Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman’s sister A R Raihanah is a busy woman these days. The music director is super excited about her yet-to-be-released Krish and Srushti Dange starrer Puriyadha Aanandham Pudhidhaga Aarambam (PAPA) as son GV Prakash has crooned for her! Raihana has also roped in her niece Amina, sister Ishrath and singer Sadhana Sargam as well. “Prakash is an extremely busy person; however, he immediately agreed when I asked him. This is my fifth film as a music director,” Raihanah, who got her big break as a composer with Machi in 2004, tells us.
“During that time, I got to know Syed Ibrahim, an assistant director. He liked my music and told me then that I would be his music director whenever he is directing a film. Now, he’s the filmmaker of PAPA and introduced me to the producer Ibrahim Rowther; that is how the movie happened,” Raihanah smiles.So, how does it feel to be in the family that has two established music directors? (AR Rahman and GV Prakash) “I feel proud, but there’s no sense of competition at all. I have learnt a lot from both of them and they are totally different from each other! When you take my films, I have given a good mix of fast-paced songs, and melodic numbers. I like to balance out things well,” she says.
Ask her why there are not many women music directors around, and Raihanah explains that breaking the trend will take some time. “The gender of the music composer really makes a difference to the audience. I found music direction easy as I come from a family of composers, and the audience, appreciates good music. It doesn’t matter to them if there’s a man or woman behind the music! It’s not that the film industry doesn’t encourage women in this field, it’s just that there are no female composers coming forward,” she adds.
Raihanah personally feels composing music is much more difficult than singing — “Most female musicians find it simpler to just sing. Music direction is quite challenging and time consuming — as well as comes with a huge responsibility. You have to manage a lot of things like mixing, recording, instrumentation, technical capacity, decision-making skills, orchestration and composing ability. There are many independent musicians coming up and all of them are making good music. So I feel there will be a transition soon.”
Any regrets in her life? “I never went around with my CDs, telling people that I was a composer earlier! However, now I feel it’s a bit late,” she laughs and adds, “I wish I had big stars in my films, so that my music would reach wider audience.” Raihanah, who is also simultaneously working for films like Onnume Puriyala, Kadaisi Pakkam, Nilam neer Katru, Ilamai Kondattam, says she’d love to have her brother ARR sing for her. “But it’s tough to convince him sing for any other music director!”
