The interview which appears below, was originally published on Tamil magazine "Chutti Vikatan (Kids publication from Ananda Vikatan) in April 2001. ©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.
Which is the song in which you really had to slog?
I slog for almost all the songs. Sometimes the song might not live up to our expectations. The lyrics or the vocals might let us down. I need to find out where the problem is and rectify it. That way ‘Pachai Nirame’ (from Alaipayuthey) gave me a tough time. It had about 6 or 7 extra tunes in it. I felt that if I removed them then it will sound really good. So I worked hard on it and made it good.
You compose music beautifully. You sing very beautifully and also look equally good, why don’t you act in movies?
I feel if I get into a job I should do it with all my heart. I should not get into everything and lose whatever is in my hand. I’m more of a studio person. I enjoy only the behind-the-screen jobs.
What is a Broadway musical, Rahman uncle?
Our cinema started with the cinematization of famous stage dramas like ‘Manohara’. Now cinema has become drastically different from dramas/plays. But plays/stage productions are even today as popular as cinema. They too convert stage plays into movies. Sound of music and My fair lady are two good examples of this. There are plays that are running for about 30 years non-stop! A unique feature in some of the plays is their music. They even use music for narration and to move the story forward. We could find a parallel to these plays in our traditional ‘therukoothu’. But these are very rich therukoothus! Such musicals are also called Broadway musicals.
Name one old Tamil song which you love?
‘Unnai ondru ketpen, unmai solla vendum’
I also want to be like you, always smiling and pleasant and very calm. What should I do Rahman sir?
Have faith in God. Nothing can happen beyond Him! Make all efforts to avoid any problems, but always remember that at one stage you have to let go and trust him for the rest.
If God appears in front of you and gives you a boon, what’ll you ask?
Like the way a mother takes care of all her children with no bias, God looks after his people with no bias. So if God does appear in front of me and grants me a wish…I’d tell him ‘you’ve given me all the knowledge and have done me a lot of god, so I’d just want your love always, nothing more!
Uncle, which instrument is very easy to learn for us kids? Which is the first instrument you learnt?
The instrument is not important. The teacher is more important! If you have a good teacher you can learn any instrument easily. By the way, I learned and played the Piano, first!
Uncle, what do you like apart from music?
Where there is no music, you have silence. I enjoy the peace in silence.
Do you think you’ve lost something in life because you came into the music world so young in life?
The days when you study, work and earn have changed. You learn music, and computers but are also getting into all other things in life and also earning at the same time. I made that entry a bit too early, that’s all. So I don’t feel I’ve lost anything.
You don’t give many chances to existing singers and encourage new singers. Why is that?
It’s not like that. When you try out something new you also need a fresh twist to the usual voice. So I seek voices to suit that requirement. It could be an existing singer’s voice or maybe a new singer’s.
I’m (so is my friend!) jealous of your long, dark hair! What’s its secret?
No secrets about that. I just don’t have the time to take care of it! So it grows!
We’ve heard film songs from you, and patriotic songs from you. When will you give us our (children’s) song?
Vande Mataram was created only for youngsters and kids. ‘Chanda Sooraj’ song was actually for you kids.
Why do you use strange words like Ajooba and Hojaaye? Is it because you like Hindi?
Both are not Hindi words. Ajooba is an Arabic word meaning ‘wonder’. Since we were shooting in the wonders of the world for that song in Jeans we included that word. Hojaaye is a Sinhalese word, meaning ‘enjoy’. We added that to the Tenali song to add a Sinhalese touch to the character that Kamal was playing.
We like your songs only after repeated hearings and never the first time! Why is that?
There are songs that one can like instantly, but invariably those songs might have an element from an older song that might have hooked you. When you try something new it’ll take some time to sink in.
These days parents seldom take their kid’s interest in music seriously. They always ask us to concentrate only on our studies. How do you feel about this?
Only when you have a protesting situation you’ll realize the true value of something. If they buy you all the instruments you ask for and help you learn music, you’ll lose interest very soon. If you are forced to protest you’ll learn its value and get deeply interested in it. But in any case, it goes without saying that your studies should be your first priority. Everything comes only after that.
