CNN-News18’s Divya Pal chats with Oscar and Grammy-winning musician AR Rahman about ‘Firdaus Orchestra’, an ensemble of 50 women from 23 nationalities. ‘Firdaus Orchestra’ is set to perform under Rahman’s mentorship at the Dubai Expo 2020. Watch the music maestro explain why he was petrified while auditioning the contestants, how ‘Firdaus Orchestra’ stands in stark contrast to what is currently happening to female musicians in other parts of the world and how daughter Khatija Rahman is like a mirror to him. Excerpts from an interview…
We have watched the preview of Firdaus Orchestra’s inaugural performance and have to admit we haven’t seen anything like this before. You have included musicians of 23 nationalities and from age groups ranging from 16 to 51 for this all-women ensemble ‘Firdaus Orchestra’. Were there any traits you were specifically looking for? What was the idea and inspiration behind this?
It all happened two years back when Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimi and I had a meeting. I was introduced to her by filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor. She asked me if I could form an all-women orchestra and which included members from around the region. I thought it was very exciting and challenging because we don’t know what kind of musicians I can find in different regions. Soon we started building a scoring studio which is a versatile place – almost like a home – for these people. It’d allow them to record the smaller instruments or larger orchestra with movie and movie scoring and album. Later, we started auditioning and I was really petrified because we didn’t know what musicians we’d get.
Going by the reactions that have surfaced on Twitter, people who have the preview of Firdaus Orchestra’s inaugural performance have been lauding it and admitting that they haven’t seen anything like this before. With this initiative are you trying to normalise diversity and making people understand that we should promote and laud artistic prowess of musicians irrespective of their gender, country and faith.
Dubai is a place which inspires you to do this because you know there’s always a ‘yes’ for everything. So that aspiration and energy which it derives is also present in the orchestra that too in a very human way. This Orchestra is like an antidote for what’s happening in the world. Something extreme is happening somewhere else. Women don’t need empowerment, they’re already empowered. With ‘Firdaus Orchestra’ we are setting an example for the other places where people are confused.
You putting in efforts to mentor this all-women ensemble is not just thought-provoking but also vital because it comes at a time when musicians are being harassed, musical instruments are being smashed, music venues are being shut down and wrong rules are being enforced.
That’s only one story. There are many other stories in our own country also. But let’s talk about the positive thing which is when you see something evolving beautifully it inspires people and brings hope. People do suffer with mental health but when they see good things that happen around and when they see something so beautiful like this they will get healed. They will feel that life is worth living and that’s the most beautiful thing. I feel we can achieve this from ‘Firdaus Orchestra’.
Being mentored by you is undoubtedly the most enriching and elevating experience a musician can ever ask for. It is a true honor. How was the experience of being a mentor for you? Has it changed your life in any way?
I’m not teaching anybody. I’m just sharing experience. Each place is different. My notes for an Indian musician will be different what notes I’d keep for French or American musicians. It’s different because they’re all from different countries and different traditions. Last month, we were just jamming with four of Arabic instrument players and I just let them play. We recorded half an hour of what they were playing and then we realized that there are also good composers. So the whole idea is not to thrust things on them and but to let them be who they are.
You’ve raised your daughter Khatija exceptionally well. She’s popular for speaking her mind and calling out wrong perceptions. Have there been any major life lessons that you’ve learned from parenting?
Children are the mirror. You start with an ideology or whatever you have to do and then you wither away and get busy with other stuff. You get old, you forget things. But they remind you of where you started. So Khatija is like a mirror to me. She reminds me of that purity when things had started. She keeps watching me all the time.
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