The article which appears below, was originally published on Rediff.com in February 2009. ©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.
If you don’t know it already, his compositions for Danny Boyle’s much acclaimed movie, Slumdog Millionaire have earned him three Oscar nominations — Best Original Score and Best Song [Jai Ho and O Saya].
While the maestro has won several awards at various events — most recently the BAFTA — the Oscars still remain the BIG one. So, we decided to get some of his contemporaries to wish him luck at the Oscars. Here’s what his contemporaries have to say about the musical genius and his chances of winning an Oscar.
Javed Akhtar (Lyricist)
I wanted to meet Rahman after I heard the Tamil songs from Roja. I was very impressed. I got my chance when I went to Chennai in the early 90s. He came across as a very humble person and still is even after 15 years of working with him. He has no ego. I have never heard him bragging or boasting about himself. And he never speaks ill of anyone.
His other good quality is the fact that he is very accommodating. Once a producer and director of a film decided to change the situation of the song and told me and Rahman to make the song accordingly. I felt it was inappropriate for them to make the demands as it was not justifying the song as well as the film. Rahman, however said that we should just do what they wanted. ‘We should not let them down,’ he told me.
I was very impressed by that gesture. He showed no ill feeling. He is a true Sufi whose only interest is music. There is a childlike innocence about him.
Udit Narayan (Singer)
Rahman has done India proud because of his music. He has raised the bar of Indian music to a level like no other music director could do from here.
I hope he wins Oscars just like he won the Golden Globes Award. My association with him began when he called me to sing for Tamil film, Kadalan. I told him it would be difficult for me to sing for the film because Tamil was a very difficult language. He however convinced me and said that my voice would only do justice to the song.
I had apprehensions because it was the title song of the film but somewhere Rahman was convinced that I was the only man who could do justice to the song and he proved to be right. The song was not only big hit but it also gave me confidence to sing in Tamil which I thought was a very difficult language then.
Another thing about Rahman is that he always works in night. He never works in day time as he loves the silence of night. He believes work is worship and I feel the creative genius in him is inborn.
One of the best qualities of Rahman is the fact he is always open to suggestions. I owe a lot to him because I have sung many of my hit songs right from films like Lagaan, Rangeela, Bombay and Dil Se.
A.R. Murgadoss
Rahman sir was a great musician even before I joined the industry. So getting an opportunity to work with him was like a dream come true.
I am a huge fan. When I met him to work on Ghajini, it was like a big fan going crazy on meeting him. I went all the way from Mumbai to Chennai to meet him to fix him for the film. It was just a matter of 10 seconds and he was confirmed.
It all happened so quickly that I couldn’t believe myself. The experience working with him was another excitement. He is a very hard worker and everyone knows that by now. He works through the night without sleeping and working with him, I had sleepless night too.
I would shoot in the morning and have recordings in the night. I started having jet lag but it was all worth it. He will always give you options to choose from. The first song he composed was Guzarish and he gave me two tunes to chose from.
I feel very proud of him. Indians have started proving themselves on an international level. He has made India so proud and I hope he gets many more laurels for our country. He is an asset.
Prasoon Joshi (Lyricist)
Rahman is very spiritual and divine. Everybody who knows him will know that. We have a great understanding between us. I believe that a writer and composer should have bondage beyond work and we share that.
We are close to each other. He follows lyrics very well. We jam together and it is always fun. He is someone who dares to experiment and so do I. He likes to venture into unknown territories. He approaches tunes and music out of the blue. It is never planned. He gets his music from within. I have never seen him taking references from other music.
He draws his inspiration from himself and so do I. Maybe that is why we get along well with each other. He would never take cliched tunes for songs. The Delhi 6 title song was his idea. He wanted it to be funky. Many didn’t agree, he composed the tune and proved that it would be good. He always tried to do something new and different.
He has an appetite for difference. Even during Rang De Basanti, when the song Pathshala was made, people didn’t like the usage the word but he stuck to his instincts and every one knows to what level the song went. He is always ready to experiment.
When I learnt he was nominated for Oscars, I was sure he will win. I have a strong feeling that he will win. Actually even if he doesn’t, it really wouldn’t make a difference because he is someone who doesn’t need awards and accolades to prove his work.
We will be honoured if he wins. After working with him, I have realized that he is a very calm person. He is very straight forward and not an overtly jump to joy person. I have never seen him talk in the superlative. He doesn’t lose his cool. He is very sure of his convictions.
Naresh Iyer (Singer)
It was 2005. The Channel V Super Singer contest with Adnan Sami as the host. Out of the 24,000 contestants, by God’s grace, I got into the last 25. Rahman Sir was the co-judge at that stage. It was he who broke my result to me.
He told me, I have good news and bad news for you. Then he said, ‘the bad news is that you are out, and the good news is that you would be singing for me next week.’ I was very upset when he said I was out because I was very sceptical about him calling me to sing. I thought he was trying to console me because I was out of the contest.
