The interview which appears below, was originally published on Click Walla in June 2003. ©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.
In his relatively short career, writer, singer and composer A.R. Rahman has taken both the east and west by storm with his unique style of music. Indian film fans will already be familiar with Rahman, who over the past decade has mesmerised audiences and to some extent transformed the Indian music industry with his unique film scores and solo albums. His ability to successfully combine eastern and western rhythms and vocals to produce an eclectic style of music has helped put contemporary Indian sounds on the world music stage.
From rock, pop and raggae to classical Indian, Latin and western orchestral music, Rahman has been able to master the art of fusion and composition and impress millions worldwide. Dubbed the “King of Indian Pop” he has attained sales of more than 40 million albums. Considered by many to be the foremost Indian musical artist today, Rahman has worked with well-respected artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Zakir Hussain, Sonu Nigam and Talvin Singh amongst others and performed various large-scale concerts across the globe.
Publicly recognised for his natural talent and great achievements, Rahman has been honoured with some of the sub- continent’s most prestigious awards, including the National, Film Fare and Rajiv Ghandi Awards. At thirty years of age, he is a relative fledging, yet his popularity and skills have seen him gain a kudos few achieve after decades of work. Despite such fame and fortune, Rahman remains a modest man who refuses to compromise his personal and professional life to fit in with the grand demands of the Indian music industry.
Rahman was born A.S. Dileep Kumar but later adopted the name A R Rahman when he converted from Hinduism to Islam. The son of well-known South Indian composer K A Sakar, Rahman began playing music at an early age, focusing mainly on the keyboards. After his father’s death, he went on to accompany various music directors and then win a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music in London. After returning to his native city of Madras, Rahman set up his own state of the art recording studio where he spent numerous years composing jingles for commercials.
A chance introduction with the South Indian film director Mani Ratnam in 1995 pushed Rahman into the limelight, when he was given the chance to compose the soundtrack to his film Roja which went onto become an instant hit. On the back of this, Rahman received similar offers from Bollywood producers who were keen to include his music in their films. The success of subsequent Hindi film scores like Bombay, Rangeela, Taal, Earth 1947, Zubeidaa and Lagaan, catapulted Rahman to international stardom. In 1997 Rahman released Vande Mataram, a solo album in which he put he first put his singing talents to use, and since then has made guest appearances on a handful of other albums.
Despite his success Rahman has refused to move to Mumbai where is he is in much demand. However, his reputation has seen artistes and filmmakers willing to go out of their way to travel to his studios in Madras in order to work with him. Known to favour quality over quantity, Rahman refuses to work simultaneously on numerous films like other Indian music directors.
“Rather than making money I believe in making people happy, all other things are secondary. That is why I am not interested in a lot of movies but only in one at a time. I like directors whom I can vibe with. Ten years of experience in this field has made me quite frustrated. I’ve evolved a technique, which requires a lot of time. Other music directors record a song in 7-8 hours. But I am different. We do a basic sitting and we record it. We record the voice and I add instrument by instrument to improve the quality, explains A.R. Rahman.
A recent two part CNN documentary presented by news anchor Riz Khan, included a special on A.R. Rahman and bought the music maestro considerable mainstream attention from the west. In 2002, A R Rahman is set to become a household name in the UK when the musical Bombay Dreams hits the west end stage. A collaboration between Rahman, music impresario Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and oscar-nominated film director Shekar Kapur, Bombay Dreams will be the first large scale Asian musical to be staged in London.
With an enviable past record and bright future ahead of him, A.R. Rahman is well on his way to becoming a living legend.
