AR Rahman to host Amazon series on Indian music

Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman, whose credits include Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, is making a foray into non-fiction TV with a new music-based show for Amazon.

The five-episode Harmony With AR Rahman will be streamed globally on Amazon on Aug 15. The show explores India’s rich musical heritage through four specially curated instruments and vocal traditions and re-contextualises them in a modern context. Rahman interacts with four Indian classical musicians from different parts of the country reflecting how those musical traditions are also connected to their respective geographic regions.

The show's final episode culminates with a grand performance by all four musicians along with Rahman.

"My aim, through the series, was to recreate sounds from traditional instruments from a contemporary perspective and dangerously improvise," said Rahman in a statement.

He added: "I am excited to be a part of an opportunity to showcase our Indian traditions on a global stage like Amazon Prime Video and bring this musical treat to their viewers."

The four maestros featured in the show are Ustad Mohi Baha'un-din Dagar from the western state of Maharashtra, Kalamandalam Sajith Vijayan from Kerala in south India, Lourembam Bedabati Devi from Manipur in north-east India and Mickma Tshering Lepcha from Sikkim, also from north-east India, according to Hollywood Reporter.

Rahman's latest international film project was Iranian director Majid Majidi's India-set drama Beyond the Clouds while last year his credits included British director Gurinder Chadha's colonial drama Viceroy's House. His upcoming projects include a Bollywood remake of The Fault in Our Stars.