AR Rahman Exclusive Interview - An exclusive peek into the mind of musical genius A R Rahman as he shares insights into his highly anticipated upcoming movie, "Amar Singh Chamkila." In this candid interview with Spotboye, AR Rahman delves into the creative process behind the film's music, its storyline, and the challenges faced during its production.
"Amar Singh Chamkila" promises to be a cinematic masterpiece, combining AR Rahman's unparalleled musical prowess with captivating storytelling. Join us as AR Rahman unravels the mysteries behind this cinematic gem, offering fans a glimpse into what makes this project truly special.
Don't miss out on this captivating conversation with one of the most iconic figures in the world of music and cinema. Subscribe to Spotboye for more exclusive interviews, updates, and behind-the-scenes content from the world of entertainment. Stay tuned for the release of "Amar Singh Chamkila" and witness the magic of A R Rahman like never before.
"Amar Singh Chamkila" promises to be a cinematic masterpiece, combining AR Rahman's unparalleled musical prowess with captivating storytelling. Join us as AR Rahman unravels the mysteries behind this cinematic gem, offering fans a glimpse into what makes this project truly special.
Don't miss out on this captivating conversation with one of the most iconic figures in the world of music and cinema. Subscribe to Spotboye for more exclusive interviews, updates, and behind-the-scenes content from the world of entertainment. Stay tuned for the release of "Amar Singh Chamkila" and witness the magic of A R Rahman like never before.
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00:00 Press the bell icon on our YouTube app and never miss another video from Spotboy.
00:09 The music virtuoso A. R. Rahman continues to transcend boundaries of religions, regions
00:15 and languages. He continues to inspire us, entertain us, even enthrall us. There is an
00:21 unmissable glimpse of meditativeness in all his melodies. How does he keep himself relevant
00:28 and how does he create that magic? Let's find it out from Mr. Rahman himself. Thank you
00:32 so much for joining us on Spotboy. First thing first, this is quite a hadke title, Chamkeela.
00:40 Do thoughts run across your head when you see the title as opposed to the situations
00:44 and the characters in the story? It's a storytelling thing. Like in cinema, the wonder of cinema
00:49 is to, you also play the character. You also know what it is and then see how we can expand
00:57 the storytelling. And of course, when you have the lead pair in your film, Parineeti
01:02 and of course Diljit, they both are singers in their own right. So does that make composing
01:08 for them easy? In this, the story is about two singers, you know, who got shot. And Amar
01:15 Jodh and you know, Chamkeela. So it was necessary to have somebody who can really sing. They
01:22 sang live. We had a band prepared for them and they were all recorded live. And then
01:31 all the recordings were cleaned up. Because here I think they're singing, they're talking
01:36 and the only way to do that is to have real singers and they did a tremendous job on that.
01:41 One of the teasers of Chamkeela has an interesting line which goes, "Jab samaj mein tanav badh
01:46 jata hai, toh logon ke andar ki bhook entertainment ke liye aur bhi badh jati hai." Do you agree
01:52 with that sentiment? Yeah, I think when true, whatever is a society
01:59 kind of needs, there's a void, somebody comes and fills it up. At that point of time when
02:05 Chamkeela was entertaining people, Punjab was going through turmoil and maybe this was
02:11 the kind of entertainment they needed to distract themselves from the turmoil.
02:17 How do you transcend the boundaries of languages? Because language has been an integral part
02:22 when it comes to creating any piece of art. Right from down south to north, India is a
02:28 continent in itself. So while working on it, what do you learn as far as languages go?
02:34 Yeah, I just finished a Malayalam film called Goat Life and then there's Punjabi, then there's
02:38 Marathi happening now. I think it's a trust when you have a director who knows the language
02:46 and the lyric writer who knows. I get the feel of it, I get the energy and the energy
02:51 actually is very similar. Not similar I would say, but if you know a little bit of the culture
02:57 and you've done your research, you just try to get the assistance of these people who
03:04 know, have the hold of the language like Punjabi, Irshad Kamal and Imtiaz. And in a way actually
03:12 it helps me to go more wilder than be very like, oh this is what I'm going to use. So
03:19 to take a little bit of a license, cinematic license in the sound too.
03:23 There's an unmissable element of meditativeness in all your compositions. So sir, please walk
03:29 us through where do you get that perfect beat, that Eureka moment where method stops and
03:35 magic starts working?
