The interview which appears below, was originally published on Indian Express in August 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.
The sales figures of Boys haven’t hit the usual Rahman high. Some people say it is because you have lost interest in scoring music for Tamil films.
Its all in the game. Some time ago, cricket was not a favorite sport. But now it’s made a comeback. It’s the same with the music market. In 1996, it hit a low. Between 1998-2000 it went up to 400 percent, which I never expected. Then it plummeted again. The advancement in technology, Internet downloading, and failing films are the reasons.
In 1999-2000, too many films of mine were released one after the other and things got locked. Then I was away doing Bombay Dreams and because of that people assumed I was no longer interested in Tamil films. But the real reason is that the three filmmakers I am passionate about working with were not available at the time. Shankar was bogged down by Nayak and lost two years in that and Rajiv Menon was not making films at the time. Mani Ratnam’s film Kannathil Mutthamittal was the only film that happened and it got its due by bagging the National Award. The other directors are okay. Some are good but some are bad.
Was it a clash with Shankar that delayed Boys?
Clash with Shankar? It’s true the project got delayed. I was away in Kazakhstan as part of the jury for the International Film Festival. I could not turn down the invitation. It might have delayed the project by a week.
What is 5.1 technology all about?
We wanted to use this technology for the music of Kannathil Mutthamittal, but by the time we decided on it, the film was almost complete. Then when Shankar came with Boys, I suggested we use 5.1. Boys had the right kind of story. When you listen to a song composed with 5.1 technology, you feel like you are in a studio. It will lose 70 percent of its impact once it goes into mono-track. DVD gives it the best impact.
Are you attempting a new kind of fusion with Krishna Shahs Tansen?
When I was doing a concert abroad, Krishna Shah narrated the script. I liked it as it is a modern interpretation of Tansen. I offered to do the music if he was making the film. It’s still in the preliminary stages.
Can you tell us about Warriors of Heaven and Earth, your Chinese film?
I have been watching Chinese movies for seven years the ones in the festival circuit. Sony Classical and Columbia Pictures are producing the movie. It was Sonys head who had offered me the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth. Its about the silk route from China through Turkey to India. My music is a mix of Indian, Turkish and Chinese.
The director Hei-Ping has heard my Lagaan and Vande Mataram albums and liked them so much that he made a temp-track an used it in his film, which quite impressed me. The musical score was done in Prague, London and mixing here in Chennai in my studios with a sound engineer from the US. There is also a song in the film, which is sung by the famous Taiwan singer Jolin, and Sunitha from Chennai sings the English version.
Your choice of films in Tamil like Parusuram seems baffling?
In Tamil, the expectations are very high. When a film gets released and if its not up to the audience expectations they tell me not to do such films. I get a lot of mails and e-mails about this. They want me to go in only important ones. I committed to the film Parasuram in 1996. The storyline sounded like it was serious stuff. But then it changed half a dozen directors and finally it came to Arjun whose taste in music was different. I was very busy with my other projects but I went ahead since I had agreed to it. It is up to the director to conceive a song. If you dont work with passion things turn out cheesy.
Whats up next?
I am doing this Manis bilingual in Tamil and Hindi. Enakku 20 Unakku 18 for Jyothi Krishna, New for S J Surya and Bharathirajas Kangalal Kaidhu Sei.
You are taking part in the CBSO Beethoven to Bollywood at Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 2003/04. How does that feel?
I feel honored to be selected for this orchestral composition. I will be doing two live shows. It is basically an orchestral interpretation of most of my work. The other one is based on the book Conference of the Birds. I never thought I would be invited to do the symphony. When your time is good it pushes you to take a small step, which drags you to greater heights. God is Great.
About the National Award?
I value this award very much. When Kannathil Mutthamittal was first released I dont think it was given its due the movie as well as the sound track. But I was happy it got the national award.
