The interview which appears below, was originally published on Tamil Magazine "Ananda Vikatan" in September 2002. ©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.
A.R. Rahman candidly opens up with Kaasinathan from Ananda Vikatan, sharing his thoughts and experiences on the impact of media coverage, particularly articles and interviews from the Vikatan publications, on his personal and professional life. Through his first-person perspective, Rahman delves into the emotions and challenges he has faced as a result of media attention, offering a unique insight into the world of a celebrated artist.
“There are certain things or incidents which stay in our minds for a long long time. One such person was Ramakrishnan, a Malayali who stayed in the guest outhouse of our residence. He used to buy Vikatan every week and I used to browse the magazine at his place. I used to eagerly look for cartoons and comic pieces by Madan. Ramakrishnan used to constantly say that “this Madan’s cartoon is not good at all.”
Whenever I used to look at the cartoon he used to say the same thing. I still remember this line and the voice which introduced me to Vikatan. We would have heard P Susheela singing lyricist Kannadasan’s songs when we were kids. Even today when we hear those songs we are reminded of our childhood and it seems as if we have returned to our childhood days. When we look at a landmark which we have seen when we were kids, we get deluged with so many memories of our childhood.
Even today when I pick up Vikatan I rush to the cartoon sections. Vikatan is like a time machine that takes me back in time whenever I open it to read with Ramakrishnan’s voice echoing in my mind. When I was first popular on TV I never used to get feedback from anyone. All I used to hear was “Look it is the same kid.” Only after I got into the film world that I started receiving a varied range of feedback. I used to see several articles in magazines, letters from fans, phone calls congratulating me, and so on. These were all new to me.
This frenzy and media attention went on for a couple of years after I debuted in the film world. I used to follow every news item and article to see what people were thinking and writing about me. My first interview came out in the Junior Post and I still remember that interview. It was a very enjoyable and fun interview. Questions were like “What snacks do you like?”, “Suppose you were to be deserted on an island what book would you take with you to read?”, which I still remember.
If you ask me about Vikatan’s reviews, the review of “Karuthamma” is what I can never forget. The reviewer had dismissed the songs of the films saying “There is not much to say about the songs in the film like ‘Thenmerkku Parukaatru’, ‘Pachchai Kili Paadum Paatu’.” If you remember “Porale Ponnuthaayi” song won the National Award for singer Swarnalatha. I even later used the same tune for the Vande Mataram album which was sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Anyway, the reviewer went on to say “The biggest weakness of the film is its music. Sadly, for the first time the music of A.R. Rahman is a big minus for a film. He seems like a small pup which is completely lost in a deep dark forest”. This review affected me a lot. The tastes of people are constantly changing and I need to adapt myself to these changes. For people who are used to a certain type of music, a different style of a song will feel a little strange at the beginning, and they may not accept the new style immediately.
Once they change these tastes according to the new trend then they start liking the same songs they hated once. This is what happens to most of my songs. Music is like a medicine that cures Just like a medicine, it tastes sour at the beginning but as time passes it starts to work. If you take sweets for example, they taste great at the beginning but they vanish without a trace immediately. Songs are also like that. You like some songs immediately upon hearing but you forget them at the same speed.
And there are songs that you hated the first time you heard them, but as time goes on you get a really satisfied feeling hearing them. So as far as music is concerned you can’t decide anything immediately. Coming back to Vikatan reviews, there have been several reviews later on in Vikatan which have praised my songs but I still haven’t forgotten the caustic review of Karuthamma and it still hurts. Events like engagement and marriage which you are never prepared for, you go through these events without knowing what you are supposed to do, and what you are not supposed to do and you never forget how you went through these important events of your life.
Again Vikatan finds a place in my wedding memories. Talks about my marriages were just beginning, and the Vikatan crew got to know about it somehow. I got a call from Ubaidoor Rahman of Vikatan and he said “Heard you were getting married. Congrats! We have a photo of the bride but it is not of good quality so we don’t want to publish that. If you can give a good photo we can print that. If not we will go ahead with that low-quality pic!” We then got Rajeev Menon to do a special photo shoot and then we sent the picture to Vikatan. They used that in the cover of Vikatan.
We still don’t know if Vikatan really had a picture of they were faking it to get a good picture from us. Another disturbing memory that I have is of the last rites for my father and then for my grandmother. Even when I attend other funerals I remember my father and grandmother and I get emotionally upset. And because I am in a creative field all this affects my output and also affects the work of all the artists who are waiting for the recording. So I usually try to avoid attending these events or meet the family and quickly return.
Singer Shahul Hameed’s case was completely different. I was extremely attached to him. He was very close to my family and we knew their family very well and were close to each other. His sudden demise completely shocked me. His last rites were scheduled late in the evening one day. I just couldn’t imagine him in that state and was wondering if I will be able to handle it. Also, I didn’t want to go there and turn the media’s attention to myself and unnecessarily create a scene there. So we had decided with Shahul Hameed’s brother that I will arrive at the last minute to attend the funeral, and that is exactly what I did.
But the Junior Vikatan the next week carried an article in which they said that Shahul Hameed’s family was angry with me for not being there for the entire duration of the last rites. I was hurt that never really understood me or what had transpired and had gone ahead and published that article.
There have been several articles and interviews in Vikatan but the one interview that is very close to my heart is the interview that was done by associate editor Madan. When some narrow-minded people had written some rumours that I was supporting terrorists and extremists. They stooped down to character assassination. I was completely devastated when I read that article linking me to terrorists. I was afraid that some of my loyal fans would think that these rumours were true and would turn around to start hating me strongly. I just didn’t know how I could communicate to them that these were not true.
There is a line in Thirukkural which means “If you go through something that makes you sad then it is certain to be followed by something that will make you happy.” And I think that is how Madan came to me for that Vikatan interview. After asking several questions he finally asked me about the rumours that had appeared in some magazines. That interview told my fans and others what the truth was.
I can never forget that interview with Madan that appeared in Vikatan.
-A.R. Rahman
