Rahman strengthens his foothold in Hollywood, establishes base in LA

AR Rahman is now expanding his global reach to establish his network in the entertainment capital of the world—Los Angeles.

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai, May 26: With the world raving about his winning anthem ‘Jai ho’, the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, has become one of the most sought after musicians around. The talented maestro, whose cadenced music went to claim the top positions as it rocked international charts, is now expanding his global reach as he goes to establish his network in the entertainment capital of the world—Los Angeles. Loaded with desi and foreign assignments ever since his swashbuckling Oscar glory, Rahman is now going property hunting to set up fully equipped offices in LA and London. Well, for Rahman, who is been living out of the suitcase, globetrotting from one country to the other, it only makes sense to go in an expanding mode. Confirming the news, the ever so simple musician said, "I now have four separate teams in four cities — Chennai, LA, London and Mumbai." But even though he has been busy than ever, his work back home has been considerably slowed down. Talking about several projects put on the hold Rahman said, "Kamal Haasan`s Marmayogi got postponed after I did four songs with him. So, I got some reprieve. Then recently I was in Mumbai and Mani Ratnam flew down to record a song. That`s the way he likes to work. Even during Bombay he would fly down to Mumbai for the music as he likes the city`s energy. Almost all of the background score of Bombay was done in Mumbai. Even the songs of Rang De Basanti were recorded in Mumbai." Meanwhile the multifaceted composer is busy with Hollywood assignments. With the west still grooving to the tunes of ‘Millionaire’ score, Rahman has dollops of extol coming his ways. Talking of one such golden moment, he said, "The actor Vince Vaughn met me recently and asked me to do the score in one of his films. That was a touching moment. I start work on this project in July. I didn`t set out to redefine myself with Slumdog Millionaire. It just happened. For me it`s important for my whole team to be happy with my music."