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| (From top) A R Rahman with
his mother, Kareema Begum at the unveiling of the WorldSpace
signature tune; the launch of the Creative Expressions
art portal |
For
a true musician, music can be found just about anywhere.
It could be in the crashing of the waves on the sea shore,
in a bird’s chirping, or in the chanting of fishermen.
These are the very elements to which celebrated music director
A R Rahman turned, to draw inspiration for his signature
tune for WorldSpace. The resulting melody was unveiled recently
at The Oberoi in Delhi, and Rahman, the brand ambassador
for the satellite-based digital radio service, made a rare
appearance to present his tune. The tune was played out
by guitarist Christy, vocalist Suzanne and sarod
player Abrar Husain. It will be used in a communications
campaign and is all about the ‘everyday’ and ‘everywhere’
nature of music. “I’ve been listening to WorldSpace
for the last four years. When asked to make a tune for it,
I didn’t hesitate,” said Rahman.
Tedros Lemma, corporate vice president
of World Space said of the association with the master musician,
“A R Rahman has come to personify quality music. So
he is part of our communication campaign towards building
a strong brand presence in India,” he said. The campaign
even includes commercials shot with Rahman in Kerala.
Art online
It’s a virtual gallery, which
promises to be a one-stop space for artizens. Creative Expressions
(CREX) is a web portal that aims to be a search engine of
sorts for Indian art lovers. The site was launched at The
Imperial in Delhi. The portal, www.artizensworld.net
has several features, but the most important is its visual
gallery.
What does the portal do? According
to Ajay Mahajan, managing director, CREX, it’s the
first website that combines information and services related
to art. It offers services specifically designed to cater
to the needs of artists.
The portal carries information
on 49 art forms and the good news for potential users is
that it doesn’t charge a 10 per cent commission for
services as most galleries do. The event was also marked
by an exhibition of the works of Mohammad Ferozuddin, one
of the most celebrated miniature Mughal painters.
Photograph of A R Rahman
by Rupinder Sharma |
