Frases de A. R. Rahman

“Pienso en la muerte todos los días. El año pasado perdí un par de amigos muy íntimos. He estado viendo a la gente cerca de mí morir desde el momento en que era un niño. Muy pronto perdí a mi padre y mi abuela quien estaban muy cerca de mí. Así que la muerte está siempre conmigo. Es la única certeza en la vida.”

“Esto es una locura, Dios es grande de nuevo.”

“Me gusta la comedia. Miles de películas se me ofrecían pero me sentí que querían usarme realmente como compositor. Y quería hacer algo para la primera experiencia en Hollywood y esto ayudó mucho.”

“I never exert pressure on my children: I encourage the children, Katija and Rahima, to pursue their dreams. Rahima is embarrassed by autograph-seekers and doesn't want me to visit her school. In fact, I have never attended a single PTA meeting or gone to pick up the report cards of my children.”

“The ultimate enjoyment for a composer is when his compositions get recognised and appreciated. For me, a small village in Kanyakumari is as important as New York or France.”

“In my case, dust has become gold: Today, I work with people I grew up admiring. But, internally, I am the same person I always was. Ever since I embraced Sufism, I have learnt to separate myself from my desires and my success. Now, I can distance myself from all the adulation showered on me.”

“It needs a lot of courage to pick up someone from another country and support him. When I first heard from Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1999, he praised my work. But I must say that choosing me over others to compose for Bombay Dreams was a brave decision.”

“What one thinks is possible might not always be so. I try to do my best but, finally, everything lies in God's hands. I consider my skills as a musician to be a blessing from God. Even today, before I perform, I am unsure of whether I will be able to move my audience. I leave everything to Him… He pulls the strings in my life.”

“The way I work takes more time for me to get satisfaction. So it's better to take lesser load and do better work. Money can be earned anytime.”

“I think musicians here [India] get ripped off. Music production houses take good care of artists abroad and though the upfront signing amount is much less than what I get here, the royalty takes care of future returns.”

“My mother's belief in spiritual healers grew stronger after our family went through a rough patch following my father's death. Sufi saint Karimullah Shah Kadri changed our lives and all of us converted to Sufism. But it wasn't an instantaneous decision — it took us 10 years to convert. The change in religion was like washing away the past.”

“Musical theater had become very predictable. I think Andrew felt that Bollywood musicals could be a new treat for the Western audience.”

“Bombay, which sold about 120,000 copies, is widely rated as my most successful work, though Roja is definitely the score that brought me where I am today.”

“Yes, 6 songs… Thiruda Thiruda: Great. I felt honoured since it was the last song Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan did before his death. We miss him a lot, it was an emotional bond in the 50th year to bring a synergy between India and Pakistan.”

“The first day I was in a daze thinking, ‘What am I doing? What’s my role?’ and then slowly we started writing with each other, and it was great. It took me way back to my high school days when I was playing in a rock band.”

“It's an approximate count. If you have a hit film, you'll sell 5 million or 6 million CDs. Of my movies, at least 20 or 25 were really big hits. [Mind you, he adds], in India, we don't get royalties. Otherwise I'd be a very rich man. I wouldn't have to come to America!”

“An ideal world can definitely be created with a pure mind and optimistic results.”

“The reason I love 'Slumdog' is because the music is all world cultures, all celebrating. In India, I know people feel other film scores [of mine] are closer to their hearts. But when you are doing a film, it's very important to make the film look like one full piece of artwork. I think scoring 'Slumdog' with every kind of music possible, from Chinese to hip-hop to M. I. A.... was really fresh ground for me.”

“I had been doing the same kind of stuff for 15-16 years and was desperately seeking a change. But there was no opportunity to reinterpret Indian music. With Roja, we wanted to strike a new note. Mani's amazing visuals, Mutthu's romantic lyrics, relatively unknown singers… we wanted to impart to Roja an international flavour — and we succeeded.”

“Jazz was my passion for a little while. I felt that all other kinds of music were stupid when I was into jazz. But I got over the addiction very soon”

“The trend in the north is more Punjabi folk and simple music. But, in the past, people like Naushad experimented with Hindustani classical music which I think has been completely forgotten. People don't experiment anymore and think that Hindustani classical music won't work. For me, coming from the south, it was just a little step to learn Punjabi music. The nuances are louder in Punjabi music. Songs like Mukkala muqqabla or Humma humma had more of the Tamil folk music in it.”

“I'm always fascinated by the innocence of children and the baggage that we carry as adults which manipulates our decisions.”

“I wanted to produce film songs that go beyond language or culture.”

“Rahman is a genius and has made the world sit up and take notice of Indian talent with his success. He has put the Indian film industry on the world map.”

“We didn’t know what kind of music we’d make, we didn’t know if it would be any good, but we hoped we’d have fun. He brings so much musical knowledge, amazing musicianship, melody and singing power from a different culture.”

“The Oscar is definitely the biggest moment in my life. I know he has won so many awards. But this one is special because he is representing India.”

“Commended, multi-talented and innovative Rahman for bringing East and West closer through music and for making the world look at Indian film music more seriously. Diversity of his styles and themes was appealing to different sections of the society.”