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Sparrow sings for the rainbow coalition
Written by : Stephen Spark
Location : Trinidad & Tobago
Posted : Jul 12, 2006 : 3:20:00 AM |
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After more than half a century in the music business you might think that the Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) had explored every outlet for his talents. However, in singing the title track for the film Rainbow Raani, Sparrow has branched out into a whole new area of endeavour.
The “sexy comedy”, written and directed by Mickey Nivelli, is about a group of four West Indian musicians – East Indian, black, white and Chinese – called The Rainbows who are trying to get to the States to find fame and fortune. The convoluted plot involves the band’s leader, Raaja (Prashant Kumar), marrying (purely for visa purposes) an American lesbian, Jennifer (Stephanie Bentley), who has fallen in love with Raaja’s girlfriend, Raani (Manvi Dhoopar). Also in the mix are Rodney (Sincee Daniels) and his girlfriend (Pascale Piquion). The sham marriage and the relationships that surround it become complicated when Jennifer falls pregnant, having somewhat improbably confused Raaja for her girlfriend Rosie. According to Nivelli, the film’s message is that “the grand design of Creation is diversity” – although to judge by the plot synopsis it seems more likely to be confusion!
Sparrow has never before sung other people’s songs for a film, and this is perhaps the first time too that a calypsonian has voiced songs for actors to mime. However, the technique is de rigueur for Bollywood productions and one that has made Lata Mangeshkar a household name across the Indian subcontinent. Sparrow and his daughter, Karen Francisco, worked on their four songs with an Arkansas, USA-based quartet called Rhythm Mandir.
After the actress first chosen to play Raani, South African Tarina Patel, failed to get the filming moved to her home country, both leading lady and location were changed, to Manvi Dhoopar and Guyana respectively. Shooting took place over April and May, and caused a stir when local people believed that Guyanese beauty queen Olive Gopaul, who was playing a small part in the film, had committed suicide in the Botanical Gardens. The plot apart, Rainbow Raani should be worth watching for the beautiful Guyanese scenery that forms the film’s backdrop. The film is to be Guyana’s official entry for the Oscars.
In a twist worthy of the film itself, Mickey Nivelli was previously known as Harbance Kumar. He changed his name when he met a woman whose son, Mickey Nivelli, had been killed in a Nazi concentration camp and was looking for someone who would perpetuate her child’s name; it turned out that Kumar and Nivelli were born on the same day in 1937. Nivelli, an Indian citizen, is married to a Trinidadian and lives in New York, while the film’s Indian-born producer, Pradeep Samtani, is married to a Guyanese – truly a rainbow coalition! |
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