Entertainment - Q&A A.R.Rehman

Subhash K Jha

The Golden Globe awards are a precursor to the Oscars…

I have my fingers crossed. When a film with my music gets acceptance the feeling is akin to winning an Oscar. An Oscar is a big thing for the people of India. So for their sake more than mine I hope my song ‘Jai ho’ and the music score in Slumdog Millionaire win an Oscar.

• Your music is ‘making the world go round’?

It's not my music alone. It’s the way Danny Boyle has patched Slumdog Millionaire and my music together. The way he has mixed my songs is terrific; like a discotheque. If the music has created an impact in the West it’s because of the effective projection.

Slumdog Millionaire is about suffering, hope and redemption. The jury loved the Mumbai shown in the film. I don’t think any other city in the world has been portrayed as vibrantly. Mumbai’s pulse is superbly captured in the film. The film promotes Mumbai tourism to a great extent

• You visited the US recently. Was it to lobby for your music?

It’s not about lobbying. The purpose was to get acquainted with the jury members. The jury should know if the person behind the creation is worth the vote.As an artiste I need to be recognised on a human level. So I went to Hollywood with my song ‘Jai ho’. I met the top Hollywood composers like Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore and Danny Elfman.

• What was their opinion?

They had warm comments for my music in Slumdog Millionaire. LA is a place where people in the entertainment industry say a lot of things they don’t mean. So I thought they were just being sweet and polite. So I verified. I found that those biggies of Hollywood genuinely meant everything that they said. Some critics said it’s one of the best films they’ve ever seen. Although some of the songs are in Hindi, nobody said that they were boring or incomprehensible. ‘Jai ho’, ‘O saya’ and ‘Ringa ringa’ (which is influenced by ‘Choli ke peeche’) are in Hindi which is a foreign language for the Americans. But they love them.

• You turn 43 today (January 6). What are your birthday plans?

I won’t be celebrating my birthday as it’s the eighth day of Muharram (a month of mourning).