He was very kind, and though he told me he would call me within a week, after four days itself, his engineer Aditya Madhi called me. I came down from Mumbai to Chennai. I was thrilled and nervous to enter his studio. I was worried about living up to his expectations.
He then told me he was working on a few projects, and he wanted me to try some tracks. Some of the tracks were used in the final version. My first song was Mayilirage for S J Suryah’s film. That became very popular thanks to Rahman Sir.
It is only because of him that I am what I am. People heard my voice for the first time through his songs. I owe him a lot. Other people started calling me only because I was discovered by him. My second was Roo ba Roo and Tum Bin from Rang De Basanti which was a huge hit. I didn’t expect the songs to be such big hits. I am grateful to Rahman Sir to have faith in me. After that, he has been calling me pretty regularly. My new film with Rahman Sir is Delhi 6.
You will be surprised when the final track of any song comes out. That is because he works a lot on every song. He is a complete man in music, an extraordinary composer, very good music arranger and very a good sound engineer too.
I feel he has always been ahead of times, and still he is. You cannot forget the contribution of the late H Sridhar, his sound engineer. He was also a major force in creating the sound that we hear finally.
He is a wonderful human being, a very jovial and friendly person. Inside his studio, there are no formalities. He treats you more like a friend, and makes you very comfortable. He never treated me like a newcomer. You will never know how the music session ends. When you come out of the studio, you really feel like going back again.
I have been going around the world with him on stage shows. The experience is thrilling as well as nerve wracking as the very best singers are there with him. So, there is a pressure to rise up to the level. You have to give your best at all his stage shows.
As far as sound is concerned, he has created a revolution from Roja onwards. Even in Slumdog Millionaire, the sound is unique. For westerners, it was really new sound as there are a lot of Indian elements in the film.
Rashid Ali (Singer)
I have worked with Rahman for about eight years. He is an open minded person. He listens to different kinds of music which helps him. He always has a story or the scene in mind when he makes his singers sing. I think this is what sets him apart from other composers.
His music is always very catchy, fresh and youthful. He is someone who never gets angry and is very cool. He is very precise in what he wants. He gives you time and options and is very patient. He has a variety of views coming from the west. I have great respect for him and feel very proud to know he is nominated for the Oscars.
He is someone is very down to earth despite the fact of his popularity. He is known as a person who works more during the nights because it is very peaceful and inspirational with no distractions. I am very happy that he is nominated for the Oscars.
I expected this long ago but it is just a matter of time. He definitely deserves it. He didn’t get the recognition that he deserved and that’s why the delay. He is very versatile and I would like to wish him all the luck and may God be with him always.
Yesudas (Singer)
If I have to talk about Rahman, I have to go back to the days when I knew his father. In fact, I was more familiar with his father Sekhar, than Rahman. I can say I knew him from the day I sang my very first song. That was in 1961. M B Sreenivasan was the music director, and Sekhar was then his assistant. He was an assistant to everybody; Dakshinamurthy, Arjunan, Baburaj, Devarajan and Raghavan.
I did a film with Sekhar as the music director — Pazhassiraja. I still remember both of us went to Udaya Studio in Alleppey to record the songs. He was such a dedicated and hard working person. If I were to compare his struggle, I would compare it with Ilayaraja’s. He used to run around a lot and work. Maybe that’s why his life was cut short. When he passed away, his children were very small.
After many years, I saw Sekhar’s son working with Ilayaraja. He was Dileep then. What I noticed in him and liked about him was his mounam [silence]. I feel it is this silence that catapulted him to such great heights. I feel a person’s growth is in his mounam and such a person will always be thinking about achieving more goals. If you want to learn more and achieve more, you should think and only when you remain silent, you can think.
That was what this young man did those days. I also noticed that there was a craving in him to know more and learn more. Here, I want to tell all those young people who want to emulate Rahman that you first look at his journey so far. It was a long journey of struggle. His success is because of the way he chose to overcome the difficulties. It is like there are two paths in front of you, and the easier path is not the right one.
Though tough, Rahman chose the tough path — the right one — and with hard work, he overcame all the difficulties. That is what the young generation should learn from him. Music has been his tapasya. And he is still continuing that and such people will come up successful in life, and whatever they do.
I remember my father’s words. He used to tell me, you should be like pure honey. If you are so, everyone will come to you. Similarly, Rahman is like pure honey, and naturally his purity attracts everyone.
When he called me to sing for his films, I didn’t look at him as the small boy who was Sekhar’s son. For me, even if the music director is a small child, I respect him as a music director. I only want my music director to sing the song for me. I don’t consider a person who cannot sing at all as a music director.
In the case of Rahman, he knows his music, he teaches his singers properly, he has the ability to tell his singers what he wants from them, and he is also a good singer. When he first started as a composer, I met him on a flight and he told me, ‘Anna (brother), I have this desire in me to create songs that are of high standard.’ I told him, ‘Don’t think of such things now. You take the road that is open in front of you.’
I can understand how people pressurise him to come up with numbers that were similar to his own earlier hits. But look at him now, he composes only for the best.
