CHENNAI: For ardent fans of AR Rahman music and for film buffs, the audio launch of 127 Hours, a film by Danny Boyle, was an event to look forward to. Although the film opened in the US on November 30, 2010, its music in India was released only on Monday. The highlight is that the soundtrack of the film has been nominated for the Golden Globes. As ‘The Mozart of Madras’ has close aficionados in Chennai especially, the spirits were high for music lovers. Out of the 14 tracks in the movie, eight have been composed by AR Rahman. Starring James Franco as real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston, the film is a biographical one based on Ralston’s autobiography, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
At a select gathering of socialites and media persons, the launch took place at Rhapsody, Courtyard by Marriott in association with The Brew Magazine and Universal Music Group. Despite a late start, although a moiety of the expected guest list and performers did not turn up, and the Mozart himself was not in person, what was commendable was the spirit to celebrate the occasion, even with a small audience. Karan Berry, general manager, Courtyard by Marriott, played the perfect host for the evening and Sameer Bharat Ram from The Brew Magazine and representatives from Universal Music Group made the event happen. There was no introduction to the music as such and it will be worth watching out for the ARR style of background score for the film. Among those to receive the first copies of the event were Kavita Baliga (think Shekhar Kapur’s short film Passage and a faculty member of Oscar winner AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai), Nalini Radhakrishnan and Vandana Bindal Agarwal, AK Tareen (senior trade commissioner in India for Australia) among others. The film is expected to release in January, next year, in India.