Why Filmmakers Have Moved On From Rahman

“A R Rahman is supreme. No one can touch him. I worked with Pancham (R D Burman) and later with Vishal Bharadwaj for my own films. It was always a great pleasure working with Rahman. His tunes are consistently innovative, and he changed the entire format of the Hindi film song. He is the last of the genius composers — on a par with Ilaiyaraja, R D Burman and Madan Mohan,” says poet-lyricist Gulzar.

When asked whom he would like to work with among today’s composers, Gulzar pauses. “Do I have to answer that? Shall I tell you a secret? One reason I haven’t directed a film in 27 years is because I don’t have a composer of R D Burman or Rahman’s calibre.”

Yet Rahman is very much around — and eminently accessible to Gulzar. So why hasn’t that collaboration happened again?

That is a question most producers prefer not to answer openly.

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai says, “I worked with Rahman in Taal and he is addictive. Taal is a milestone in his career and he acknowledges that. Later we did Yuvraaj together. Though it wasn’t as successful, I rate it very highly. Given an opportunity, I would love to work with him again. Yes, he has his own terms, conditions and pace of working — but he is worth every bit of the effort.”

Interestingly, Ghai had to supplement Rahman’s songs in Kisna with inputs from Ismail Darbar, as Rahman was busy with an international project.

Too many demands

Other filmmakers in Hindi and Telugu cinema are less willing to accommodate Rahman’s demands. A producer-director who has worked with him repeatedly remarks, “Has Rahman noticed how much the quality of his work has dipped in recent times? His demands are humongous. He charges almost three times what other composers do. Plus, every film must be branded as ‘An A R Rahman Musical’. Then there are delays — almost every film he commits to gets held up because the songs don’t arrive on time.”

Another prominent filmmaker who has collaborated with Rahman more than once offers a more measured view: “He has his own rhythm of working — you either take it or leave it. When a producer signs Rahman sir, they know exactly what they are getting into. So they shouldn’t complain later. I admit my last film was delayed because of his pending songs.”

Still, many filmmakers are unwilling to deal with Rahman’s unhurried pace. Sanjay Leela Bhansali reportedly approached Rahman for Bajirao Mastani, but after the meeting chose to compose the music himself.

A wide choice now, at a lesser price

The uncomfortable truth is that Bollywood has moved on. Rahman’s supremacy was challenged by Pritam Chakraborty—often regarded as a far less original composer—who has lately acquired a similar reputation for delays. Apparently, Karan Johar received the final song for Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani just days before the film’s release.

The post-Rahman hierarchy — Vishal-Shekhar, Pritam Chakraborty, Amit Trivedi, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy — has also shown signs of creative fatigue. The current trend in Hindi cinema is to rope in multiple quick-turnaround composers, each contributing one song. For Dhurandhar, Aditya Dhar turned to Bahraini artist Flipperachi (Hussam Aseem) for the chartbuster ‘Fa9la’, also known as the ‘Rehman Dakait Entry Song’, while the rest of the soundtrack relied heavily on revamped versions of old hits.

Mahesh Bhatt, known for some of Hindi cinema’s most memorable soundtracks, is categorical about his choice. “M M Keeravani — and no one else. Who else could I go to?”

Interestingly, Keeravani is S S Rajamouli’s resident composer. The two are brothers and creatively in complete sync. Even in Tamil and Telugu cinema, Rahman has been increasingly sidelined by Keeravani, Anirudh Ravichander and Devi Sri Prasad — composers who charge a fraction of Rahman’s fee and, crucially, deliver on time.

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