THE BRUTAL TRUTH BEHIND A R RAHMAN BAD MOUTHING BOLLYWOOD

By Jyothi Venkatesh

There are people you hear very less from. And surprisingly, when you do hear from them, it need not necessarily be a truth that must be known.Like veteran music director AR Rahman, recently claimed that there is a gang playing flow against him and stopping him from getting work. This has come amidst the ongoing talks about nepotism in Bollywood doing rounds across the country after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Many stars, including Kangana Ranaut, have revealed so much about Bollywood and its notorious clans that hold the reins of the future of stars in the arena.Rahman’s claims are amusing. Like in a debate with Arnab Goswami on his channel Republic TV, small time producer-director Akash Deep has challenged Rahman that he is ready to sign on Rahman for a package of ten films Rahman will not be ready to accept. Similarly the veteran singer Anup Jalota hit the nail on his head (read Rahman) when he said in the same debate that for a music director to get work regularly to compose for Hindi films, he should be based in Mumbai and not Lucknow or Chennai. He is not at all far from the truth

Today if most of the producers do not approach Rahman, the reason is that he has kept himself aloof from the mundane gangs in Mumbai and not because he is being boycotted by the producers in Bollywood. If today a Tamil film producer signs on Rahman for composing for his film, not many know that he does not part with the Hindi rights for the film. If a Tamil producer wants to sell it, he has to pay Rahman his pound of flesh or else he will not allow him to sell his rights to remake the Hindi film.

Also the poor producer will have to go all the way to Chennai for his sittings too by remaining awake all through the nights as Rahman is a night bird and does not work during the days. Ask Sukhwinder Singh if you do not believe me. And also remember the fact that you cannot pick and choose a tune but blindly accept whatever he condescends to dole out.Rahman has also started repeating himself unlike in the 90’s when he used to compose original scores. What’s more he has also become inaccessible to the press though I remember way back when he had composed for the Anil Kapoor starrer Nayak, at the music launch party in Mumbai at a five star hotel, Rahman spoke to me in Tamil when I approached him for an interview but today sadly Rahman’s team does not dole out his precious time for interviews.

A.R. Rahman has claimed that there is a “gang” in the Hindi film industry that is preventing him from getting work, especially as if it was his crime that he had bagged the Oscar for his composition in Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman has gone on record that there has been “misunderstanding” between him and filmmakers as some people have been spreading “false rumours” about him in the industry. Rahman states, “I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which, due to misunderstandings, is spreading some false rumours. So when director Mukesh Chhabra came to me, I gave him four songs in two days for his film Dil Bechara. He said, ‘Sir, how many people said don’t go, don’t go (to him). They told me stories after stories’,” he said. “I heard that, and I said, ‘yeah okay, now I understand why I am doing less (work) and why the good movies are not coming to me.’ I am doing dark movies, because there is a whole gang working against me, without them knowing that they are doing harm,” the composer added.

Rahman adds, “People are expecting me to do stuff, but there is another gang of people preventing that from happening. It is fine because I believe in destiny. I believe that everything comes from God. I am taking my own movies and doing my other stuff. But all of you are welcome to come to me. You make beautiful movies, and you are welcome to come to me”. However, if you approach him as a film producer, Rahman may refuse to touch your offer by quoting a huge price, which you may not be able to afford to pay to him. That does not mean that producers here in Bollywood have ganged up against A R Rahman. Isn’t it?

As a senior journalist who has been covering films and music for the last 48 years, for Bollywood as well as the Tamil and Malayalam film industry, let me tell you one thing. That is, way back in 1992, a new music director like A R Rahman could actually get a big break from a big filmmaker like Mani Rathnam to compose for his Tamil film Roja which was also dubbed in Hindi and heralded his arrival in Bollywood, only because Mani in turn was fed up of the tantrums of erstwhile music director Ilaiyaraja who used to regularly compose for all his films including Nayagan and it was then that Rahman managed to seize the opportunity  to compose for Mani regularly and thus become a fixture in every film of his since then though of late his demand is waning also because most of the films do not feel the need to have music in their films because music rights do not fetch them huge money like it was earlier.