Having picked this book from Crossword on Monday I hoped to be able to read it on the train in the weekend but the subject was too good for me to postpone it till then. This is an unauthorized biography by Kamini Mathai, I've read many of her articles in 'The New Indian Express'. The book does give some insight into the reclusive composer's style and life but there's nothing compelling in this book for a die-hard fan.
One look at the cover and I sincerely hoped it wasn't going to be like 'Superstar' which was Rajini's biography penned by Gayathri. In that book 'petti kadai' was referred to as 'box shop', that's how transliterated it all can be. The tag line given is plain lazy. "The Musical Storm" is nothing but the English translation of "Isai Puyal", that's how AR Rahman is referred to in movie credits and album covers. If my memory serves me right it was KS Ravikumar who coined this title and used it first in the movie "Tenali". Of course this book has it's share of nice little things like Harris Jayaraj for example. Until I did read this book I didn't know that 'Majnu' was offered to AR Rahman who couldn't take it up and referred Harris Jayaraj instead.
Given the fact that there's hardly any information about Rahman that's official, anything that gives us a peek into the composer's life, style, preferences would certainly tickle the curiosity in a music lover. From that perspective this book is surely worth one read. An AR Rahman fan knows most of the things in the book already or can even give some more insight into areas which the book doesn't get into.
