Zakir Hussain will cheer on Arijit Singh, Salim-Sulaiman and his protégé Raj Pandit at the music launch of Rahul Bose’s next directorial
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 3, 2017)


Sixteen years after tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain collaborated with Rahul Bose on his directorial debut, Everybody Says I’m Fine, the duo will re-unite at a suburban theatre today for the music launch of Rahul’s upcoming directorial, Poorna.

The Padma Shri who composed the 15-track album, performing three of them, “Zindagi”, “Discovery” and “Somewhere”, for the 2001 film, is not a part of Poorna but his protégé, Raj Pandit, is one of the playback singers. But the Ustad will be launching the album with the other singers.

“Zakir is always there when I need him,” says Rahul who shares a close friendship with the maestro who often plays the piano and sings in the choir at Rahul’s charitable events.

The event will also have live acts by Salim-Sulaiman who’ve composed the album and Arijit Singh who has crooned two songs, “Kuch Parbat Hilayein” and “Babul Mora”.

“I wanted the music of Poorna to be soulful, emotional and inspirational. I narrated the story to Salim-Sulaiman and they immediately came on board,” says Rahul, adding that Amitabh Bhattacharya as the lyricist was a boon. “And I’m also delighted to have Zakirbhai join the live jamming session. All the singers are excited to meet Zakirbhai too,” Rahul beams.

Poorna follows the journey of Poorna Malavath, the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest, at 13.

“The film talks about gender equality, asserting that girls who dare to dream are determined to succeed too. The music had to be just as inspirational as the real-life journey,” Rahul signs off.