Rahman’s protégé gets ‘Fluid’

Who can forget the emotional flute piece from the film ‘Bombay’ or the recent hummable tune from ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’?  Naveen Kumar has almost become an inevitable part of AR Rahman’s music troupe and is now every music director’s first choice.

The flautist is releasing his debut album ‘Fluid’ today. “It’s an experimental album where I have used different kinds of flutes like a pennywhistle, sakuhacthi (Japanese flute), pan flute and a flute that I have invented which has strings inside a bamboo,” he says.

Naveen has collaborated with Sivamani, Keith Peters and the like for the album. “The sound is basically Indian melody with jazz backing. I’ve used Indian ragas. There are two of AR Rahman’s tracks from  ‘Bombay’ and ‘Dil Se’,” he explains.

The musician, who started playing the flute at a very young age, doesn’t have any formal training though he learnt carnatic vocals. “My first big inspiration came when I was in the sixth grade. I played the song ‘Aaja Tujhko Pukare’ on the flute to a huge round of applause,” he says.

The musician made his commercial debut in 1983 and since then has played with various musicians. “AR Rahman really appreciated my different style of playing. There is something about his music,” says Naveen who worked with him on both his international projects including ‘Bombay Dreams’ and ‘Warriors of Heaven and Earth’ (Chinese film).

“I can’t forget the incident during the recording of ‘Bombay Dreams’ when someone I thought looked like a musician appreciated my style and he turned out to be the music composer of ‘Moulin Rouge’,” laughs Naveen.
 k_shridevi@dnaindia.net