A.R. RAHMAN STORY PICKS

A.R. Rahman's Cycling Adventure for Music Magazine

By Rahmaniac.com

May 11, 2023

Roja was Rahman’s debut film as a music director in 1992. Directed by Mani Ratnam, it catapulted Rahman to national acclaim and won him a series of awards, and a mention in Time magazine for creating one among the 10 best sound tracks of all time.  Question on my mind was, how did he get there?

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Rahman quotes “I used to cycle and go all the way to Mount Road [some 10-12 km away] just to find this one British magazine called Music Makers. It was about synthesisers.” Often, after he’d cycled there, the store would say it hadn’t arrived yet.  But he’d keep going there every day, “until I got my copy. And when I’d finally get it, I’d go ‘Oh my God!’”

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“Then there was this time I used to go to Bangalore to another shop, where they had albums that were not there in Chennai and come back listening to them on the train.  That transported me to another world. When I did my music, I wanted to transport other people as well, without compromising on tradition. I guess that’s why Roja eventually happened.”  - A.R. Rahman, Forbes 2012

The interview which appears above, was originally published on Forbes in March 2012.

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