New York: Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman feels he needs to become a better singer before he can release an album of songs sung by him.
“I want to do that but I want to become a better singer,” Mr. Rahman said at a press conference here when asked if he would bring out an album of his own songs.
Mr. Rahman, who has sung several mesmerising numbers for Bollywood and Hollywood films, was also asked about the secret to his creativity.
“Greatness comes from recognising the divine, that becoming a part of the source of your inspiration. Beyond all that stuff, there is truth and that is the truth which we channelise into our consciousness,” he said.
Rahman, 49, became only the second Indian artiste after legendary Carnatic music vocalist M S Subbulakshmi to perform at the UN General Assembly hall on the occasion of India’s 70th Independence Day celebrations.
The concert was organised by the Indian mission in association with Chennai-based civil society group Sankara Nethralaya.
Prakash Swamy, the main coordinator of the concert, lauded Rahman for his quiet support to a host of philanthropic activities, including through his A R Foundation.
Swamy said performing at the concert would be a group of youngsters from Rahman’s Sunshine Orchestra, that educates underprivileged children and trains them in classical music.
New York based America Tamil Sangam also presented the Tamil Ratna Award to Rahman after his concert.
Presenting the award, Mr. Swamy, who is also president of the Sangam, described the Golden Globe winner as an embodiment of peace, humbleness and charity.
Addressing the press conference, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said that when Subbulakshmi sang the ‘Maaithreem Bhajathe’ in 1966 at the UN, “there was no issue about UN Sustainable Development Goals, no talk about peace in terms of not leaving anybody behind.”
However the themes that Subbulakshmi sang about 50 years ago resonated globally and “Subbulakshmi was able to put this in simple verse and reiterate for us the broadly established global values. They continue to remain relevant to global thinking right now,” Mr. Akbaruddin said.
