May be? Must he say?
This is a Billion-dollar question. Why such a respected revered and successful musician like AR Rehman should say that he is not getting enough work or quantum of work he gets now as compared to a little while ago has reduced- and he says ‘may be because of religious bias’.
Allah Rakha Rahman, popularly known as AR Rahman, is undoubtedly India’s most famous composer. He has won some of the world’s most coveted musical awards – including Oscars, Grammys and a Golden Globe. His song Jai Ho won him an Oscar, became a celebrated anthem. Now famously known as “Mozart of Madras” has also been honoured with Padma Vibhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, for his contribution to music. He can also be called “Frederic Chopin of Chennai”.
Rahman, a man of few words, shared in an interview to BBC a few days back that he potentially has lost work due to “communal” bias in Bollywood, India’s Hindi film industry.
In any case he is a very creative person and is choosey about what he does and at the pace he does.
His quote says it all.
‘Compared with other Indian film composers, I only write about six movies a year. Others write up to 60.’ R. Rahman
Not for a few dollars More
He has made more than enough through hard work, dedication and shear brilliance- his work speaks for him.
His assets include an estimated net worth of around ₹1,700-₹2,100 crore, luxurious properties in Chennai and Los Angeles, multiple high-tech recording studios (like AM Studios in Chennai, Firdaus Studio in Dubai), a collection of luxury cars (Volvo, Mercedes, Jaguar, Mahindra), and significant earnings from music composition (charging ₹10 crore per film), live shows (₹1-2 crore per performance), and brand endorsements, making him one of India’s wealthiest musicians. He is rich as well as famous. What more would he want?
Therefore, this could not have been for money or fame. It could be ‘creative frustration’ or an illusion of mind.
An aircraft takes off from the ground and even a great airliner goes up to say 30 or 40 thousand feet, remains at that height for a few hours, then descends and lands. A space shuttle goes into the space and finally splashes down in the see- end of story. Human success also has a trajectory. Take off- fly high as long as you can- then climb down. It cannot be sunny side up all the time. It is better to fade away gracefully.
He can’t be complaining of quality of work being offered
He always maintained that he remained grateful to the nation and noted that he had thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support of India’s entertainment industry and young creatives and was working on the background score for the upcoming film Ramayana, based on the Hindu epic, with German composer Hans Zimmer. What else can you ask for?
So, what could it be?
AR Rehman had his success. Big success. Now if he is not getting work at that pace; so be it. It happens to everyone.
He said “That his work in the Hindi film industry has slowed down in recent years, which he attributes to a shift in power dynamics over the last eight years and, ‘possibly,’ to a subtle communal bias that he does not directly encounter.
Speaking to the BBC Asian Network on whether there is prejudice in the Hindi film industry against people from the Tamil community or those outside Maharashtra when he began his career in the 1990s, Rahman said he “did not feel it at the time.” Fair enough.
However, he suggested that systemic shifts may influence decisions. “*Maybe* God concealed all this stuff. For me, I never felt any of those. *Maybe* I never get to know of this, *maybe* it was concealed. I didn’t feel any of this earlier. *Maybe* in the past eight years, because the power shift has happened. People who are not creative have the power to decide things now,” he said.
Rahman said the change has not been overt, but is conveyed indirectly. “It *might* have been a communal thing also, *but not in my face. *
It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers,” he said.
Another reason could be that he is very expensive- top of the line- and today films work on tight budgets and so much competition with OTT, producers want to save every penny. If I can get good enough work at 40% of what you charge, I will go for it. This is pure commercial logic. Above all, all creative people have freedom to choose whom they work with. Counter complain from Kangana Ranaut is that he refused to meet her, he refused to work for her film ‘emergency’ on Indira Gandhi- she never went to BBC to say this. She also has a right to feel bad and say ‘he did this because I belong to BJP’. This slugfest can never stop.
This is a ‘may be’ statement
All the points by Rehman are MAYBE or might or not in my face, Chinese whisper.
This is not funny.
One can say ‘Bhai bahut diya denewale ne tujh ko…’
Now others are moving forward too, ‘maybe’ trends and tastes are changing. ‘Maybe’ Gen Z wants different music. Everyone does not like Mozart or Philharmonic orchestra. Some like jazz, some rock and roll.
‘Maybe’ better composers are coming ‘maybe’ there are more options for producers to choose from.
Again, so many maybe, maybe, maybe.
Decoding the creative competition
Film industry world over treats success differently. There are ups and downs for actors, singers, writers et al.
There was a time when Amitabh Bachchan had no work and he asked Yash Chopra for work. He had gone bankrupt because of bad business model/decision and he never blamed anyone. He rung him up one fine morning and said “mujhe kaam chahiye”.
Yash Chopra signed him for “Mohabbatein”. Amitabh Bachchan is also a legend and as famous as Rehman- even more.
Kishore Kumar was overshadowed by Mohammad Rafi for a very long time- decades- after Rafi died Kishore shot to fame. He never blamed Rafi being Muslim for his success.
Rajesh Khanna the first superstar, he went down too. He just said that I knew my time was up when flowers from fans stopped coming. He did not blame Javed Akhtar for not creating a character for him, like he did for Big B.
Every artist feels bad when things don’t go your way, but you don’t have to get at your nation for that. It is like opposition hating India because you hate the government and go abroad and insult your nation in universities and interviews.
