99 Songs

99 Songs is an upcoming Indian romantic musical film. Film directed by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy. The film stars Ehan Bhat and Edilsy Vargas in the lead roles. The film is co-written and produced by A. R. Rahman, who thus makes his debut in both roles. He also composed the original score and songs. The film is a sensual story about art and self-discovery of a struggling singer who wants to be a successful music composer.

Cast

 * Ehan Bhat
 * Edilsy Vargas
 * Tenzin Dalha
 * Aditya Seal
 * Lisa Ray
 * Manisha Koirala
 * Thomson Andrews
 * Ranjit Barot
 * Rahul Ram
 * Remo Fernandes
 * Ashwath Bhatt
 * Kurush Deboo

Development
In June 2015, under Y. M. Movies, A. R. Rahman had signed advertisement filmmaker director Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy to direct his first feature film. In 2014, the production house was finalizing the draft of the script, this being a music-based film. The film was titled 99 Songs and the makers casting process had begun in Mumbai. Overall, the scripting and finalizing process took four years. On casting, the production house wanted a South Indian actor to play the male lead musician who had basic understanding of music too. The supporting cast will have international musicians and actors. The casting of the film has been done by casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

In August 2015, it was confirmed that the plot would be musically-laden, with film score by Rahman. However, the film won't be a biopic on A. R. Rahman but "a journey of a struggling singer, with the problems faced in his quest to be a successful composer"the lead actors of the movie are ehan bhat and edilsey. The film would have a love story inclined to art, passion and realizing one's true capabilities. Rahman, who penned the script for the first time in his career, in an interview with Deccan Chronicle stated: "Writing is the nucleus of any project. It is the core vision behind any film! Since my movie is a musical, it needed a really strong script to bring it to life and create an impact."

Production works began after Rahman finished scoring Ashutosh Gowariker's 2016 film Mohenjo Daro.

A.R. Rahman wrote on his facebook "For the past couple of years, we have taken the time necessary to hold around a 1,000 auditions so that we could find the right boy and girl. I think we have found those special people who have brought freshness and talent to the screen,”

Filming
On March 10, 2017, principal photography had begun, accompanying a first look poster release. The details about lead pair were undeciphered.

Development
Film is musical based. A. R. Rahman has composed the songs for the film.According to Title "99 Songs", Rahman said film does not have 99 songs but the movie will have 36 tracks including Hindi, Tamil & Telugu  languages. A. R. Rahman said he has been working on the soundtrack for 4-5 years, & soundtrack features some international artists  including Zayn Malik. According to movie's poster lyrics for songs have been given by Navneet Virk. Rahman has worked with Navneet Virk for Viceroy's House soundtrack, for which he won  World Soundtrack Award – Public Choice. Lyrics for Tamil song have been given by Thamarai. Shreya Ghoshal has sung a lullaby song for the album.

In a tweet Keba Jeremiah confirmed that he has played some instruments for Background Score. Randy Kerber who did some score for La La Land (film), has played some instruments for Background Score A. R. Rahman said he is going to release the Soundtrack very soon. ￼ The music rights of this film has been bought by Jio Studio.

Release
99 Songs is set to release on 21 June 2019.