03:36 I mean if the character demands it, that's hard word in all of us. We always seek peace.
03:44 We are all in chaos, we are all in distraction and constantly rammed with so much of information,
03:52 videos, narratives, but we all want to go to that solace. We all want that moment of
03:57 peace. We close your eyes. There's no peace at all. There's sound pollution, noise pollution,
04:02 air pollution, you know, everything's happening. The only place I feel like is a solace which
04:10 I can reflect is if I have to experience it, I have to experience it and give it to people.
04:15 So it's a constant attempt to probably have something which they can latch on, where they
04:22 can find solace.
04:25 Chamkira has this underlying current of rebellion. At the same time, you are evoking nationalism
04:32 as well and you're known for doing that. Right from that fight for our land in Lagaan to
04:38 Vandematram and what you did in, of course, Swades. How do you evoke that emotion as an
04:46 artist, as a composer when it comes to defining nationalism through your compositions?
04:52 I think from the beginning, music unites people. And I think from the beginning, from Roja
04:59 itself it started. Even before Manikar wanted Bharat Hamko, it was done as a song which
05:05 I wanted to do, but I didn't have a name at that time. So when he came in and we were
05:10 doing all these four songs, he said, "I have one more idea. Shall I play it to you?" So
05:13 it was Tamda Tamda. And I wanted that as a kind of a lullaby for the people who got,
05:19 you know. And that became Bharat Hamko in Hindi. Maybe that kind of triggered the energy
05:29 in Maa Tujhe Salaam and then in Lagaan or, you know, in Subhash Chandra Bose or Bhagat
05:38 Singh and the seeds of Mangal Pandey. True. I think I became like, oh, anything nationalistic,
05:44 anything about freedom fight, go to Yadav. But I also wanted to do fun subjects. So after
05:50 a while I had enough of that. But there is what's inside you comes out as stuff. If you
05:58 are even pretentious on any of those, it will show. Absolutely. Yeah. But I think what stayed
06:05 with people like, you know, stadium singing Maa Tujhe Salaam is fantastic how after even
06:12 twenty-five years that energy of that song is still retained. It's become like a youth
06:18 anthem for Indian people abroad, India, everywhere. It's a kind of responsibility. And you're
06:25 constantly comparing that. Is the song better than that? It can't be better because that's
06:29 what it is. It can be different. You mentioned the word abroad. I must ask this question
06:35 to you. How do you see the evolution of Indian music and how the West is looking at us through
06:43 the prism of diversity, through the prism of the way India is evolving? Do you see any
06:48 changes there in the perception? I, you know, when you go deeper, more than the music, it's
06:54 a lot of marketing money. It is India succeeding in the world economics. Right. Indians now
07:03 are big CEOs around the world. Nixon, Pichai, and Satya and all of them. And there is a
07:10 leadership quality which everybody is adoring. That is fantastic. I think the next level
07:14 would be like how South Korea is marketing BTS, you know, as a national commitment. I
07:23 think all that should happen. I just found, I saw Anushka Shankar as a Rolex ambassador.
07:30 That's a great statement to have a classical musician. You know, those things have to happen
07:36 constantly. You know, that will change the perspective of our Indian classical music,
07:43 our music. And then we don't have to even think. Nothing succeeds like success. Right.
07:54 Of course, we're talking about India going global and representation of Indian music
07:58 on the global platform. And nobody has achieved the kind of recognition, awards and accolades
08:02 like you have. So in that sense, where does the hunger now come from? And above all, how
08:08 do you keep yourself nourished, nurtured, and more importantly, relevant? Relevance
08:15 comes from the urge to, I have a music school, we are sitting in the music school here. And
08:27 I always feel like if I'm not successful, why should they come to the school? You know,
08:31 I'm the example. They look up to me. And if I become like dated, doing boring things,
08:39 why should they come to the school? So when the students come out, they have their own
08:44 identity. And this actually, I get inspired by seeing these young musicians come. And
08:52 I envy them because if I had that same facility when I was growing up, I would have been probably
08:55 even better. I would have taken less time to evolve. And so that's the reason why I
09:01 started the school, like to give people what I didn't have, the kind of coaching and everything.
