she has one constant companion – the lingering musk scent. However, her life takes a dramatic turn when she receives an anonymous message, which brings back her mysterious past.
“I was thinking where do we keep the story: it would be very convenient of course to set it in India. But I felt that this could be an international film. It’s about family, things which we love, perfumes and music. Music is the foundation of the story. All these things came together and everything fell in place.
“We went to Croatia, Boston, Paris, london. Finally we thought Rome is the best place because you can keep the camera anywhere and it will still look beautiful. We had to shift the plot from the original Armenia to Rome. After we were done with all of this, we started looking for the lead actress. We went to Nora (Nora Arnezeder) and her first reaction was, ‘what is this’. Then we showed her the story and some of the directional clips. She loved it. Because I am in music and I have been trying to tell stories through melodies, I thought that this is a good step to go forward with, take the leap and see how story telling is going to become palpable. There’s a saying, what comes from the heart, goes to the heart,” he tells us.
But why did he choose the foreign land and not IndiaIJ “We have all been fans of Hollywood, European and Chinese movies. But what have we given themIJ I think it’s high time we should reflect on our perspective of human life across the world. And Rome is the best holiday destination, so we picked up that,” shares Rahman.
We are in the PVR at a mall in Noida, when suddenly we hear loud sounds. “What is this,” he asks.
“Baahubali is playing on the other hall,” answers someone.
“Oh Baahubali,” he smiles.
And then comes the expected question, does he want to make something as grand as BaahubaliIJ “No,” he smiles again. “I am completely opposite to it. We have amazing grand directors for that. We have better story tellers too. I will leave it to them.” he adds.
Ask him about the best part in the film (le Musk), he quips, “The whole thing!”
Rahman feels that filmmaking is a tough job and hence he has been keeping away from it.
“Filmmaking is a very tough job. It takes two years to direct a film and I didn’t have that much time. I love music and love making it. Doing le Musk didn’t seem like that much exhausting as I made it quickly. It was a 13-day schedule and I didn’t have to spend two years behind it. Also we had a great team. They took all the load, managed everything. I just sat with creatives,” he says.
Music or directionIJ “Music of course! Unfortunately nobody started reinventing the application of music. You see the same thing and that bothered me. VR and AR, I feel, is going to help in a lot of ways, AR here is not my name but augmented reality,” he laughs.
“It will take you to Mars and the moon and it will really feel like that. Emotional response to that is much greater than watching something far in theatres. I think we should use it very responsibly,” he says.
What nextIJ “The next project is more exciting but I won’t tell you now,” Rahman winks and adds, “It is based on Indian culture and the dance forms of India. I have been breaking my head from three months exploring the idea. We are still researching a lot of stuff. There will be five different dancers.”
Maybe with Rahman’s futuristic vision, we can dance with holograms.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar