AR Rahman - The journey of a genius

Hooked to his music, Mani Ratnam signed him for Tamil film Roja (Rose) released in 1992 and later dubbed into several languages. The soundtracks of the Hindi version became an instant hit and catapulted him to big league.

That was 14 years ago. Since then, Rahman has brought to Indian cinema a whole new genre of music. But criticism, too, began to pour in. Rahman was criticised for taking his own time in composing music, something that reportedly forced Mani Ratnam to drop a song from Bombay to release the already delayed film on time.

Rumours were rife that Mani Ratnam had dropped him from his next project, too, but they were proved to be unfounded. Rahman, however, made no bones about it and said that he was “no machine that could churn out scores on an assembly line endlessly”. The misunderstandings were soon resolved and Rahman-Ratnam duo has worked wonders.

“What is really a relationship? A relationship means the first good experiences, like first love and you always remember that. He picked up the best out of my work and said, ‘This is you’. He was the first one who gave me a good work. For us, it’s been a challenge to cross each thing from Bombay to Iruvar,” Rahman says about Mani Ratnam in an interview to CNN-IBN.

His compositions are absorbing, a deliberate yet careful blend of digital instruments and traditional sounds like flute, mridangam and natural sounds. His Choti Si Aasha in the film Roja, with its blend of traditional tune and distinct reggae beats, went on to be a cult hit.

His latest Rang De Basanti is an exuberant mix of jingoist bhangra pop with a hint of sufiana influence.

So, how does Rahman manage to accomplish this? It’s no doubt a master at work, infusing modern technology into music and some brilliant orchestration.

With no inhibitions and restricted by no one genre or style, Rahman experiments with everything - Indian classical, Western classical, and fusion too.