AR Rahman sang ‘Vande Matram' at 2 am, filmmaker recalls wanting to keep it ‘romantic': ‘I was in tears…vohi recording aaj gaane mein hai'
During a conversation with The Lallantop, Bala shared that he wanted the song to have a 'romantic' vibe, instead of purely patriotic. 'I wanted to make an idea called Vande Matram, not just a music video. Worked on it for six months. Uss zamaane mein vo All India Radio mein aata tha, ek puraana sa scratch tha. There was no feeling as such, I wanted to change that. Even though we took the idea of creating that for India, but we wanted to keep it romantic. It should be like a love song, not patriotic or jingoistic. It's a love song for your country, your mother. That's why it's much deeper and stays like that even today,' he said.
AR Rahman had made a separate studio to record the track. 'He made a separate studio on the second floor for this project. We were trying but nothing was working out till six months. We used to sleep on the floor in his studio. He suddenly woke up at 2 am. He makes everything spiritual. He lit a candle that comes from Ajmer dargah and woke me up. He asked me to call the sound engineer, but there was no one,' he shared.
ALSO READ | AR Rahman joins forces with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for his AI project Secret Mountain, a musical metaverse
Bharat Bala recorded the track with Rahman without anyone else present in the room and that version was used in the OG song. 'He asked me to sit with him and work on the song. I didn't want to take responsibility of the recording in those 15 minutes. But, nobody was there, it was quiet, everything started moving. He went in the recording studio and started singing 'Maa Tujhe Salaam'. That emotion…I was in tears! Merko nahi pata kya hua, he finished singing. That is the very recording jo uss gaane mein hai. We didn't refine it,' he revealed.
The filmmaker continued, 'There wasn't any storyboarding or planning. I was clear about one thing, I will film with real people, there will be flags and people of every village and landscape will be filmed artistically. We identified the location, kahin recce nahi kia tha. It was filmed within 20-25 days, I got the video out in another ten days. Jahan bhi jayenge, ek bada jhanda rakhenge, logon ko ikkattha karenge and we will shoot it. No makeup, no choreography, but it should be epic.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Pink Villa
14 hours ago
- Pink Villa
Watch: Andrew Garfield Turns into Sam Altman As He Films For Artificial Outside Tech CEO's Real Life Home
Andrew Garfield has once again stepped into the tech world on-screen. This time, the actor is playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Artificial, a new comedic drama directed by Luca Guadagnino. Real-time clips from the movie set in San Francisco are going viral, showing Garfield in full 'tech-bro' mode as he films outside Altman's actual home. Fans quickly picked up on his slow, calculated walk, hands tucked into his pockets, what many called the perfect Sam Altman impression. One Reddit user shared behind-the-scenes footage and captioned it, 'Andrew Garfield nailed the Sam Altman walk!' Another said, 'Got some shots of the OpenAI movie on Lombard,' confirming the shoot location. Filming took place outside Sam Altman's real house One of the biggest talking points? The fact that the movie scene was filmed right in front of Altman's real-life residence. 'What's more interesting is they're filming in front of his house…lol,' wrote one user. Someone else added, 'I asked some crew if he knew about it and they basically said 'he does now' lol.' TMZ and several X (formerly Twitter) users also posted the moment, which shows Andrew Garfield on the phone, dressed in grey slacks and a blazer, standing in front of the recognizable San Francisco property. Here's why fans are calling it a 'Social Network pipeline' Garfield's role in Artificial instantly reminded fans of his performance as Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network. One X user joked, 'The concept of Andrew Garfield playing you in a movie about your life so you know you and your company are about to be disgustingly successful. Social Network pipeline studied in film classes.' Fans pointed out the similarities between the two films, both center on real-life tech figures, boardroom drama, and rapid shifts in power. Garfield's dramatic line, 'I'm coming back for everything,' from The Social Network, is now making the rounds again online. What is 'Artificial' about? Artificial is a comedic drama based on real events at OpenAI. It focuses on the 2023 chaos when Sam Altman was briefly fired and then reinstated. Monica Barbaro stars as Mira Murati, and Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk. Yura Borisov is cast as Ilya Sutskever. The movie is being shot across San Francisco, including locations like Dolores Park, the Marina District, and a well-known Bay Area restaurant. Backed by Amazon MGM Studios, the film has a reported USD 40 million budget and is expected to release in 2026.
