The interview which appears below, was originally published on Rediff.com in December 2006. ©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 is a man of few words. But once he warms up, he can keep talking. When we asked for an interview, he emailed just one line: “Sure. I will call you.” He did not specify a time or day. Given his passion for working in the night, I knew that meant I should expect a phone call from Chennai any time during the day hours in New York.
And as promised, he called just two days after confirming that the interview would happen. It was about noon in New York. For nearly an hour, he talked about a lot of things including how Shah Rukh Khan had become a ‘bakra’ and how he was ‘blackmailed’ by ‘Mani sir’ to sing the Tere Bina number in Guru.
On working with Shah Rukh Khan
I decided not to compose the music for his film, Om Shanti Om because I was refused the publishing rights of the film. But we could surely work in the future. There should be no hard feelings in this business. Shah Rukh is warm-hearted and a smart producer but he was misled in this case.
The concept of music publishing is new in India and his advisors did not understand what it meant. They made him a bakra with their wrong advice. As a composer, it is important for me to own some rights to the music, so that I could use it any way I want 20 years from now. For me, owning these rights is more important than owning property. Anything can happen to property but music rights will not collapse.
This is not an uncommon thing in the West. But in India, some producers have begun understanding the concept. Aamir Khan is giving me the music publishing rights to his next film. Rajnikant’s daughter, who is producing a Tamil film called Hara, is going to do it too.
On his own label
I want to publish not only my non-film compositions but also the songs of legends like Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan saab. So many singers, including Sonu Nigam, have learned from him. He is my guru too. There are so many gems of his that are unpublished. Even people who are acquainted with Hindustani music are not aware of this music. I want to do it. There is no commercial consideration in this venture. Over the years, I have composed music for films that are not big in the traditional way. Films like MF Husain’s Meenaxi or Shyam Benegal’s films.
On Bappi Lahiri singing the song Ek Lo Ek Muft in Guru
The tune for this song had been ready more than three months ago and I wanted Abhishek Bachchan to sing it. But he was abroad and by the time he would return to India, I was going abroad. So there was a dilemma. I felt it was a special song and wanted it to sound fresh.
Just then, I happened to watch some award function on television, and there was Bappida singing a song and getting a lot of applause. I contacted him in Kolkata the next day, and he was in Chennai in a day or two. It is amazing that he could record the entire song, which is quite wordy and long, in less than two hours and then he went back to Kolkata. The song has been picturised very well on Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai. It is going to be even more popular after the film’s release.
When Mani Ratnam blackmailed Rahman
In the first part of an exclusive interview with A.R. Rahman, the maestro spoke about how Shah Rukh Khan was made a ‘bakra,’ and how he made Bappi Lahiri sing in Guru. In the second and last part, Rahman talks more about Mani Ratnam’s Guru, and his other projects.
On dedicating the song Tere Bina to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
When I began working on the soundtrack of Guru, I happened to listen to one of Nusrat saab’s softest songs called Sajna Tera Bina. It is simple and heart-stirring. There is great beauty in it. I was inspired by it and started composing Tere Bina about eight months ago.
Originally, the song was about 25 minutes long. You know I often write six or seven mukhdas and then there are many variations. I also recorded the song Ay Hairathe for the film but Mani sir felt it was too heavy to be at the start of the film. He thought of using Tere Bina.
Suddenly, the song got a life of its own. But there was one hurdle (chuckles). I had recorded it in the voice of Qadir Khan and he did an excellent job. But Mani sir wanted me to sing it. I said, Qadir will get hurt, and I did not want to hurt him. But there was no way of getting out. It became something like: Either you sing it or it won’t be there.
So it was a blackmail?
But in a good way (chuckles). I also told Mani sir that I was fasting then and didn’t have the energy to sing it. He said he would wait. (The song as it is has some of Murtaza Khan and Qadir’s voices in the Dham Dara Dham Dara part at the beginning. Chinmayee joins Rahman later in the song.)
On Aye Hairathe
I was listening to the music of Amir Khusroo and his song Yeh Sharbati Ashiqui. I loved it. But most of the song was in Persian and that was going to cause us a problem. So Gulzar saab wrote the lyrics inspired by Amir Khusroo. I would say it is one of the best songs that have come out with my association with Gulzar.
On making Hariharan sing in Aye Hairathe
It was very important that he sang the song. It is the kind of song Mohammad Rafi would have sung four or five decades ago. It is a traditional kind of melody with lots of feelings but Hariharan makes it sound modern. He has done an astounding job. The song has a lot of masti in it. You feel it especially when Alka (Yagnik) joins in. It is a romantic and fun song. It is the most popular song in the album after Tere Bina.
I am surprised universally people are going to listen to Tere Bina after listening to all songs in the album. Such a thing (like most people returning to one song) does not happen often.
When Deepa Mehta’s Water became controversial, you quit the project but your songs were retained. Now, Deepa wants you to compose the songs for her period drama The Exclusion.
I know Deepa has said that she would be very disappointed if I don’t compose music for her new film. We have always retained the friendship and she showed me Water even before it opened the Toronto International Film Festival last year.
I don’t know when she will start work on The Exclusion. If my schedule fits hers, I would love to work with her. We were in Los Angeles the other day attending the same event but there was no opportunity to discuss anything because I was flying to London the same night.
Other projects
I have done some work on The Golden Age, the follow-up to Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth. I am working along with another composer. This is new for me in films but I am excited about it. I think the film will cost more than his Elizabeth (which cost about $35 million, eight years ago). It could even cost $100 million.
I have also recorded a couple of songs for Ashutosh Gowariker’s Akbar-Jodha but it is premature to talk about them. Things change. But this much I know, the songs and the score should not only reflect the grandeur of the age but also the romance between the central characters (played by Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai).
And now that The Lord of the Rings is getting ready to open in London, there is plenty of work.
