The interview which appears below, was originally aired on Rahmania - Aaha FM in September 2008. Interview excerpt is written by V.R. Vithur from the A.R. Rahman Yahoo Fans Group. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
Actor cum Asst Director Ramesh Kanna (Assistant to Director K.S. Ravikumar) in Rahmania Show. He has worked as an Associate Director in the film “Muthu” and has acted in various films like “Padaiyappa,” “Thenali,” and “Varalaaru.”
Q: How and when did you meet Rahman?
RK: That’s a very memorable and exciting experience. When I was working as an Assistant Director, Ilaiyaraaja Sir was at his peak, and everyone had a burning desire to meet him and sit for his compositions. Everyone dreamed of working with Ilaiyaraaja and making a film.
At that time, Rahman had come out with “Roja,” and everyone was talking about it. The music was totally different, and everyone was saying that a young boy had come up with such music. That film became a big hit, and his entry was significant, overshadowing everyone else. From that time, I had a burning desire to be part of Rahman Sir’s compositions. During my early days, I used to silently sit in Ilaiyaraaja’s compositions, and he would stare at me.
The first time I met Rahman Sir was during the “Muthu” film. Myself, Rahman Sir, Director K.S. Ravikumar, Rajni Sir, Thenappan, and Vairamuthu went to Cochin and stayed in a hotel. Rahman Sir was in the adjacent room. Rajni Sir came just for the music composing and has a lot of love for Rahman Sir.
We four members would stay in one room, and Rahman Sir would stay alone in another. He would participate in some discussions during the day, and when we were asleep at night, he used to play some sounds on his keyboard. I used to sneak out silently to hear them. The next day, he would play something and show it to everyone. I didn’t have any knowledge of charanam or pallavi, but our director had a feel for it. When Rajni Sir used to ask, “Enna pa. What is this? What is that?” Rahman Sir would answer, “Don’t worry. Please wait, and everything will come out fine.”
Everyone knows how great a hit “Muthu” was. From that time, my fear of Rahman Sir started to reduce as he behaved very simply all the time.
Once, when I went to the studio at night, I saw Director Subhash Ghai sleeping in a corner, and in another corner was Director Shankar. Everyone was sleeping in a corner, and I felt, “OMG. I have come to a very big place. I need to be careful.” Rahman Sir used to keep working late into the night with his tunes. I had many experiences with Rahman Sir while working on “Muthu.”
Interesting Incident with Rahman
One song was supposed to be shot in Mysore. They were supposed to give me the song, and I was supposed to take it to Mysore. The director told me to come on the next flight. That same night, when I went to Rahman Sir, he told me to wait. I was sitting there, and he was doing something. He went upstairs after 1 AM for Namaz. He didn’t return for about 90 minutes, so I slept on the nearby sofa. Rahman Sir, having composed the song, made everything ready and told his people to give it to me before 4 AM. Suddenly, I woke up and saw no one in the studio, and I was afraid the director would scold me for getting it late.
I was fear-struck, thinking the crew would scold me if I didn’t get the song the next day. To my utter surprise, I saw Rahman Sir sleeping just below me. I had to confirm if it was really Rahman Sir. It was a great shock to me. Slowly and stealthily, I went and opened the door, and a person named Sukumar told me that everything was ready and I could leave.
Favorite Songs
If you keep sweet at one end, hot at another, and sour at another, we can select the sweet and say we like it. But as far as Rahman Sir’s songs are concerned, everything is sweet, and it’s tough to make a choice. But recently, among the mother songs he has done, the song in “New” for S.J. Suryah, “Kaalayil Dhinamum Kan Vizhitaal,” stands out. It’s very strange to see a song like this in S.J. Suryah’s film. Rahman Sir has a lot of devotion towards his mother. He is a mother devotee.
