The interview which appears below was originally published in Nasreen Munni Kabir's book, A.R. Rahman: The Spirit of Music. ©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.
ARR: I usually compose the tune first and then the lyrics are written. The opposite happens too. You can write a melody and when that works well with the words—that’s good. But if the melody doesn’t work, you can get stuck with the lyrics. Both methods are ultimately fine with me.
When I started composing film music in the early nineties, everyone preferred having the tune first. It made filmmakers feel better. [smiles]
NMK: The lyricist Mehboob has also written some terrific songs with you. How did you meet him?
ARR: Ram Gopal Varma introduced us. We worked on Rangeela together. It was my first Hindi film score. Some of the South Indian films that I had worked on were dubbed into Hindi prior to Rangeela, but this film was originally conceived and made in Hindi.
Mehboob has a simple punch and directness in his use of words. His songs instantly touch hearts. He wrote “Maa tujhe salaam.” I had Mehboob also write the songs in Bombay—they’re still very popular. He was ruling in the 1990s. Mehboob is a friend too. In truth, I regard everyone I work with as a friend.
NMK: Prasoon Joshi is another lyricist with whom you have produced many very successful songs.
ARR: We speak the same language because of my experience in composing jingles, and the fact that he continues to work in advertising. He is from a cultured family and grew up with poetry. I hadn’t worked with anyone before Prasoon who had the experience of advertising and writing poetry. His songs were just perfect for the film Rang de Basanti.
NMK: The Rang de Basanti song “Masti ki paathshala” has a very interesting mix of Hindi and English lyrics.
ARR: Rakeysh Mehra kept telling me that he needed a song of a rebel. What rebel? What’s a rebel’s sound? We came up with a riff and then the groove. I wanted two catchy lines in English. I called my friend, the rap artist Blaaze, and he gave me the words: “Be a rebel… lose control.” Prasoon Joshi then wrote the rest of the song.
I didn’t know at first if the words would fit together, but I gave the track to Rakeysh Mehra. He came back a month later and told me that whenever he played the song in his office, people in the adjoining rooms would stop working and want to listen to it. When we got the green light, we worked on the song and finished it two weeks before the album was released—at the last minute. [smiles]
NMK: I think you really enjoy burning the candle at both ends. Isn’t it stressful having to meet deadlines at the last minute?
ARR: The uneasiness and tension that deadlines bring sometimes help one to stop procrastinating. [both laugh]
NMK: I think maybe it’s because you’re a perfectionist and it isn’t easy for you to stop chipping away at a piece of music like a sculptor chips away.
I have done a fair amount of research on Hindi cinema over the years, so I am probably asking more about your experience working in Mumbai than in Chennai. Please forgive my limited knowledge of Tamil cinema, but I know you have a long association with many Tamil songwriters, including the hugely acclaimed and award-winning lyricists/poets Vairamuthu and Vaali. What are their strengths?
ARR: Vairamuthu and Vaali are incredible. I’ve worked a lot with Vairamuthu sir. In fact, he wrote most of the songs that I composed in the 1990s. I’ve always been a big fan of good lyrics, especially Kannadasan’s Tamil film songs of the 1960s.
I was lucky to have had the opportunity of working with great lyricists from my very first film, starting with Vairamuthu sir on the Tamil version of Roja.
Vairamuthu sir is a bit of a rebel and revolutionary in his writing. At times we need to tone him down and say: “This is only a love song.” [smiles] He has an undying passion for the Tamil language.
Vaali sir comes from three generations of writers. His lyrics have added enormously to the popularity of South Indian actors. I would say his songs have in part contributed to the success of actors who went on to become major political figures in South India. The promise of reform and change would come through the fiery words of Vaali sir.
When I spend time with Vaali sir, it never feels like work because he shares so many anecdotes and memories of past filmmakers and composers. The new generation of Tamil lyricists are excellent too, including Pa. Vijay, Muthukumar, and Thamarai. Pa. Vijay is also acting in movies as a hero now.
