It was a historic moment when the music maestro of India, A.R. Rahman came to New Zealand for the first time ever, to perform live for the Kiwi-Indians. He is touring New Zealand and Australia as part of his concert ‘Netru, Indru, Nalai’ (yesterday, today, tomorrow) which also features other top artists such as Neeti Mohan, Benny Dayal, Jonita Gandhi, Haricharan, and Ranjit Barot. New Zealander will witness this talented line-up of musicians on Friday, October 6 at Spark Arena, Auckland.
The Indian Weekender's Swati Sharma and Rizwan Mohammad got the opportunity to speak with ‘Mozart of Madras’ in Auckland. Here are a few excerpts from the interview.
Swati: Oscar, Grammy, Bafta, Filmfares, Padma Bhushan- what do you think still remains to be achieved?
AR: I think as a composer, all that comes on the way. It’s fine but you’re still trying to reflect your internal feelings what’s there [inside you]. Sometimes, magnify it or maybe sometimes concise it, making it as simple as possible. Because the musical journey is within you and not something to boast.
Swati: For us, the highlight of your career was the Oscar. What was the career highlight for you personally?
AR: My highlight was my first movie (Roza) because I had one of the most prestigious director Maniratnam coming to me and asking to do music. It came on a golden platter for me. I knew that it’s going to be good because you’ve got somebody who’s a mentor for you. So, I literally had to keep that level and go up and not down.
AR Rahman with Indian Weekender team in Auckland
Rizwan: You started 25 years back. What do you think played the most important role in putting your mark in the industry?
AR: I think I slowed down a lot. People used to do 30-40 movies a year and I used to do only two. So, people were literally criticising, ‘what does this guy do- tortoise’. But I was actually setting up my foundation of sensitivities and insensitivities and all other stuff for the people. I was passionately putting it together. That’s why I am here.
Rizwan: While going through different themes and scripts, what challenges you to take a new direction in your music, every time?
AR: It’s just instinct. You feel the vibe from the people, from certain directors, certain stories.
Swati: How do you create your music? Is there a particular method that you follow?
AR: There’s no method. But of course, you sit on a piano or harmonium with the lyric; sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn’t. So, you just go back and again go back, sometimes three-four times, till you get it right.
(Photo: Indian Weekender)
Swati: There’s a particular signature to your music. When we listen to a song, we can almost instantly make it out that it is AR Rahman song or music. What do you think contributes to that factor?
AR: I think it’ the personality. My likes and dislikes show in my music. I don’t like to do certain things and it becomes a habit. Subliminally, people also know that. They have been listening to [my music], and they know ‘oh this vibe is actually what this guy does’. Some sounds which I use, somebody might not like it. It’s just like dressing (laughs).
Swati: Who do you think are the most promising musicians in Bollywood industry today?
AR: There are a lot of people coming, like Sachin-Jigar, Amit Trivedi and a lot of new people. But the kind of attention which we used to get, is gone now. People now take different composers, for a movie there are six or four composers. It’s like a use and throw kind of a thing. That’s one of the reasons I am not doing [many movies] now. I am doing director oriented movie, so I can concentrate, sit with them, work on the foundation rather than doing songs for the charts.
Rizwan: In your two and a half decades in the industry, what kind of changes have you seen in Bollywood in terms of music?
AR: I think the traditional Hindi film music has disappeared in a way, which I loved.
Traditional in the sense that there was one particular sound in Hindi film music with shrings and dholaks. And they were good also. And now that’s gone. Everything everybody wants to be modern. Everybody wants songs like country songs, unfortunately. I think more traditional stuff is welcomed. People like Nadeem-Sharavan, Jatin-Lalit or Ajay-Atul, they were very traditional.
Swati: You couple of songs have also featured rapping, which they say is “in” these days. What do you think about that?
AR: I like to do different things, don’t like to do the same things. If the movie demands it, we go traditional.
Rizwan: Your father was a musician too. What do you think you have inherited or learnt from him?
AR: I think the commitment to music, first of all. And to treat musicians beautifully and to honour the profession, innovation are the main things. And rest everything comes later.
Swati: So talking about the tour (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow), you have brilliant artists with you. How do you choose your team?
AR: I just try to choose people who will compliment me and my theme. I am not an extrovert. I don’t come out tearing my shirt or doing such things. So I just take people who are amazingly great performers, singers and their voice sounds great and they accommodate every kind of situation.
Rizwan: From a jingle maker to the world-famous Oscar-winning music composer, how would you describe your journey so far?
AR: It’s been really good. God has been kind. And all the people who have supported me, and of course fans, I am grateful to them.
Swati: What are the projects you are working on, currently?
AR: We are doing 2.0 with Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Shankar. And we are working on my movie 99 Songs, which is a Hindi movie.
You can watch the full interview below.
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