The interview which appears below, was originally published on ETC Bollywood in September 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.
Taran Adarsh: Thank you so much for joining us on our show. My first question is about life after the Academy Awards. It must have changed and improved your life significantly, hasn’t it?
A.R. Rahman: Yes, in a way. A lot of things opened up. But there’s also too much attention, and you don’t get the time you’re craving for—time to go and work in the studio. There are a lot of felicitations, and people just want to meet you. If you don’t meet them, they feel offended.
Taran Adarsh: Yes, they feel offended.
A.R. Rahman: Yes, and now you have to balance both. It was good though—I went to LA for two months to finish one of the scores I’ve been doing in Hollywood, came back, and I feel much fresher this time.
Taran Adarsh: But when you win such prestigious awards like the Oscars, which are considered the ultimate awards, doesn’t it put pressure on your shoulders to perform and live up to those expectations?
A.R. Rahman: I never in my life wanted to be unnatural. I don’t want to be a dual personality. I am what I am from the beginning. I’ve been trying to do the best of my ability and be honest to my work. So that’s what has brought me, I guess, to that level of Oscars and stuff. People see the record of what this guy has done. Of course, now there are better opportunities to work with more talented people, teams, musicians, studios, and so many things. So on the whole, when you make a choice to work with a better team, your whole level of work goes beyond, I guess.
Taran Adarsh: So does that mean you’ll do fewer Hindi films now? Will your focus shift more toward the West, toward Hollywood films?
A.R. Rahman: [Laughs] No, Hindi is where I was born. I want to act at the same time, respect my following. People made me, you know, love me. I’ll never be petty or ditch things. But I’ll go further through things and also work with big-budget films and big-vision films, not just comedy in Hollywood—though comedy is very important and can be an interesting movie.
Then of course, “Blue” is probably India’s underwater film, which is again very exciting. And then of course animation films and the Shankar-Rajinikanth film—all these things. So it’s a balance. Now I have to strike a balance between Mumbai, Chennai, Los Angeles, and London.
Taran Adarsh: Yes, of course. But the spirit of music is the same, isn’t it?
A.R. Rahman: Yes, and what’s good is the timing. When I started my music school, the KM Music Conservatory, there was always a frustration that there’s no orchestra, no full orchestra to record with and speed up things—to execute music faster and more efficiently with more dynamics and more quality. So the school is slowly coming up, and you see a lot of promise in the kids.
Going to Hollywood and winning Oscars has helped the school in a great way to get recognition and external help for bringing teachers and creating awareness about what the future of music is.
Taran Adarsh: Tell me one thing—I’m very curious to know. You have one foot in the West and one in India. How different is our music from their music?
A.R. Rahman: I love music as a total thing, and for me, it’s been my philosophy. I appreciate every nuance of Carnatic, Hindustani, Western classical, folk music, African music, Sufi music. Every music has something in it, and I know that everybody can’t be like this. “I’m like this, okay.” I think the way I grew up and the way I was doing different things at different points of my life made me forced to learn a lot of things.
Taran Adarsh: You’re very choosy about films. So what was it about “Blue” that made you say yes?
A.R. Rahman: I didn’t accept the movie in the beginning. I thought some other movies were happening. But I could see the passion of the director. He’s done stuff before. He’s coming to me for the first time. He’s more careful, more patient, and at the same time, he’ll be an honest person. But your person, like Tony, was so persistent to do the music, and it’s a huge thing with the whole Ashtavinayak banner. So much, so much.
I think it’s just that most of my films, the big hits, were first-time directors like Shankar. Even in Hindi films, of course, there are some second films, but like Rakesh Mehra—it’s like an atom which is discovering people, discovering themselves, making movies. And the subject, that’s even more interesting than tried, interested people who I know make hits. The risk of having a failure with a new team is much more exciting. So we do it all together, and you get maybe 10 times more happiness.
Taran Adarsh: If we talk about “Blue,” it’s an underwater film with a lot of stunts and action. Does music have much scope in such a film?
A.R. Rahman: The music’s role in a film is very different. It’s not two people running and trees, because here music is playing a very entertaining kind of thing. At the same time, Abbas’s lyrics came with a great concept for a song that’s in the second half, which I never thought could exist in this movie. This became a favorite song of everybody—”Chiggy Wiggy.”
Taran Adarsh: Tell me one thing. You had Kylie Minogue sing in this film. Whose idea was it to bring an international artist to sing in a Hindustani film?
A.R. Rahman: I think both the producer and Tony had this idea of having an international celebrity. It brings both worlds—the whole West talking about Snoop Dogg’s film, right? I thought it would probably bring a lot of good vibes.
Taran Adarsh: But the reason might also be that today, Indian films—Hindustani films—are looking beyond the borders of India. They want to appeal to international audiences as well. If you bring in an international artist, does it become easier in a way?
A.R. Rahman: In a way, yes, that sets one of the points. But also, I think our films have a great tradition. There are a lot of great films made in the last 100 years, and it’s not a crime to expand. When you expand, a lot of people love our films in Russia, people are crazy about them in Mauritius, sorry, Morocco, in so many different places—Iran, and in the East like Malaysia, Singapore. People are wild about our films, our stars, our music, everything. So why not take the extra step positively and honestly and then get that recognition?
Taran Adarsh: You know, I’ve noticed in your recent work—in fact, for quite some time—in your body of work, that you have a lot of new singers performing songs. You give breaks to new people. You’ve been working less with established singers. Is that true?
