The interview which appears below, was originally published on Indian Express in June 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.
At a quaint English cafe on Baker’s Street, A.R. Rahman is quietly sipping coffee. He’s probably not used to waiting for an interviewer to show up, considering the amount of fuss he makes before finally agreeing to an interview in the first place. In his early thirties, diminutive Rahman hardly looks the wiz-kid musician Andrew Lloyd Webber recently described as “one of the best composers I’ve ever met”.
The composer, who has spent the last year or so shuttling between his home in Chennai and Webber’s offices in London, says he’s rather pleased with the response to Bombay Dreams.
`There’ve only been a few shows, but the reactions have been quite positive,’ he says. Rahman has every reason to be upbeat. Even if Bombay Dreams received some less-than-favorable reviews in the mainline British press, what every critic has been unanimous about, is the fact that it’s the score that saves the show.
There’s nothing like that,’ he humbly intervenes. `The sound is different because it’s from another place… I think the show as a whole is what works. The acting, the production, the music, the dancing, everything….”
He strongly believes that dancing is another aspect that enthralled the audience. They tend to react strongly to whatever is unique to them — the style of dancing, the costumes, the sound.’
He’s also excited that some of his friends and his favorite filmmakers showed up for the opening. Mani Ratnam, Subhash Ghai, Rajiv Menon, and Ashutosh Gowariker, all of whom he has worked with, cheered from the aisles when Rahman was called on stage. `They are very kind’.
They have been very supportive. It was so encouraging to see them in the crowd, faces I knew, people who are friends and colleagues…’ Rahman is not ignorant of the fact that with the possible success of Bombay Dreams, he might eventually land a permanent ticket to the West. I don’t think there can ever be anything permanent,’ he says.
And besides, I don’t think I can ever give up composing music for Indian films,’ he insists. In fact, he adds, encouraged by the success of Lagaan, he intends to develop a more global sound for his soundtracks to reach out to a larger audience across the globe. It’s not impossible, as both Lagaan and Bombay Dreams have proved,’ he says. Language is never a barrier as far as music is concerned,’ he believes. If they can relate to the sound, they will embrace music in any language.’
On his own part, Rahman says he enjoyed working on the largely- English score for Bombay Dreams. “I’ve done music for commercials in English, but I hadn’t ever worked on full songs. This was exciting,” he says. Sifting through the offers he’s received from Hollywood, Rahman says he cannot decide how he should plan his life.
It’s a crucial time right now because we’re waiting to see what happens with Bombay Dreams,’ he says. If the musical runs for a year, they might recast it. There is also some talk of taking the show to Broadway. What he is clear about is the fact that he would never want to leave the cozy comfort of his home/studio in Chennai to record in Mumbai. I work differently. I don’t do things the normal way, so I would always be a misfit in Mumbai,’ he reasons.
