Being an ardent music lover, I have always been a huge admirer of A.R. Rahman and his incredible music. Needless to say, it was a huge deal for me to attend an event graced by him yesterday. But what made this occasion a lot more special is the talent that a bunch of youngsters oozed on stage. I am not exaggerating – I was tear-eyed when I stepped out of the venue post the event! You will soon know why.
So I went to Dharavi (which happens to be the largest slum in Asia) in Mumbai to cover the launch of The Dharavi Project. There were hundreds of onlookers peeking inside the Ambedkar hall to get a glimpse of this Rahman and ace filmmaker, Shekhar Kapur. Fortunately, I was one of the very few who got to witness this momentous event so closely.
Leading record label Universal music and Qyuki, a multi-channel network (co-founded by Rahman and Kapur along with the former MD Digital of Disney, Samir Bangara), together announced The Dharavi Project. The one-of-a-kid initiative aims to fund the expansion of the music and dance school in Dharavi, established by Qyuki last year. The school intends to discover fresh talent from the area and nurture it through the program. The CEO of Universal Music Group, Max Hole and the Managing Director of Universal Music, Devraj Sanyal have also extended their support to this project wholeheartedly.
Devraj says, “Our vision is to see one of these young prodigies become national stars. If the next Honey Singh came from Dharavi, that would be the coolest thing in the world!”
Samir added, “We have been working on it for the last one year. We had set up a small studio facility in the heart of Dharavi to get talent from there. There were different groups from the age five to 21. Seeing them perform today was great. We want to take it to the next level. We want to find the next big talent and give them equal opportunity.”
Soon after a brief introduction, the set was put on fire by the Dharavi youngsters (they call themselves the SlumGods), who delivered a mind-boggling performance. A fusion of the Dil Se title track accompanied by some interesting rapping and beat-boxing – everything about their performance left me in awe.
One of the performers’ mother broke into tears when Rahman said he wants to compose a song with them. Naturally, it was a moment of pride for every Dharavi resident.
Both Rahman and Kapur were also quite emotional after seeing the performance delivered by the Dharavi kids. All in all, it was an event to remember. Cheers to the bundles of talent and to Devraj, Samir, Rahman, Kapur and Max for encouraging and supporting them.
Pix: Viral Bhayani for MissMalini