A.R. Rahman: It’s true, but it was unintentional. The draft of lyrics came, and then I went to New Jersey. By the time I came back, Javed Ali had already sung the song, and it was a solo song in a way. But then everybody liked it, and we couldn’t change it because I was so particular about lip-syncing and all that stuff. So there are certain issues about schedules and things involved. It’s not a deliberate reason that I don’t want established singers. No, I love them. They provide so much value to a song.
Taran Adarsh: Yes.
A.R. Rahman: But at the same time, there are a lot of other things involved. Sometimes you wait for a singer, okay? Sometimes, like Naresh Iyer who sang “Roobaroo,” I was so tired that day that he sang the song. So you sing it, and then I liked the song. I said, “I don’t want to sing it. You sound good.” So sometimes decisions are made like that. And then he got a National Award for the song.
Taran Adarsh: Yes, very true.
A.R. Rahman: Which is great, actually.
Taran Adarsh: But do you feel that when you have an established singer—you mentioned Sonu Nigam, who has sung so many songs and is a very good singer—but at the same time, when there’s a new singer, somewhere there’s a rawness? They have to be trained, and perhaps due to your name and the weight it carries, they might feel nervous initially?
A.R. Rahman: Initially they are, and then they become like friends, okay? Because I’m also a beginner. I feel okay that I’m acting like I am the doctor, but they all are sharing. But it’s a very friendly atmosphere in the studio. Everybody is treated equal—no servants, no bosses, equal artists. The art is the boss.
Taran Adarsh: Very true. Okay, since your next Hindi release is “Blue,” there’s an expectation that after “Jai Ho,” every song of yours will be of the same level. Do expectations scare you?
A.R. Rahman: It’s always become a habit of people expecting, and most of the time, nearly, we try hard to sometimes satisfy them, sometimes we don’t. But every time the honest attempt is in satisfying people.
Taran Adarsh: After the Oscars, how much difference do you think it has made for you and other Indian technicians? Do you think doors have opened in Hollywood for them too? Do you feel it’s a responsibility?
A.R. Rahman: I mean, now there is legitimacy. They say, “Oh, Indians have got Oscars too.” A Chinese got Oscars a couple of years back, right? So there’s no looking down upon us condescendingly. That thing is gone. Anything that comes from India is a thing. So it’s much better than thinking, “Oh, we have to go and stay in New York and LA and hang out there and probably piggyback on somebody else’s thing.”
No, you’re good enough. You stood, and people take you. Everything is being noted now. Every move is being noted, every film and every song. It’s being played all over, and people are listening, so you’re more careful.
Taran Adarsh: Very true. But people consider you a trendsetter, not just in Indian media but worldwide. How do you feel about this?
A.R. Rahman: I was very conscious. In a conscious attempt, it was a frustration that I was playing for different people, and I felt so bored that when I did music, I wanted to have fun. So I didn’t want to do anything which I’d been through. I wanted to go into a new area to regenerate my passion. I never knew that it would be a trendsetting thing.
Taran Adarsh: Okay. How do you manage this? I mean, every tune of yours, every track—it sounds very fresh, whether it’s the “Delhi 6” track or the “Blue” track. How do you bring that individuality, that freshness to every song?
A.R. Rahman: First of all, we all like to criticize what is coming. Before you guys tear it apart, we first put it around. If it doesn’t sound good, we make sure that it really sounds good for people to say, “No, it sounds good,” or “It doesn’t sound good.” So we make them feel that it’s not good in the beginning, and a lot goes into it. There are so many times we work so hard on something and skip it. So it’s not really trying, really trying first time.
Taran Adarsh: Directors like Anthony, who directed “Blue”—since you’ve achieved so much, and after the Oscar, you have a different image, a different position—are they able to express their opinions to you?
A.R. Rahman: Really, they’re really so open, and whatever you do will be good, right? That’s not the thing at all. We want to make sure that with all the strings attached, is it sounding good? And is it right for the film? Because then it’s a big responsibility. It’s a big-budget film, and we’re all responsible for that to the people, for our credibility.
Taran Adarsh: Okay. Are you planning something of your own that’s not related to films but is non-film, that you would like to showcase in the West? Are you planning some album or something?
A.R. Rahman: I just did an album for a phone company. Connection for the phone—a new concept. Providing content on the phone. So it’s thinking what would be right for the phone. Personal phone in hand. So there are meditation tracks, a few upbeat tracks. It’s meant to be fun.
Taran Adarsh: How much credit do you give to visuals in today’s date? There was a time when we said we just listen to songs. Today we say we both listen to and watch songs. How important a role do videos play?
A.R. Rahman: Definitely power, but not independently. It can survive with a great song. It could help to have a great song and great visuals together.
Taran Adarsh: Okay. If we talk about Mumbai music directors, who are the people you think have the potential to make it big in the international market?
A.R. Rahman: I can’t pinpoint, but most of them have very good reviews on the net—Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Salim-Sulaiman, Rajit, all great talents with great musicality. It’s time for them to become really big. In time, Shankar is working in Hollywood, playing piano. If they get the exposure to other territories…
Taran Adarsh: A final word on “Blue.” How would you rate your work in this film? Do you feel it’s among your best soundtracks?
A.R. Rahman: “Blue” is… I never say anything is the best. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but I’ve had fun doing it because it’s an action film. Most of the films I do are patriotic and love and very intense films. So doing “Blue” was definitely a different experience. And not only the songs, but the background score also had interesting ideas.
