AR Rahman 99 Songs is not a love story as one would expect love, romance story it is more about a musician finding himself. It is a treat to ears.
The movie says a lot of how much of a herculean journey a musician has to travel to become a successful artist. Well, then it takes 99 songs for a musician to make that one perfect song. The protogonist Jay (Ehan Bhat), a college student doing his masters, is in love with fellow student, Sophie (Edilsy Vargas). Sophie is a fine artist and a fashion designer, though she cannot speak.
The duo exudes perfect chemistry. Her super rich father (Ranjit Barot) doesn’t think that his daughter is worthy of Jay. Nevertheless, he makes Jay an offer about expanding into music and Jay heading that new concern. Jay turns that down as he wants to make a name for himself purely as a musician.
Her father reminds him that it takes a musician to make at least 100 songs to create something that touches the soul and Jay should only come back if he manages to do so. Thus, with the help of his friend from the North East, Polo (Tenzing Dalha), he travels to Shillong and gets introduced to Jazz music by the singer/owner of a nightclub (Lisa Ray).
AR Rahman 99 Songs is a Musical Visual Spectacle
He becomes a trained jazz pianist through her mentorship and is on the way to fulfilling a part of his education. Circumstances lead him astray from the journey, till a mysterious stranger from his past (Rahul Ram) comes into his life and takes him back to his roots, completing his journey…
The film has brilliant cameos. Warina Hussain playing Jay’s classically trained mother who passed away at childbirth is a fine touch. The Sai bhajan picturised on her, sung by Bela Shende, is the best song of the film. Manisha Koirala plays the kindhearted warden of a mental asylum. She brightens up the proceedings with her brief role. Lisa Ray as the sultry jazz singer and dancer too feels like an apt choice.
The whole film is a visual treat where the audiences are treated to different sounds and scenes. The songs play out in the background, becoming a character in themselves. How much of it will be enjoyable in a theatre, is answer only viewers and critics have to say.
But for AR Rahman fans it, surely is a treat. And….you will surely find 99 reasons to go grab a ticket.
One of the twitter reviewer says “It’s a great experience… Soulful. Impressed. The power of music”
AR Rahman himself shared expression through Twitter Buzz
“Actually since I’m heading the team, and as the producer and writer who ambitioned this project, I felt this sense of responsibility. Honestly, sometimes when I do music videos, I feel like for many music videos and many songs I only almost finished them and then I wouldn’t have the time and I’d just leave it and move on with my life.
So in this film, I said to myself that the thought should never come to mind and no matter what happens, I’m heading the team, I’m heading their aspirations, so I have to fulfill this especially since they’ve all trusted me as this team’s leader. So I knew I should bring the ship to the shore, the way we envisioned it and even better,” Rahman said, adding, “To come to this place, it took quite a while because there are many risks we’ve taken. So for me, it was like a 100x, that kind of energy and responsibility.
Moreover, I wanted this movie to have its own voice and it does. It has the collective voice of this whole team.”
99 Songs has released today (April 16, Friday) in theatres. Directed by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, the multi-lingual film is backed by AR Rahman under his production banner YM Movies.