Globe-trotting composer A R Rahman is not an easy man to pin down these days. At his portable studio-cum-home in Chennai, he made time for this interview, to talk about his international projects and why he doesn’t do too many Hindi films now.

The Hindi film industry is complaining that you have no time for them these days.

(smiles) Earlier I used to opt for Hindi films with good film-makers regardless of the quality of the project. But many of these films never got properly released or noticed. I’ve now decided that I won’t waste my time on them. But I’m still doing the cream of the assignments—Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades, Ketan Mehta’s The Rising, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani, Subhash Ghai’s Kisna (though it’s just one song) and Mani Ratnam’s Hindi-Tamil bilingual Yuva. See, Tamil cinema was my stepping stone to Hindi films and they in turn were my stepping stone into the international arena. I’ll always be grateful to Hindi movies. If it weren’t for those songs in Hindi I wouldn’t have been noticed.

Why are you doing only one song in Subhash Ghai’s film?

I was too busy with Bombay Dreams and other projects. See, I had composed four songs for Mr Ghai’s project with Shah Rukh Khan, which got postponed because of the actor’s illness. Mr Ghai decided to make another film in the interim. I told him my choc-a-bloc schedule didn’t permit me to do the other project. But he insisted I do the main song and the theme music for Kisna. So I’m the guest composer. He’s got Ismail Darbar to do the rest of the score.

You don’t mind sharing a score?

No. I see no point in getting into it the whole hog when I don’t have the time. I did only one song in Khalid Mohamed’s Fiza too. It’s different with Mr Ghai. I did one of the biggest musicals of the last decade, Taal, with him.

Which do you consider your other important scores in Hindi so far?

I can’t say. If I do so, filmmakers and fans will get upset about the ones I leave out. Everyone has their favourites. When I said my music for Deepa Mehta’s Water was my favourite, people retorted, are we fools to listen to your other music? Since Water wasn’t made, no one heard the soundtrack. In terms of impact, Lagaan is massive. Also, there were no commercial pressures to give the film a contemporary feel for the sake of saleability. Now in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades, I’ll be doing folk, contemporary and Western classical. I’d say it’s an even more ambitious sound than Lagaan.

So which has been your least unsatisfying endeavour?

(laughs) All of them actually. Every person in a film has to pull in the same direction for my music to work. I’ve now decided that I like the push and pull of creativity in India. Chennai is now my base and I’m only a visitor in London. I have my entire infrastructure here and work gets done in Chennai faster than anywhere else.

A lot of the music in Bombay Dreams was rehashed Hindi film music, wasn’t it?

It was. But the theme demanded it. In any case it isn’t easy to compose a phenomenal hit. Once that blessed moment happens, I might as well renew its longevity. But I must say that in Bombay Dreams my original songs were appreciated more than the Bollywood hits.

Are you constantly looking for bigger challenges?

Yes, instead of doing non-viable projects in Hindi I might as well do international projects. I’m doing the music for a stage version of The Lord Of The Rings. Like Bombay Dreams it will be held at London’s West End. I think I got this project because of Bombay Dreams. The music will have two basic moods, representing good energy and bad energy.

You aren’t capable of bad energy.

(laughs) I don’t know about that. Well, some of the tunes will be co-written by a Finnish music band since The Lord Of The Rings originated in Finland. We have to work out a common ground.

What other international projects are you working on?

I recently completed a score for a Chinese film. I went to China for the film’s premiere. It was originally meant to be an independent album but Sony Music felt it would have much more commercial viability if it was wedded to a movie. So the music was put into a Chinese film produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by Hi Ping. I did the background score as well as a Chinese song. The Chinese love melodies. It was a very interesting experience for me.

I presume you know less Chinese than Hindi?

(laughs) True. We did the whole score from Chennai in just four weeks. When the tune was readied we put in the English lyrics in New York. From there it was sent to Hong Kong. When I decided to go international I was sure I had to get the freedom to do it my way. The Chinese film was quite a liberating experience because I did the complete acoustics for it. I’m also planning to do a symphony next year. Though the thought scares me because of the pressures on my schedules.

Ironically you’re recognised for electronic sounds in India .

Yes, most of the hit soundtracks from Roja to Saathiya have an electronic feel to them. Even when acoustic sounds are used it’s done in an electronic way. In the track Chupke se in Saathiya I used a South American acoustic instrument which sounds like our own ektara.

Which do you enjoy doing more—the young sound or the more mature music?

I need to do both. Once in while I have to do a youth-oriented film like Shankar’s Boys. Otherwise I’ll lose out on my young audience. Besides, such scores help me stay young. Earlier, I felt pressurised to work more than I wanted to. Two of my Hindi projects from last year –Ahmed Khan’s and Atul Agnihotri’s directorial debuts —got postponed to this year. But now I’m feeling far more relaxed. When people want my music they know what they’re getting into.

I have a confession to make here. I like to be pushed a bit so I know where to draw a line and move on. Deadlines make you stop with one endeavour and move on to the next. Otherwise, there’s no end to how much you can improve on what you create.