Power shift in Bollywood has hit his career, hints AR Rahman
"I'm not in search of work. I want work to come to me," Rahman told the BBC Asian Network.
Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman feels that the Hindi film industry has seen a power shift in the last eight years and has perhaps transformed into "a communal thing", which eventually impacted the kind of work that came his way.
"Maybe I never got to know of this, maybe it was concealed by God, but I didn't feel any of this. The past eight years, maybe, because a power shift has happened, and people who are not creative have the power now. It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face," Rahman, known as the "Mozart of Madras," told the BBC Asian Network.
According to Rahman, it is Subhash Ghai's film 'Taal' that "entered the kitchens of everybody, so to say. Even now, most North Indians still have it in their blood because it's a little bit of Punjabi and a little bit of Hindi and a little bit of mountain music."
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Asked if he had ever experienced bias in the Hindi film industry in the 1990s or discrimination against artistes from Tamil Nadu, Rahman said he was largely insulated from it. However, he noted that things seemed to change in more recent years.
"It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers. I say good, I have more time to chill with my family. I am not in search of work. I don't want to go in search of work. I want work to come to me; my sincerity to earn work. Whatever I deserve, I get," the composer said.
Rahman, whose Bollywood career began with "Taal", which made him a household name across India, and has reshaped the music of Indian cinema, composing music for several films cutting across languages in films like Roja, Bombay and Dil Se.
Looking ahead, Rahman has composed the music for Tamil film superstar Vijay Sethupathi's upcoming drama "Gandhi Talks," directed by Kishor Pandurang Belekar. The film, featuring Arvind Swamy of Bombay fame, Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth Jadhav, is scheduled for release in theatres on 30 January.
Rahman is also associated with Nitesh Tiwari's ambitious project Ramayana, where he is collaborating with Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol and Yash in lead roles and is scheduled for commercial release later this year.
