The interview which appears below, was originally published on BBC Asian Network in January 2008. ©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.
“One of the world’s most renowned names in composing, production, and music, A.R. Rahman, spoke exclusively to BBC Asian Network’s Gagan Grewal this week, sharing his views on war and his career.
Rahman, the genius behind the musical scores of countless Bollywood films as well as West End productions like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Bombay Dreams’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’, spoke to the Asian Network about his latest projects and his thoughts on war – a topic he seldom discusses in public.
A.R. Rahman scored his first Bollywood song ‘Roja’ in 1992, which was later listed by TIME magazine as one of the top 100 songs of all time. Despite this, Rahman says it’s hard to define a favourite song. In 2003, the BBC World Service conducted a global poll, asking its listeners for their 10 favourite tracks of the last millennium. A.R. Rahman had two tracks in the top ten; ‘Vande Mataram’ – a rendition of the Indian National Song – made it to number 2. We inquired about how that came to be.
‘I felt I should do something as a personal expression and teamed up with my schoolmate Bharat Bala, a talented filmmaker, who thought of this idea. I wanted to complete this album with the thought of belonging to the motherland. Though it was a controversial theme, I believe the way it was put together made it acceptable to every community.’
On one of A.R. Rahman’s CDs, he mentions that the world spends 730 billion dollars on war. We asked A.R. Rahman for his views on war.
‘The ultimate fight in humanity was originally for food. But now it’s not about food anymore, or healing anybody. It’s about power, who’s more powerful, and who can control the world. Everyone has become a control freak, that’s the reason why we are spending so much money on war, and that’s why it was highlighted on the sleeve of the ‘Pray for me brother’ album. It’s a simple thing we don’t think about, but when we see the reality, we feel disgusted by it.’
We asked A.R. Rahman how he has found working in the UK for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ musical.
‘It’s completely different from what I do for movies because here [in the UK] the audience is different, the whole platform is reputed and credible. My first entry there has been great, with ‘Bombay Dreams’. ‘Lord of the Rings’, being the second musical, is completely Western, completely non-Bollywood, non-Indian, a good diversion for me to delve deeper into this kind of music.
‘The collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on ‘Bombay Dreams’ began with a conversation by Shekhar Kapoor with Andrew, introducing my music to him, and he called me directly. It all started then, and now ‘Bombay Dreams’ has almost become a landmark musical where people recognize Indian film music. It’s been a great bridge for that, and a bridge for me to enter Western musicals like ‘Lord of the Rings’ and probably much more in the future.’
A.R. Rahman has won recognition from a broad base, including MTV, the Laurence Olivier Awards, as well as Bollywood. We asked how his father’s death when he was nine years old affected him and his career.
‘Everything changed when I started discovering myself, and the influence of Sufism in my life and my family. And the first film when it came, that changed the whole direction of my life in a way because it defined my music, principles, and existence in a way… My inspiration I got from him [his father] was his hard work, the good name he earned in the industry, which I wanted to retain in a way.’
Talking about what gives him strength, Rahman replied, ‘I’m a spiritual person. The word religion has been so much in controversy, I think we need to go beyond and look at humanity with love rather than segmenting so much.
I try to be as true as possible, but the main thing for me is how much it is turning me into a better human being and how much it makes me a good influence in the community. So that’s very important, and I keep that in my mind. My family is very personal to me. They are a great support for all my activities and provide moral support for everything…and I’ve got 2 daughters and a son, and we all live together…’
For a man who has achieved a lot at a very young age, we asked A.R. Rahman what is next on the horizon.
‘Right now, I’m working on ‘Yuvraj’, a film by Subhash Ghai, ‘D6’ by Rakesh Mehra, and ‘Ghajini’ with Aamir Khan. The next music release will be for the film ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’, an Aamir Khan production.
