Good journalists know the golden rule of interviewing a celebrity- avoid the later interview slots. The celeb may be exhausted and uninterested or worse, cancel the interview. Hence, it was a bit unnerving when I had the last slot to interview the musical genius of this century, AR Rahman- known as the Mozart of Madras is India's foremost music composer. His recent awards a double whammy at the Oscars and the Grammys for the best song and best score of the critically acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire have ensured his place in the world music hall of fame. He is currently on his Lebara Jai Ho Journey Home World Tour and after conquering the USA, is in the UK to perform in Birmingham and London this weekend.
Dressed in a smart grey sweater and dark denims, the maestro surprised me with zero starry tantrums and a warm welcome. After making sure I was comfortable, he quickly got down to our interview. With the amount of projects you seem to be involved in, your schedule sounds maniacal. It's not busy. I don't take what I can't handle. I work day, night, anytime when the music comes, it depends on my jet lag. Are you stressed? Stress is an understatement. Its like one of those Akbar-Birbal stories. You are deep in ice cold water but you see a lamp at a distance and the light keeps you warm. I see the love of the people and it keeps me going. Tell us about the concert. This concert is a hybrid between east and west. My director, the crew and managers are all from the west. Previous shows have been marked by their high energy. While that remains, this show is a hybrid between a rock show, circus, Hindi film and others which you will see. How has the Jai Ho concert been so far? It started well but then it paused in Detroit. Now we are in UK. It's the same show, the same tour. The only difference is the location and the people. How different is it playing live? Concerts are a different feeling. There are a mass of people enjoying your songs. Each area is different. Certain area there are more Gujarati and Punjabis. New Jersey had more Telugu. Chicago had a Tamil-Telugu mix. Applause comes from different quarters on different shows. Do you decide the song list based on type of crowd? The song list was a creative decision not based on popular demand. It is a mix of popular things and musicality. The show has different moments like western, love, hip-hop,spirituality, modern etc. I enjoy all the tracks, there is nothing I don't like to play. 'Rang De Basanti', 'Humma Humma' and many slow medleys are usually the crowd pleasers. Do you feel nervous before you play at a concert? I am always nervous. You don't know whats going to happen the next time. It's not a studio where you can fix it. If a mike doesn't work it doesn't work. Those moments are scary. The scariest moment was Detroit when the whole stage fell on us. Moving onto the Indian film industry, some film makers sign you before any of the actors while others only want to work with you for their project. I am grateful to them for wanting me, but there is only so much I can do. I have limited time as I travel a lot so I try best to fulfill all obligations at same time moving forward. I usually do a couple of Hindi and Tamil movies and one English one a year. In India I can do 2-3 projects at a time. You cannot do that in Hollywood. There they will sue me if I don't work on it solely Since the beginning you have never stuck to film music and worked on various projects and collaborations. Is this important for a music composer? As an artist you want to represent your art. You should not be stuck to one thing. Because you are doing different things to compliment film music too. Doing only film music is monotonous. When I come back from doing Bombay Dreams my whole outlook to film music is different. How important is Indian Film music today for an Indian musician? Film music is still the biggest platform for music in India. We don't want any other platform, that is the thing. Should one work on both background score and music, in a film? I have worked on both background and music in movies. That is the way we used to do it. But the score takes so much of time, about three months whereas you can finish the songs in almost two weeks. Then you get your money and get out. But because of commitment to the film and since my name is on it I prefer doing the whole thing, which doesn't leave me with much time. The songs is what makes the film popular but I enjoy doing background scores too. Is there anyone you can't say to no to? Mani Ratnam is my mentor I do all his movies. I am proud to be associated with him. How do you choose a project? Sometimes you like certain projects because they take you out of comfort zone and make you want to think how are you going to pull it off. Most of the time this drives me to do a movie. Film scripts, lyrics, nature and directors inspire me. How important is classical music training to being a music composer? Classical music training is very important. If you are trained, you can contribute and make your music richer. Otherwise you are limited to what you know and you will get fed up soon. Music is a learning process. You can't say oh you learnt it all. Each day the definition of music changes from day to day. You need to define it each day. My children are learning music. Have you changed the way you work since winning the Oscars? After the Oscars I am more careful about my music. Now not only Indian audiences listen to me, but the West does as well. So I need to think a lot. Anyone can download from iTunes nowadays. Not a good position to be in. Do you prefer Rahman composer or singer? I prefer Rahman the composer rather than Rahman the singer. How does it feel to be called the "Mozart of Today"? When people give me such compliments like "Mozart of Today" I let it pass me. I of course feel good. But its like when they say the term 'Bollywood' I don't like it but I let it be. Is there anything you wish you had done differently? I don't think like that (look back and wonder if things could be done differently). I always believe in spirituality, destiny. Certain things are meant to be like that. With that, Rahman reaches out for his brand new Canon 5D camera. It is only a week old, he tells me as he begins clicking away views of the Regent's Canal at Camden, London. It is a hobby, we discover and Rahman takes pictures wherever he travels. Some Indian staff of the hotel hosting today's interviews come to meet Rahman. Graciously he poses with them. The staff leave with big smiles, joyous at meeting their idol. And so did I. http://www.bollyspice.com/view.php/5331-i-prefer-rahman-the-composer-rather-than-rahman-the-singer-a-r-rahman.html
