The interview which appears below, was originally published on AVS Media in October 2000. ©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.
Self-worth is measured on other’s yardstick. A paradox but true nonetheless. There is negligible self involved in sculpting self confidence. That confidence we proudly claim to give ourselves, infact is a result of the approval we see in the eyes of the world around us. What worth is talent to self unless it applauded, awarded? What worth is beauty to self unless it glows in the eyes of the one looking at you? What worth is love to self unless it means something to the one you love?
Your success is measurable only by the worth world places on it. A product is a success when people are willing to spend time/money on acquiring it; a book is successful when it is bought/read; a film is a hit if audiences watch it; a diamond is valuable only till the world is willing to pay the price for its glitter.
And in the Indian Film Industry this self-worth increases four-fold if it is given credence by the Western world. Persis Kambatta was a winner of a beauty pageant till she went bald and appeared in Star Trek, then she was a star till her death. Kabir Bedi was a wooden actor till he tasted success in an Italian TV serial, then he was some one to reckon with in India.
Shekar Kapur was a brat, talented, but a brat nevertheless,till the Brits roped him in for Elizabeth then he was the toast of the town. Hrithik and Shah Rukh Khan are prodigiously talented in their own steam but we are agog to hear them announce a project with the Western Film Industry. Would that make them more talented?
Strange enough there is one man whose genius did not require an overseas stamp of approval for the locals to recognize it as exceptional. Infact when the foreign offer came, it was accepted as matter of fact, without the trumpets and fanfare. A.R. Rahman – the man who makes magic with music. When the doyen of the theater asked to work with him, it was accepted as a natural progress of events or was it that this down to earth music wonder has kept a very low profile unlike the jet setting Khans, Roshans etc. Natural that Sir Andrew Llyod Webber invited Rahman to compose music for his next production.
Natural that the creator of ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ (the longest running play in history), a director who always composed music for his productions himself, invited a music director to compose for him and a composer who is foreign at that.
So while the world is blatantly screaming its adulation to this 29 year old man what does he think? AVS dragged its cameras to the South Sea Port this Tuesday afternoon to find out precisely this for you.
Rahman is on a short sojourn between shows he has been doing across the U.S. and Canada. New York dressed in her best for us – warm sun, gentle breeze, clear skies, blue waters and a convenient parking spot. Rahman was warmer than the autumn sun as he is no stranger to AVS – this particular association goes back to August 1997 when Raju Sethi met him during the release of “Vande Matram”.
The momentum has not ceased since. We sat under the caressing rays of the sun and chatted about his upcoming films, his projects in the works, his spectacularly successful live shows, his close relationships, his childhood.
About Zubeida:
Rahman has composed both, the music for songs and the background score for this Shyam Benegal movie starring Karisma, Rekha and Manoj Bajpai. Shyam Benegal actually narrated the script to Rahman so that he could get the feel of the film. According to Rahman, Zubeida has music which moves the story forward and the background score is integrated as part of the story.
This particular film has no “item songs” as he terms it. In other words, songs are not put there merely as a stop gap between scenes. Instead the music is a part of the story.
Shyam Benegal
Rahman considered it an honor to work with this celebrated director. He went on to candidly confess that Shyam did not take to Rahman’s music immediately, it grew on him.
Aamir Khan and Lagaan
Aamir and Rahman go back to “Rangeela” days. This particular Khan is a stickler for the best – in himself and in his colleagues – so it was natural for him to turn to Rahman when it came to the music for his home production.
Aamir sat with Rahman and finished the music for the film three months before the production actually went on the floors. This is a first. Continuing with the tradition of ‘firsts’ – Rahman went on location in Kutch to work on post-production of Lagaan’s music with all his studio equipment.
Patriotic Theme Of His Non-Filmi Music
Films provide him with all kinds of situations to compose for, so for his non-filmi music he chose to work on the traditional patriotic songs and give them a new lease of life for the young generation. He remarked how ‘Vande Matram’ and ‘Jana Gana Mana’ had captured imaginations outside India – in Canada he found Canadian children singing ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
Bombay Dreams and Sir Andrew Llyod Webber
Shekhar Kapur was instrumental in bringing the two together. Webber had heard Rahman’s music and was extremely impressed, he mentioned this to his friend Shekhar who introduced the two. The rest is history. When AVS had last caught up with the young genius, he had just started work on this project. Now he is almost half way through it. The play should be ready by Oct. 2001. Ironically, around the time Sir Webber invited him to compose, Rahman himself was thinking along the lines of doing a play in Mumbai.
Given that A.R. Rahman is not particularly fond of letting anything but his music speak for him, he stopped only as he had a flight to catch in an hour and a half. It is difficult to imagine the pure genius in the man as he is one of the humblest people we have met.
He honestly does not make much of himself. At one point we asked him to tell us how he got started in the industry – “for bread and butter” was his truthful reply. Besides he was a loss when we questioned him about his first brush with fame – the man actually mentioned the time he appeared on Doordarshan when he was 14.
Then on inquiring of how fame had changed his life, he started to say he could not go out much now but immediately added “not that I did go out much before – I spend most of my time in my studio!!”
But actions speak louder than any words as he got up say his goodbyes, he picked up the chair he was sitting on and put it back in its place. Catch this shy man with a glossy, raven black head of hair, many heroes would kill for, on AVS.
