And how do you select your filmmakers? “It’s getting increasingly difficult with time. Earlier it was easier because I was not well-known and could rely on my instinct. Now, there are greater expectations from me so one is perpetually worried of making a wrong choice. The easiest way out is to continue working with people I have like Mani Ratnam, Ashutosh Gowariker, Imtiaaz Ali and a few more. The credibility of the director and the lyricist is of paramount importance. It is embarrassing to be associated with people who don’t deliver. In the past, I have trusted strangers and delivered sublime music, which after all these years, remains in the cans. To do that again would be a colossal waste of my time and energy”.
It’s difficult to accept that a producer will not honor a commitment with AR Rahman. “I’m not saying that they do it deliberately, it is probably lack of finance. Let me give you an example: Many years ago, two directors approached me around the same time. The first, an established banner and the second, talented but new in business. Both wanted tunes from my bank so I gave the not so good composition to the established banner and he delivered a chart buster. The better tune, I gave to the novice but it never got released. I have always wondered what would have happened had I reversed the tunes. Would the big banner have made a bigger success with the other tune? Till the tune is made into a song and picturized, the music composer is never confident of his creation. He can never relish his own music, not until many years later.”
To be continued