Films and Music

Andrew Lloyd Webber on A R Rahman

'Rahman will bring a differentflavour to a musical production
in the West'

Few people realise that his Phantom
of the Opera has outgrossed the
Titanic with revenues of $ 3 billion
worldwide. With Cats having also
grossed over $ 2.5 billion and eight
productions about to be on at the
same time on the West End and
Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber is
the hottest name in showbiz. That is why everyone
expects his Bombay Dreams to bring India
centrestage.

Here he is, in conversation with Pritish Nandy.

At what stage is Bombay Dreams?
Well, we have got the basic idea in place, but a lot
of work still needs to be done. That is why I am
here in Bombay. I want to look around, get a feel of
the city and spend some time with Rahman. You
know, Mr Nandy, he is simply brilliant. What you
might possibly call the best. His work is very
different, very unusual and he himself is such a
simple and humble guy that it would be a pleasure
for us to work with him. He will bring a different
kind of flavour to a musical production in the West.

How did you happen to discover his work?

Shekhar. Shekhar Kapur showed me a video. I liked
it immensely. So he showed me more work. I find
him very different, very creative. I think he will
make a strong impression out there in the West.

What video was that? Do you remember its title?

Dil Se. It was remarkable. He is an extraordinary
melodic composer whose work deserves to be heard
all over the world.
It is not that I was unfamiliar with
Indian composers. Talvin Singh,
who lives in London, is a friend of
mine and I like his music very
much. But that is largely
percussions. This is great melody. The time has
come in the West (I believe) for Asian music to
make a strong presence and Indian music is going
to be at the centre of this new movement. For it is
strong on both melody and percussions. Someone
like Rahman could provide the leadership. Yes, I
feel very strongly about his music.

How will you share the creative responsibilities
between yourselves?

I wouldn't. Rahman will do all the compositions
himself.

What will you do? Write the songs?

No, I can never write songs. I will work on the
story. But I will leave Rahman to compose the
melodies. That will make it different. Different from
all the work I have done before.

What is your most recent work?

I am premiering this play on September 19 called
The Beautiful Game. It is based in Northern Ireland
and is about a bunch of Irish kids who love to play
football, but get caught in all the violence and
bloodshed that is taking place out there. It is about
civil war and the kind of impact it leaves on the
mind and spirit of young people who have actually
nothing to do with it.

It is set in the mid-'60s and attempts to show the
futility of all religious conflict. Whether it is
Catholics versus Protestants, Christians versus
Muslims, Jews versus Muslims, or (for that matter)
Muslims versus Hindus as out here. All religious
conflict is meaningless, pernicious.

No, it is not a political play. It is about young
people trapped by an environment not of their own
making and how that environment changes their life
entirely. It is not a happy play in that sense and I
do not even know if it will run. It could simply shut
down after a day or two. It is so different from the
kind of work I have done before that I am not even
sure how it will do. I am frankly prepared for the
worst, if you ask me.

Which is your favourite? Phantom of the Opera?

It is difficult for me to say that. I
would rather say my latest work --
The Beautiful Game. It takes a lot
of risks. Actually, I am still in two
minds over where to premiere it.
London or Dublin. Initially I was
sure about Dublin, but now I am not quite sure that
London should not be the place. Anyway, as I said
before, I am very uncertain about the play and
whether it will work or not. It could close down
within a week for all I know.

Why don't you take a chance and premiere it in
Bombay?

Aah, that would be fun. I was thinking about
Bombay Dreams as well. I would be happy to
premiere it here but the problem is that it might
become too expensive. We would have to bring
down not just the cast but all the properties of the
show and that will not be an easy thing to do.

Why? Are the sets too big, too complex?

That is never the problem. The problem is that
there are many other things that need to be moved
and that is not always easy. Which is why we are
also concerned about premiering in Dublin and may
not eventually do so. It could prove to be a
logistics nightmare. Frankly, the sets are the least
of the problems. A play has many more complex
elements that become doubly complex when you
move out of London or wherever it is that you
conceived it. But, no, I am not writing off the
possibility of premiering Bombay Dreams here. I
may still do it.

How long does it take you to write your musicals?

Normally, two years, start to finish. I have written
18 plays in about 35 years. But some take longer.
Sometimes three years. The Beautiful Game play
took a much shorter time. Even less than a year.
Bombay Dreams too, could finish faster since
Rahman will be composing all the music and he is
used to working fast for the movies.

How do you react to Hollywood versions of your
musicals? Evita, for instance?

I am disappointed. That is why I am happy that
Shekhar is making Phantom of the Opera. It will be
different, I am sure. I am keen to develop DVD
versions of these musicals. They will be more
interesting, more faithful to the originals.
Hollywood tends to get carried away and what it
produces eventually is very disappointing from my
point of view.

