Subhash Ghai, Anil Kapoor, A R Rahman, Ramesh Taurani, Kumar Taurani, Udit Narayan, Shiamak Davar and others attended the 25th anniversary special screening of Taal (1999) in Mumbai. It was held in PVR Juhu, Mumbai by Radio Nasha and was well organized by RJ Rohini, RJ Divya Solgama and their team. The event was memorable as the team of the film went down memory lane and raised laughs.
25 Years of Taal premiere: A R Rahman and Anil Kapoor bagged Slumdog Millionaire thanks to this musical; Rahman blurts out sequel plans; Anil reveals how he corrected Amar Singh: “I had the goatee look before Amitabh Bachchan”
The fax that changed A R Rahman’s life
The event began with RJ Rohini revealing that Taal probably had the longest trailer ever. This 4 minutes 20-second promo was played on screen and it excited the audience. The trailer was cleverly cut and included all the songs of the film. At the same time, it didn’t give away the film’s plot. This was followed by the singers of Voctronica performing a cappella version of Taal’s songs and it got a great reception.
Then, A R Rahman, Subhash Ghai and Anil Kapoor came on stage to talk about Taal. Subhash Ghai spoke about the hilarious first sitting of the film saying, “Anand Bakshi didn’t know English while A R Rahman didn’t know Hindi! I put the harmonium in front of them, hoping that they would play something. Rahman told him, ‘Aap bajaiye’. He told him, ‘Nahin, aap bajaiye’. I realized that the communication level is gadbad!”
The Showman also explained an interesting aspect of the film, “The story has seven chapters, has 7 types of ‘taal’ and also 7 looks of Aishwarya Rai. It changes as her character goes through various experiences.” He suddenly raised laughs as he said that he felt nervous in front of Anil Kapoor. Anil was amused and gave a funny expression!
A R Rahman then explained how he tried to stand out in the 90s. He said, “My journey was different. When everyone was doing 30 films, I used to 2! The reason being that we used to listen to music from America, Europe, etc. I used to wonder why can’t they listen to our music. The music we were making was beautiful but was not meant to travel (across the world).”
He added, “Makers down South used to finish background score in 3 days! In 2 days, they would finish a song. I asked – is there any rule (for the work to be done so fast)? Quality matters and for that, we need to put in time. I expressed my idea to Mani Ratnam ji and he gave me the time to work on the music.”
This working style of A R Rahman helped him grow. He continued, “I used to be told by many people, ‘You should do a Subhash Ghai movie’! One day, I was working when I saw a fax coming in. It said, ‘I am Subhash Ghai. I want to meet you’!”
Taal, however, was not the first film for the two. The Oscar winning composer said, “We worked on a film called Shikhar. ‘Ishq Bina’ was originally composed for it. He then completed Pardes (1997) and we collaborated for Taal. By then, we had gotten used to each other’s tantrums!”
For A R Rahman, Taal holds a special place. “I knew the music of Roja (1992), Rangeela (1995), Dil Se (1998), etc. was being listened to,” he said. “But he (Subhash Ghai) took me to every house in North India!” As expected, there was applause in the theatre on this statement.
Slumdog Millionaire connection?
RJ Rohini then revealed that Taal played a big role in Anil Kapoor and A R Rahman bagging Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The film helped the music maestro win an Oscar. Anil Kapoor was asked if this story is true.
Anil revealed, “That’s what Danny Boyle told me. He heard the music of Taal and he also happened to see me in it. So, I was somewhere there in his mind. But he obviously wanted (some other actors). Unhone naa bola toh woh mere paas aaye!”
The story behind Anil Kapoor’s cool look
The topic then veered towards Anil Kapoor’s costumes and cool look. On this, Anil Kapoor said, “My wife Sunita used to do costumes for me. Then, she got fed up with styling me in my films. Taal was the last film she worked on. She designed the clothes, including the yellow top I wore in the song ‘Ramta Jogi’.” Interestingly, the cool shirt was displayed outside the screen like a museum collection and caught everyone’s eye!
He continued, “I tell my makers ‘Baaki sab aap (prep) karo. Yeh mere pe chod do’!” He also stated, “The shirt I wore in Ram Lakhan (1989) is my own. The coat I wore in Woh 7 Din (1983) in Australia is from Chor Bazar! I picked up the shirt, which I wore in Mashaal (1984), from a roadside stall.”
As for his goatee, he confessed, “I was inspired by Will Smith. The goatee is usually looked down upon in Hindi films and our heroes don’t sport it. They feel it’s not classy.”
Anil Kapoor raised laughs as he said, “Amar Singh once said that Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) is the one who started the goatee trend. I told him, ‘Unke pehle maine kiya’!”
Sequel in the offing?
A fan asked A R Rahman which is his favourite song. While answering, he ended up blurting out that Subhash Ghai had planned to make Taal 2! He said, “It’s difficult to say (which song is my favourite) as I haven’t seen the film often. I last saw it a couple of years ago when we were thinking of a sequel!”
As expected, the crowd hooted and clapped. A R Rahman quickly clarified, “We were just brainstorming!”
Also Read: 25 Years of Taal trivia: The musical was the FIRST Hindi film to release in IMAX, faced CBFC woes due to Manikchand mention, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pardes gave a hard time…
More Pages: Taal Box Office Collection
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