The interview which appears below, was originally published on Khaleej Times in April 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.
NMK: Those who haven’t seen the film have also loved the song.
ARR: It’s strange, but at first not many in India liked it. [laughs] It did well in the West.
NMK: I’ve heard a lot of people in India say: “Rahman has done much better. Why did he win the Oscar for the music in Slumdog Millionaire?” But an Oscar is given for music that works in a particular film and isn’t recognition of a composer’s lifetime work.
Did winning two Oscars change things for you?
ARR: In a way they have given credibility to my musical journey, and given me the confidence to continue trying different sounds. I’m an entity in the West now. People look at my back catalogue and want to know what else I’ve composed.
NMK: In your Oscars’ acceptance speech at the Kodak Theatre on 22 February 2009 when Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards, why did you quote the dialogue “Mere paas Maa hai” (I have mother) from the 1975 Hindi film Deewaar?
ARR: Why did I say that? Well, the whole world was watching and waiting to hear what I would say. So I thought if I had lost that first Oscar that night, there would be one person who would still love me — my mother. [both laugh]
A mother always loves her son, even if he loses. That’s why I quoted those lines. It meant a lot to me that she was at the ceremony. My mother was the one who made sure that I learned music as a child. She has always believed in me and continues to support me in every way.
NMK: Did you replace that gold jewellery your mother kept aside for your sisters’ marriage and sold to buy your first mixer/recorder?
ARR: Yes! Ten fold. [both laugh]
NMK: What did you do after the Oscar ceremony?
ARR: We went straight back to the Four Seasons Hotel. I was supposed to have dinner with Marion Cotillard who won the Best Actress Oscar in 2008. But I missed the chance and went back to the hotel. We chilled out and went to the Fox party. Saira was with me.
NMK: What was the first thought that crossed your mind when you heard your name announced?
ARR: It was all just too quick. I was in the same hall earlier that day rehearsing the song “Jai Ho,” because I was to perform it at the event, and as a result the actual ceremony felt like another rehearsal. The aftershock hit me some three months later. It was so overwhelming.
NMK: How did you come to work on Slumdog Millionaire?
ARR: Danny Boyle sent me an email saying: “I’m Danny Boyle. Would you like to do this movie?” Danny told me later that it was Anil Kapoor and his kids who had recommended me to him. They would play him my songs and then the sound recordist Resul Pookutty also played my music to him.
NMK: Hadn’t he heard of you in London during the time of Bombay Dreams?
ARR: He might have. But this was the extra push, the motivation for him to write to me. And of course Shekhar Kapur sent word, saying: “My friend Danny Boyle wants to meet you and don’t make him wait.” [laughs] I think there were many factors.
The good thing was that Danny and I met and worked together. It was thanks to his film that I won a Golden Globe, two Oscars and two Grammys. I’ve been nominated again for his 127 Hours [2011].
I keep sending him messages to thank him every time I get another award. Danny usually answers: “Brilliant! Shine on like a diamond.”
NMK: That sounds like the line of a famous Pink Floyd song: “Shine on you crazy diamond.”