New opportunities are now emerging to avoid
Hollywood and DVD is just one of them. I am sure
many more such opportunities will come that will
not need to cater to public taste in the way
Hollywood does and compromise on the originals.
Why don't I send you a DVD and you will see what I
mean? They are so much better than these big
screen versions.

But Hollywood gives your work size, spectacle,
and glamour. Why cry off that when you are in
showbiz? Madonna brought Evita a certain
magic. Would you deny that?

Absolutely. I am not interested in
all that. My works must survive the
test of time and that is impossible
in their larger-than-life Hollywood
versions. I would prefer to stick to
DVDs. To versions that are true to
the originals.

Photographs: Jewella C Miranda

Grey beard poser makes
Amitabh see red

Miffed by some smart posers from Pooja Bedi during an
interview for the Amul India Show, Amitabh Bachchan had
the A & A scrapped before telecast on Star Plus on Sunday.
The TV channel instead re-ran its interview with Sanjay Dutt
that was earlier telecast on May 7. Enquiries about this
repeat chat with Sanjay Dutt revealed an interesting story.

“Why is your hair black and beard white?” Bedi asked
Bachchan during the interview at his Juhu residence on the
morning of May 6. “Because I dye my hair,” Bachchan
replied giving her a cold stare. He didn’t seem to like that
very much. “So what, you ran out of hair dye for your
beard?” Bedi giggled uncontrollably.
The Big B was quite flabbergasted.

The interview over by
11, Bachchan called Star TV threatening to pull out from
their Kaun Banega Karodpati programme if the interview
with Bedi was not squashed.The show was spiked and Bedi
received a call to inform her of the same. This time it was
her turn to be flabbergasted.

“How did you come to know about this?” she asked when
this reporter contacted her. “Anyway, I am very upset. I
even thought of sending him a Deepak Chopra book called
Unconditional Life, which is about how to live life properly.
But it might have just gone over his head. So I just dashed
off a letter to him and also sent him a copy of last week’s
Sunday Mid-Day that had a column which said ‘Not To B’.”

Bedi was aghast that the show could have been spiked so
easily. “I didn’t ask him anything awkward at all. I didn’t
ask him about the ABCL scam, nothing about Rekha. They
were all simple questions. But he dug deep in. He refused
to even smile,” she explained.
“What flummoxed me was that he was not even articulate.
I just laughed and laughed at that. But he just didn’t. He
was so khadoos,” Bedi said. The former Kamasutra girl who
has now settled down to managing the business of
interiors, said she even found him like that in the Simi
Garewal Show.
“I also asked him questions about how he got into Kaun
Banega Karodpati and he said, “‘You know, Star TV called
me up.... “ Then, I asked him about his film with Karan
Johar where he is paired with Jaya Bachchan. He again
replied, “You know Karan Johar called me...”
He was so inarticulate. I just laughed and laughed and
asked him to elaborate, but he seemed very bugged by
me.But then she says, “he got very personal and asked me:
‘How many films have you done which are realistic?’ It was
completely ridiculous,” said Bedi.Bedi is awaiting a reply
from Bachchan to her letter in which she wondered whether
‘Big B=Big Baby’.

Dear Mr Amitabh,
14th May, 2000Heard about how you “squashed” my
one-on-one interview with you for the Amul India
show.Initially, I was amused that you ran into your home at
11.30 pm. barely ½ hr after our interview, and called up
(probably woke up!) a big shot within the Star TV network
to say.
“Stop that interview from being seen!!”I later heard that
you’d threatened to walk out of Kaun Banega Karodpati, if
they did air it. Personally, I do find your behaviour
questionable and offensive. Tantrums are for 2 yr olds,
(could big B=Big Baby??) not for a legend such as yourself.
You did say in the interview that you are no legend, but you
must be considering a MEGA media entity like the Star TV
network, actually succumbed to your blackmail.I feel sorry
for the producers of the Amul India Show who invested
time, energy, effort and money and lost out on all counts
because you were not able to relax and banter.
All of us present were so taken aback that you were
grumpy, defensive, relatively inarticulate and possessed
virtually no joie de vivre.Very surprising, considering the
light vein of questioning (I did not bring ABCL, Bofors or
your rumoured love affairs it at all)If “squash to preserve
image” be your theme song, you should have first
“squashed” those ridiculous image buster films you came
back with.
Also, the article that appeared in Sunday Mid-Day which I
am enclosing for you. I write this without an iota of
reverence because one does not bow to idiocracy and this
“squashing” business is definitely ridiculous. What a shock
to discover that the Big ‘B’ stands for Big Bully.
I think you owe us all an apology. “None of us are
responsible for all the things that happen to us, but we are
responsible for the way we act when they do happen. It’s
nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice!”

Pooja Bedi Ebraham