When Mani Ratnam blackmailed Rahman

Interview: Arthur J Pais in New York

In the first part of an exclusive interview with A R Rahman , the maestro spoke about how Shah Rukh Khan was made a ' bakra ,' and how he made Bappi Lahiri sing in Guru .

In the second and last part, Rahman talks more about Mani Ratnam's Guru , and his other projects.

On dedicating the song Tere Bina to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

When I began working on the soundtrack of Guru , I happened to listen to one of Nusrat saab 's softest songs called Sajna Tera Bina . It is simple and heart stirring. There is great beauty in it. I was inspired by it and started composing Tere Bina about eight months ago.

Originally, the song was about 25 minutes long. You know I often write six or seven mukhdas and then there are many variations. I also recorded the song Ay Hairathe for the film but Mani sir felt it was too heavy to be at the start of the film. He thought of using Tere Bina .

Suddenly, the song got a life of its own. But there was one hurdle ( chuckles ). I had recorded it in the voice of Qadir Khan and he did an excellent job. But Mani sir wanted me to sing it. I said, Qadir will get hurt, and I did not want to hurt him. But there was no way of getting out. It became something like: Either you sing it or it won't be there.

So it was a blackmail?

But in a good way ( chuckles ). I also told Mani sir that I was fasting then and didn't have the energy to sing it. He said he would wait. ( The song as it is has some of Murtaza Khan and Qadir's voices in the Dham Dara Dham Dara part at the beginning. Chinmayee joins Rahman later in the song .)

O n Aye Hairathe

I was listening to the music of Amir Khusroo and his song Yeh Sharbati Ashiqui . I loved it. But most of the song was in Persian and that was going to cause us a problem. So Gulzar saab wrote the lyrics inspired by Amir Khusroo. I would say it is one of the best songs that have come out with my association with Gulzar.

On making Hariharan sing in Aye Hairathe

It was very important that he sang the song. It is the kind of song Mohammad Rafi would have sung four or five decades ago. It is a traditional kind of melody with lots of feelings but Hariharan makes it sound modern. He has done an astounding job. The song has a lot of masti in it. You feel it especially when Alka ( Yagnik ) joins in. It is a romantic and fun song. It is the most popular song in the album after Tere Bina .

I am surprised universally people are going to listen to Tere Bina after listening to all songs in the album. Such a thing ( like most people returning to one song ) does not happen often.

W hen Deepa Mehta's Water became controversial, you quit the project but your songs were retained. Now, Deepa wants you to compose the songs for her period drama The Exclusion .

I know Deepa has said that she would be very disappointed if I don't compose music for her new film. We have always retained the friendship and she showed me Water even before it opened the Toronto International Film Festival last year.

I don't know when she will start work on The Exclusion . If my schedule fits hers, I would love to work with her. We were in Los Angeles the other day attending the same event but there was no opportunity to discuss anything because I was flying to London the same night.

Other projects

I have done some work on The Golden Age , the follow up to Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth . I am working along with another composer. This is new for me in films but I am excited about it. I think the film will cost more than his Elizabeth ( which cost about $35 million, eight years ago ). It could even cost $100 million.

I have also recorded couple of songs for Ashutosh Gowariker's Akbar-Jodha but it is premature to talk about them. Things change. But this much I know, the songs and the score should not only reflect the grandeur of the age but also the romance between the central characters ( played by Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai ).

And now that The Lord of the Rings is getting ready to open in London, there is plenty of work.