09:07 The relevance comes from, as a listener, I want to hear new things. And that, I place
09:16 myself as a listener. I say, this is boring. I've done this before. Let me do something
09:20 else. Sometimes I do something, throw it out, come back again.
09:26 So what was that something else for Chamkeela?
09:29 Something else was, we have heard Punjabi music, we know Chamkeela's music. But why
09:36 should I do music for this movie? And then comes in, oh, you can do, because you've learned
09:42 stuff from doing Broadway musicals and Western musicals. Why can't we bring that energy into
09:48 Punjab, where all the characters can sing about Chamkeela? And that's something which
09:54 I don't think many people have tried. So we discussed this in the beginning and said,
09:59 what if all the characters sing? Like all the YouTube comments can become a song. So
10:06 all the gossip became Bhaja and Banger and Narmakalja. And the very end also, we could
10:17 have done that, but we made it more personal with Arjit singing with Akram.
10:22 And of course, Chamkeela does sound very, very vibrant, very Chamkeela as the terminology
10:28 says. And of course, on this one, you're working with Imtiaz Ali once again.
10:32 I'm a short-term.
10:34 What is it like to work with him? Is that more of a comfort zone or do you challenge
10:39 yourself as well, even in that comfort zone?
10:43 So when we have a team which there's a lot of respect and trust, you don't want to betray
10:51 them. You don't want to give them mediocre stuff. So I do something, I said, I don't
10:56 like it. Can I give you something else? If he shoots it, when it comes back, I feel like,
11:01 oh, you've done, you're filming, you're filming it beautifully. Maybe I should try something
11:06 else because I think this could be even more better.
11:10 So my relief of, oh, the director likes it, enough, I'm going to move on, is not there
11:16 with many people, actually. If there is time, I'll say, I don't like it, I can improve it.
11:20 I'll change the rhythm, I'll change the voice, I'll do something else. And time is the biggest
11:26 blessing for me. If there's no deadline, I keep going on, change the mix. So still, I
11:32 have to give it away.
11:34 What have you set out to achieve with this one? Is there a goal there? Is there an inspiration
11:38 there? Is there something that you must achieve as an artist with this one?
11:42 Yeah, it's to probably expand the whole sensibility of what this Punjabi musical is about and
11:53 give it a more broader appeal and still be relevant to the cultural aspects of it. And
12:03 have fun. Main thing is, you can see that there's a director who's jumped into a real
12:09 story, usually has his own stories. First time he's taken a story which is true, and
12:14 he's reinvented himself in narrating that stuff. So I'm also part of the journey.
12:20 So my last question, the way the industry is evolving, the kind of subjects we are toying
12:24 with across the world, in India, especially, the way OTT is evolving, etc, etc. Where do
12:31 you see the music landscape going, evolving and giving us fresher ideas? Where are we
12:37 on the trajectory?
12:39 I personally feel that there should be more live entertainment, live theatre, like Broadway.
12:46 So you know, using all the talents which are emerging in every street, there's amazing
12:51 singers out coming on. But where are they going after that? They're just putting a cover
12:54 on TikTok or Instagram. After that, what's the future of them? Why can't we consolidate
13:00 or culminate all these people and make a statement? Like a big choir or a musical theatre group
13:05 or multiple musical theatre thing happening. So there's a sense of pride with everybody
13:10 not only my daughters paying the cost, like how Broadway is or West End is. So I feel
13:19 like that change has still not happened. We have one, Neeta ji has built this beautiful
13:23 thing. Every state should have one. And so that we can do world class stuff and people
13:29 come watching as a tourism. They come to see the culture of Orissa or Karnataka or Kerala
13:36 or Tamil or Punjab. Where, you know, every place, even when I went to Bali or went to
13:45 Thailand, they have world class entertainment showing the culture. I don't see that here.
13:53 The way it could be, because we're leading in everything. Individuals are leading the
13:58 country all over the world. That should change. That will only happen as a mass movement,
14:05 I think. But I think now our people are ready, talent wise, to pay the tickets and watch.
14:12 Chamkila is certainly looking vibrant and is sounding even more vibrant.
14:16 Thank you.
14:17 Here's hoping you achieve what you want to achieve with this one and continue to entertain
14:19 us, inspire us like only you do.
14:22 Thank you. God bless.
14:24 Spot Boy!
14:25 [music]