‘Non-Creative People Now Decide Things’: A. R. Rahman’s Remarks Spark Debate, Industry Reacts

Let’s deep dive and understand what exactly happened.

One of India’s biggest musical composers, record producers, and singers of Hindi Music Industry, A. R. Rahman, recently opened up about a power shift in Bollywood over the last eight years. He even emphasised that people who are not creative now have the power to make decisions.

In an interview with BBC Asian Network, Rahman said, “I’m not in search of work. I want work to come to me; the sincerity of my work should earn things. I feel it’s a jinx when I go in search of things.”

When asked whether he faced any prejudice in the Hindi film industry when he started in the 1990s, he stated, “Maybe I didn’t get to know all this stuff. Maybe God concealed all this stuff. But for me, I never felt any of those things. In the past eight years, maybe, because the power shift has happened.”

“People who are not creative have the power now to decide things, and this might have been a communal thing also, but not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers. I said, ‘Oh, that’s great, rest for me, I can chill out with my family,’” he continued.

The singer-composer pointed out that he was the first composer who went from the South to the Hindi film industry and survived it.

“It was a whole new culture. No other South Indian composer till then. Mr Ilaiyaraaja had done a couple of movies, but they were not mainstream movies. So, for me to cross over and for them to embrace me was a hugely rewarding experience.”

“I was still an outsider with these three films, but ‘Taal’ became famous in every household, as it entered the kitchen of everybody’s house. Even now, for most North Indians, it’s in the blood because it’s a little bit of Punjabi, Hindi, and Pahadi music,” he added.

Speaking about Subhash Ghai’s advice to learn Hindi, he said, “I never spoke Hindi, and it was difficult for a Tamil person to learn Hindi because we have such an attachment to Tamil. But then Subhash Ghai said, ‘I love your music, but I want you to stay longer. So, you should learn Hindi.’”

“I said, ‘Okay, let me learn Hindi. And I’ll go one step further. I will learn Urdu, which is the mother of Hindi music of the 60s and 70s,’” he asserted.

The 59-year-old remarked that he avoids films that are made with bad intentions, following which the interviewer asked him about his association with Chhaava.

To which he replied, “It is divisive. I think it cashed in on that divisiveness, but I think the core of it is to show bravery. I told the director, ‘Why do you need me for this?’ He said we need only you for this. I think it was an enjoyable finish.”

“But I definitely think people are smarter than that. Do you think people are going to get influenced by movies? They have something called internal conscience, which knows what the truth is and what manipulation is,” he emphasised.

After his statements in the interview, many people came out in support of him, while many others disagreed.

According to a report by NDTV, Hariharan called it a “grey area.” He further added, “I really wish there were more creative people, or at least people who genuinely understand music, taking these calls.”

“You have to think about creativity first and money later. If you only think of money when it comes to art, then who knows what the future will be,” he remarked.

Singer-composer Leslie Lewis also agreed with the power shift in Bollywood, as per the outlet. Lewis said, “There has been a shift in the music industry itself.”

“It’s not just the old players anymore. New people with new thoughts have come in, and digital platforms have changed the parameters completely.”

“Earlier, the people judging us had experience and creative instinct. Today, it’s very corporate. The person taking the call is often making sure their job is secure. They may love music, but they don’t always have the experience to decide who the right artist is,” he added.

However, some industry figures also disagreed with Rahman’s remarks.

Indian novelist and columnist Shobhaa De came out in support of Bollywood, saying, “This is a very dangerous comment. I don’t know why he’s made it; you should ask him. But I’ve been watching Bollywood for 50 years, and if I’ve seen any place that is free of any kind of communal tension, it is Bollywood. If you have talent, you will get a chance. If you don’t have talent, there’s no question of religion being a factor. He’s such a successful and mature man; he should not have said it. Maybe he has his reasons—you will have to ask him.”

In an interview with India Today, Indian screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar remarked, “I don’t agree with that, and I also doubt that he would ever say something like this. Rahman is a great composer, and a lot of people respect him. But they are scared to reach him because he is so big. They are scared to talk to him and handle him. It’s a wrong assumption, though. It is out of awe and fear of him that people keep away—that ‘humare bas ka nahi hai, yeh toh bohot bada aadmi hai’ (he is a big deal).”