A.R. Rahman’s Pray For Me Brother

One piece of memory that has lingered in me from my visit to New York City a few months earlier is a middle aged woman who sat under a skyscraper in a shady corner of Times Square clutching a tiny board in her weak hand, which read - I lost my job. I have two kids. I don’t have anyone else. Please help me.

If there is one language common across the world it’s the language of suffering and tears - be it a remote village in Somalia or a hip center of America. That’s one reason why Bharatbala, the producer of this music video, chose to shoot Pray For Me Brother amidst the skyscrapers of Los Angeles, rather than a war ravaged African village.

A.R. Rahman’s Pray For Me Brother is an initiative by the A.R. Rahman Foundation to collect funds for the UN Millennium Development Program aimed at eradicating poverty by the year 2015. Rahman spins his magic once again with a music and lyrics that is sure to have a global appeal. Add the video to the song, and you get a real treat to your soul - all for a noble cause. As is always the case with Rahman, the music grows on you.

The video for the song has been shot in Los Angeles, with towering skyscrapers at one side showing the great economic strides the world has made and beggars taking street corners on the other - symbolizing the idea that suffering is universal, irrespective of which part of the world you live in.

The video is filled with symbolism and emotions. Human suffering has no color. And it is only pertinent that the entire video symbolizing human suffering be shot in Black and White. Los Angeles being the location, the video has a Krumper dancing through the rap part of the song. Krumping is a form of dance that originated in the African-American community of South Central Los Angeles - a rather sinister and aggressive dance form, intended as an expression of anger or a release of pent-up emotion through violent, exaggerated, and dramatic moves. (Definition Source: Wikipedia.)

The music has a mix of traditional western and rap. And the very composition is intended at reaching out to a global audience, the universal message being - “Are you searching for a reason to be kind…” and binding this message with another universal emotion of “Prayer”. Rahman’s melancholic voice and Blaaze’s rap couldn’t have merged better. To enable access to the video across all media including mobiles and PDAs, the entire video has been shot in Vertical-Cinemascope, rather than the usual Horizontal picture. At times it is a pain to your eyes watching a vertical video, given that most of the audience would actually be watching it on television, rather than their mobile phones.

The DVD contains the song “Pray For Me Brother” and “The Making of Pray For Me Brother” featuring A.R. Rahman, Bharatbala and Blaaze taking us through the conceptualization of the album, purpose and their experiences while making the music and shooting the video. Given the non-commercial nature of the album and the cause behind it, it is a must-have for anyone who appreciates good music.