News18
15 hours ago
- News18
Music Composer GV Prakash Wins Second National Award For Vaathi; Uncle AR Rahman Cheers On
Last Updated: A R Rahman, music composer GV Prakash's uncle, congratulated him on his second National Award for Best Music Direction for Vaathi. Oscar winner A R Rahman, who is also the uncle of music director G V Prakash, and ace director Sudha Kongara were among several film celebrities who congratulated music director G V Prakash on having won his second National Award for Vaathi. Soon after the winners of the 71st National Awards were announced on Wednesday, G V Prakash Kumar, who won the National Award for Best Music Direction (Songs) for the Tamil, Telugu bilingual film Vaathi, took to his X timeline to call the honour 'a blessing for the second time". G V Prakash had won his first National Award for director Sudha Kongara's 'Soorarai Pottru'. Responding to G V Prakash's statement on X, music director A R Rahman wrote, 'Wishing you many more ..Congratulations." G V Prakash, who had worked under A R Rahman for a while before turning music director, responded to Rahman's tweet, saying, 'Thanks a lot sir." Interestingly, G V Prakash, had in an interview earlier, disclosed that although he was Rahman's nephew, he would always address him as 'sir" with respect as he had worked under him. Director Sudha Kongara too congratulated G V Prakash on his second National Award. Taking to Instagram, she posted a picture of herself with G V Prakash and wrote, 'Looooooong due my bestie buddy brother @gvprakash. So so awesome. here's to many many more! And my fav fav fav song of yours too !!!!" G V Prakash meanwhile, in a statement expressing gratitude, called his second National Award 'A blessing for the second time." He wrote, 'A blessing for the second time. I'm truly overwhelmed and deeply grateful to receive the 71st National Film Award for Best Music Director for the film Vaathi. My heartfelt thanks to the esteemed jury and selection committee. Thank you to the entire team of #Vaathi for being part of this beautiful journey." The music director also went on to specially thank actor Dhanush, who played the lead in Vaathi, and director Venky Atluri. He said, 'Special thanks to my brother Dhanush, who chose me for this film. Our continuous collaboration-from Polladhavan to Asuran, Vaathi, and Idly Kadai-has been creatively fulfilling and rewarding for both of us. A big thank you to my director Venky Atluri, who inspired me to give my best and trusted me with the music for this film." He went on to say, 'From Vaathi to Lucky Bhaskar, and now onto our next project- thank you, Venky, for the consistent trust and for bringing blockbuster moments into our journey. Thanks to our producers, Nagavamsi and Trivikram, for believing in me and giving me this opportunity." He signed off saying, 'I am immensely grateful to my family, my incredible team of musicians, lyricists, technicians, my dear friends, and all my fans who have supported and believed in me. Thank you." First Published: August 02, 2025, 14:28 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
AR Rahman meets his idol K.J. Yesudas in Dallas amid U.S. tour and new projects
A.R. Rahman , who is revered as the vocal king of the Indian music industry, is currently composing music for films in various languages, including Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. His notable Tamil films include 'Genie' starring Ravi Mohan alongside debutant director Arjunan, 'Moonwalk' starring Prabhu Deva, and 'Killer' starring S.J. Suryah. In addition, it has been officially announced that AR Rahman will be composing music for the new film starring Dhanush and Mari Selvaraj. Here's a closer look. Meets Sam Altman in U.S. for ' Secret Mountain ' talk Meanwhile, Rahman is currently performing a musical tour abroad, and he recently completed a tour across the United States. After those events, AR Rahman, who is in the United States, met with Sam Altman, CEO of a popular AI chain, and discussed the project he is working on called 'Secret Mountain'. Next, his meeting with singer K.J. Yesudas , a prominent voice in the Tamil-Malayalam music world, was met with great acclaim. AR Rahman calls K.J. Yesudas his childhood favourite AR Rahman wrote on his social media page, 'Met my childhood favourite at his place at #dallas #yesudas …amazed at his research work and love for Indian classical (Carnatic) music !!" and shared his latest click with the veteran singer. This meeting also marked an emotional moment in his musical journey. At 85, Yesudas still shines with 50,000+ songs Yesudas, who is still entertaining fans happily at the age of 85, has sung more than 50,000 songs in the world of Indian music in languages including Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. His divine and devotional songs are deeply engraved in the minds of the people and are listened to daily by many to this day. Apart from being a singer, he has also been a music composer and actor in some films.
