Birmingham Dreams

Conference of the Words, a Sufi tale of self-discovery, is A. R. Rahman's next project. Its orchestral version will be premiered in Birmingham, reveals the musician in a chat with DEEPA GANESH

Waiting for A. R. Rahman — in a long queue of eager-beaver journos, aspiring singers, hopeful producers and directors, friends and fans — is a test of patience. "Each of you gets five minutes," came a voice, which carried with it an air of overwhelming generosity.

What does one ask in five minutes to someone who redefined Indian film music and the world's perception of it? That too to a man who has such a huge body of work to his credit and seems so frightfully reticent? But the mild-mannered Rahman allayed all apprehensions and graciously said even after my five minutes were up: "Go on." In fact, he even offered me a second chance — a precious 10 minutes!

A trailblazer

Rahman is truly amazing for the manner in which he stormed into the Indian film music scene even before establishing his regional credentials. With his debut film Roja in 1991, he became a national phenomenon, bagging the Rajkamal for it. Rahman acknowledged that it was all part of a conscious design. "I wasn't too happy with the I-don't-want-to-listen-to-it attitude of our youngsters towards film music. Why can't we get our guys to listen to our own music rather than to Michael Jackson? I didn't want us to lose the market to the West. The music had to be cool, it had to be rooted, and yet had to branch out. It was like the wild imagination of a child... but it worked... It did travel beyond Chennai and attract people," explained the gifted composer.

Having a studio of his own has helped him in a big way. He has had the freedom of working on his tunes day and night, for days, months and years (he worked almost for a year on the Rangeela song and worked for a good six months on Roja 's "Tamizha Tamizha"), until he was fully satisfied with it. " I have rubbed many a producer the wrong way by disturbing the schedule, but it has paid off."

In the case of his blockbuster album Vande Mataram too, he was fully aware of what he was doing. If it changed the image of India from a peace-loving country to a nuclear powerhouse, it was intended.

Rahman and his friend Bharat Bala conceived it as a flag-waving, jingoistic declaration, a mantra of every kid in the country. "It had to be unlike the one that has been played on the radio for years. I wanted a sound that would connect me with people and capture a collective energy."

But going by Rahman's style, which has a visual texture to it, his version of "Vande Mataram" doesn't capture the celebration of Indian landscape in Bankim Chandra's poem. "It wasn't intended that way," came the concise reply. With Vande Mataram, Rahman, who gave Indian music a global feel, also re-asserted himself as a gizmo freak. (In fact, he is said to spend most of his money on acquiring new electronic gadgets.) Not that he has made only foot-tapping numbers; he did classical pieces such as "Kanna mucchi yenada" in Natakurinji for Kandukondein Kandukondein and he did sweeping melodies like "Uyire" for Bombay along with songs like "Rukkumani" and "Mukkala Muqabala".

"Somehow, people just put all my melodies on the backburner and remembered me for only rhythm-driven songs. But things have changed since Lagaan . They have woken up to the other aspects in me."

Rahman remembered how on his way to Gulbarga from Hyderabad, he was playing a soft song and the car driver threatened to fall asleep if he didn't play a fast one. But during one of his trips to Germany, an admirer came up to him to say how much he liked the songs in Zubeidaa , a film that failed at the box-office.

"I take all criticism objectively and believe in elevating the tastes of the listener," he maintained.

Back to roots

Nevertheless, to the layman, Rahman has always been someone with a strong Western orientation, unlike Ilaiyaraja who with all his veneration for Baroque music, has strong Oriental roots.

The manner in which Ilaiyaraja rendered Tyagaraja's krithi "Tulasidala" in a western idiom and his current orchestral work Thiruvasagam stands testimony. Rahman too is working on a project called Conference of the Words , a book based on a Sufi tale of self-discovery. This will be turned into an orchestral work and premiered in Birmingham. And like his true self, "I'm going to take a very long time on this."

Despite confessions such as "I feel abnormal when I talk", Rahman loves to connect with people, of course, in a different medium.

Talk of the Airtel ad, tell him it was quintessential Rahman with a good balance of melody and rhythm, and he will tell you that after a two-year stay in London for the Broadway production Bombay Dreams (he accepts that it got "bad reviews"), "there was this desperate need to reconnect. And that's why I agreed to star in it too."

Rahman has broken several moulds in his career spanning 15 years. He tried to break away from the predictable, unthinking perfection of film music by using raw, untamed voices and bringing in an element of dissonance, even while he made film music hot and happening.

But over the years, with every new composer wanting to be a Rahman, he has become a cliché.

"I think it is important for a composer to have his own identity. I only hope things will change," he said.

Right now, what is he up to? Rahman is working on Shekar Kapur's film Buddha .