I believe in destiny. God has decided that this young man should devote his life to music. It is also God’s decision that Rahman would be a globally known musician.
Rahman is like a flower that has blossomed so well now but it is up to him to continue the journey with the same dedication and same sincerity. When one becomes arrogant of one’s achievement, one stops growing. That can happen to anyone — me, Rahman or X or Y. That is what I want to tell Rahman, continue your tapasya.
Sujatha (Singer)
It was 1991 or so. I had just started singing after a long gap, and a friend of mine who was in advertising asked me whether I would sing a jingle for Nivea Talc. Those days, it was considered below one’s dignity to sing jingles for ads. So I refused.
But my friend was insistent that Dileep, the music composer was a very talented young man and he wanted me to sing. When it was conveyed to Dileep that I was suffering from a very bad cold he said he wanted a husky voice.
I went and sang the jingle. I would tell you I fell flat at his ability. It was pure magic singing for that young man. I never knew I had such a deep voice. I never knew you could do so much with your voice in just thirty seconds. It was a revelation for me. That was Rahman magic!
I went around telling everyone about this young and extremely talented musician. I told all those willing to listen that he would scale great heights. This was around two years before Roja happened. I must have sung a lot of jingles for Rahman. I would say I was there almost every other day. In the mornings, he used to go to play the keyboard and at night, he did his own recordings.
Then Roja happened. I was to sing a song for him but as I was away in Kerala, I did only the humming of Kadhal Rojave. I still remember him giving the thumbs up sign after I did the humming.
The next song I sang for him was Puthu Vellai Mazhai which was a huge hit. That is my favourite song as it was only after that I started singing in Tamil. Even today, at all the stage shows, people request for the song. Till then, I had sung only in Malayalam. From that film to Guru, I have sung in all his albums.
He is one man who values personal relationships and has not changed a bit even after achieving so much. It is this simplicity that I like about him.
I have gone with him to almost all the stage shows. His second show was in Dubai and it was a huge, huge hit. Slowly, singers from the north started dominating his shows as the audience prefers his Hindi songs. In the beginning, he didn’t sing much but now, he sings a lot of songs.
I would say he is one man who has God’s blessings in plenty. I feel God is with him all the time to guide him properly but then he is so spiritual. So also his mother. In fact, I congratulated his mother first when I came to know that he had won the Golden Globe Award. She deserved it more because she has been such a good influence on him.
BlaaZe (Rapper)
After my BA Cinema degree from Columbia College, Hollywood, I returned to India and the first thing I did was, I sent a letter to Mr Rahman’s studio in Chennai, with my demo. Then whilst living in Mumbai, I started to work with Louis Banks, the jazz legend. At that same time I met Sivamani. A year later, Sivamani introduced me to Rahman in a studio in Mumbai, at 2am.
Another year passed, and my wife met Mr Rahman in Chennai. He seemed to remember everything and was just waiting for the right project. He asked me to come immediately that day. I quit my 9-5 job the very same day and flew to Chennai at 10pm. It was at his studio in Chennai that I got to actually sit with him and realise how blessed and lucky this moment was for me.
He had called me there to work on the song from the film, Boys. However that night as we met and spoke, he decided to see if I could do something on the background score of Rajnikanth’s Baba. I did that the same night and was back in Mumbai for lunch the next morning, with no job, and no certainty of whether that track would be liked…
In a few days time, the call came from Rahman’s office that the song was liked by Rajnikanth, and so the journey truly began.
Now, about Slumdog Millionaire, I had actually gone to the UK last year with Rahman to meet Danny Boyle as a lyricist for a couple of songs (Dreams on Fire and Gangsta Blues) in the film.
I would describe Rahman’s work in Slumdog Millionaire as absolutely fantastic. The soundtrack is truly a fresh perspective on world sound that only Mr Rahman can create. I think it reflects the freedom he had, to do what he loves. In films here, there are sometimes several restrictions with concern to sound/actors/themes etc… but Danny Boyle was such a trusting and sincere person that their vibe was amazing.
My favourites in the film are Mausam — and of course Gangsta Blues. Gangsta Blues was a great idea by Rahman. It was great fun working on it as I had to re-invent my own sound and style. This was also possible because there wasn’t too much pressure from Danny Boyle to do something in a certain way. He just wanted to hear different things. And this was a truly different frequency for me.
In the song Dreams on Fire, the idea was something we came up with whilst seeing the rushes of the film, but it was co-written with Wendy Parr, and she’s written some beautiful lyrics on it indeed.
With each and every Rahman song in Slumdog Millionaire, there is magic in it, so it was special for sure, and expectations are always sky high! Working with Rahman? We just have fun.
My favourite Rahman album is Pray for me, brother because it really tries to heal the world, one person at a time. Very real! I would describe him as God’s gift to music.
Himesh Reshammiya
Rahman is my favourite from his very first film. I love the divinity in his music and he deserves every bit of his success. I really want to collaborate with him on a film where I am the singer actor and he is the music director. I feel what makes him great is that besides being a genius at work he is a very good human being.