Good old days
Artists wanted to be a part of Hindustan from independence onwards- they were proud to be Indians.
Dilip Kumar was originally Mohammed Yusuf Khan. Meena Kumari was born Mahjabeen Bano. Madhubala’s real name was Mumtaz Jahan Dehlavi. Ajit was born Hamid Ali Khan. Jayant’s real name was Zakaria Khan. And so was Jagdeep, born Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey.
AR Rehman did the opposite- From Dilip Kumar he became Rehman!
How mass psychology works?
Nations go through mood swings; may be a ten-year cycle. After World War 2 was over, the Hollywood went into an overdrive creating war movies- ‘The longest day’, ‘A bridge to far’, ‘bridge on the river Kwai’, ‘The Guns of Navarone’, ‘where Eagles Dare’ and the likes. The mood of the world -most of it- was upswing and people wanted to watch what went into the long-drawn war.
After independence, we saw movies like ‘Do Bigha Zamin’, ‘Naya Daur’, ‘Upkar’, ‘Shaheed’, ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai’, ‘ganga jamuna’ et al.
Sixtees, was the era of middle class, stable nation, flourishing love and romance and there were movies to sweep you off the floor,like Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Chaudhavin Ka Chand, Barsaat Ki Raat, Kala Bazar, Sangam and Guide.
1970 onwards it was time of anger and frustration and rebellious movies were successful.
Zanjeer, Deewaar, Trishul, Namak Haraam,Shakti, Kaalia,Coolie,Mard and Aakhree Raasta hit the charts.
Then came the ‘season’ of hope, thodi see asha, romance and aspiration- a mixed bag with no particular straight jacket direction of mass emotion. Entertainment, entertainment and entertainment.
Now there is time for better and cost-effective cinema. Directors are ready to experiment with different ideas, music, themes and new comers are being encouraged.
For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake —Alfred Hitchcock
Me too
If you want an applause, cheering and claps as an Indian, anywhere in the foreign land and also in urban India- you must abuse your own nation! This works like magic. No exaggeration, this is a hard fact and the entire ‘Lubral Brigade’ is thriving on this fact. The best part is that even if you abuse India in Harvard or Oxford University campus, the cheer leaders are your fellow Indians. They take pride in it and if you praise India or Indians the same fellows will either remain uncomfortably silent or boo you out!
Some of these guys have made it into a lucrative profession. It is at the centre of the standup comedy. You criticize India in a foreign university you will be loved for it- cheap way of cheap publicity. Not a penny spent- Vir Das not so vir though, got a free fame for a week from such a deed some years ago. Do you ever cheer Pakistani or south African cricket team in T20 match when playing against India? You have to be insane or an outright traitor, how can you even think of this?
Vir Das a standup comedian had kicked 1.4 billion Indians that is 18% of 7.8 billion people on the planet below the belt in less than seven minutes! He has mocked his own nation in the heart of the US where the media lobby and the un-intellect are constantly trying to show India down in one form or the other. Opportunistic, one would say. I have to give ten on ten to Vir Das for the timing of it all.
From high places.
Outgoing Vice President of Bharat – two terms- Hamid Ansari said that there is a feeling of unease and a sense of insecurity among the Muslims in the country, asserting the “ambience of acceptance” is now under threat.
Lt. Gen (Retd.) Zamir-Uddin Shah, who was Deputy Army Chief and after retiring from the Army, Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 2011 to 2017, wants Indian Muslims to build a steely resolve to fight to survive in Modi & Yogi’s India. He had asked Muslims to forge “unity” and not let “Khauf” (fear) take hold. “We’re in 1857-like situation. Drive the fear away from your heart,” he told a gathering of Muslims at Aligarh Muslim University on the birth anniversary of AMU founder Sir Syed Ahmed on October 19.
“Agar aap khaufzada rehenge, toh log aapke upar chad jayenge (if you remain fearful, people will climb all over you),” he told the gathering of Muslims. “Don’t let your fear show. Don’t fear anything. How do you make steel? By heating iron in the boiler. You will feel the heat, Inshallah, ‘quom joh hai steel banegi, majboot banegi’.”
Lo and behold even Aamir Khan who got all the name, fame and money from this country had to say he feels unsafe here! In Nov 2015, he said that he felt a sense of insecurity and fear had been growing in the past six or eight months. He has shared his ‘growing disquiet” and says that his wife Kiran Rao even suggested that they should leave the country. They did not leave the country, probably his wife left him!
After 1984 Massacre of Sikhs across the nation where thousands were brutally killed, all they wanted was justice. They never kept crying that they feel unsafe. Even Christians never cried. These are arithmetically the actual minorities.
Therefore, AR Rehman is not a lone wolf. There are many as mentioned above who love hating Indian renaissance.
A tool kit- a hit job?
Why did he choose a platform like BBC- they love to hate us. They look for crumbs and Rehman knows it- he can’t be so dumb. It was engineered? Maybe. Was it prompted? may be. Was he coaxed? May be.
Now that India is rising, it is hard to digest by the west, but what about our own people? After enjoying the fruits of the tree, you want to axe it down? Vice presidents of the country, Senior officer of Indian army, brilliant actors, musicians. What is your problem?
Like Rehman said; now the entire nation can say, maybe it is a hit job, maybe a con job, may be a motivated job, may be part of a larger tool kit, may be Soros, May be our own political twits. Maybe, Maybe, maybe. You never know, maybe.
