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EXCLUSIVE: AR Rahman - I am very proud of my 25 years in the industry; I did things which I never imagined
Music composer and singer, AR Rahman has completed 25 years in the industry. The journey wasn't easy for him. It had its own share of ups and downs. AR Rahman is not just a name, but a musical phenomenon. We got a chance to interact with him where he got candid about his journey.
Music composer and singer, AR Rahman, completed 25 years in the industry last year and the journey wasn't easy for him. It had its own share of ups and downs. AR Rahman is not just a name, but a musical phenomenon. In his words - "What cannot be put into words can be expressed through music." Well, this is the true mantra of his success in the industry.
It was in 1992 with filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Roja, that Rahman started his journey in the world of music and post that, he never looked back and just scaled the heights. He gave us goosebumps when he sang Maa Tujhe Salaam in 1997 and Jai Ho in 2009. He is a master of tunes and vocals and has tried his hands in many genres - be it devotional or a Bollywood number.
In recognition of his contribution to music, Rahman has been bestowed with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, two of India’s highest national civilian honours, in addition to several other awards including 4 Indian National Film Awards and 25 Filmfare Awards, India’s leading recognition for films.
To celebrate his 25 years in the industry, the music maestro did a multi-city tour in collaboration with BookMyShow. Just before his Mumbai concert, we got a chance to meet AR Rahman and as he was all packed with back-to-back interviews, we managed to get five minutes and chit-chat with him.
We asked him that how early did he get to know that he was related to music and how it all started. Replying to us, he said, "I was always surrounded by music. It was my mother who realised it and my father was an arranger for composers. He used to set up all the musical instruments for me. My mother has been a support system after my father passed away and it was her belief in me that I would do well in the line of music."
We say that he is one of the few who has experimented with many genres. Talking about the same, he told us, "I have worked with different genres - be it devotional, film music - the basis of everything was already embedded. It has evolved in years and I still struggle at times and that's why my process is little slower than the others."
In every successful person's life, there comes a time when people are too critical of the success that person has achieved. There was a phase in AR Rahman when people said that he has lost his charm. We asked him how does he react to such comments and he told us, "They keep telling me that and it's not now - it's ever since I started. I am hearing such comments from my second movie. In a way, if you lose the conviction in yourself, then you lose the confidence of delivering the things right. You actually have an idea from where all these comments are coming from - it's a judgmental point of view. Everybody wants you to be the way they think you should be. You are not my dad or mom to tell me what am I supposed to do, but I still respect them. I am very proud of my 25 years in the industry and I did things which I didn't ever imagine - producing music, writing a film and many more."
