An Indian...To the Core

I am not writing this post because the Oscars just got concluded at the Kodak Theatres 30 minutes back. But only because one person whom I followed & admired since I heard him first has just bagged the best possible recognition that one dreams of. A.R. Rahman, people call him genius, for me just one word "maestro". You know what, I fought with my friends over him as 8 out of 10 times they said that his songs are not up to the mark in his new movie, I always ask them to listen it again & again. Because that is where the strength of Rahman lies. He is probably the only music director in India with songs that has so much repetitive value. You listen them more, you like them more and you get addicted. You get hooked to it. 

But many times he did not get the recognition he deserved. A man who started his career with Roja (his 2nd movie) created songs like Dil Hai Chhota Sa. The sounds that he created in early days in his career were simply ahead of the time. He still makes it a point to thrill his listeners with a new musical instrument. Initially, the mass took some time to accept it. The critic were as usual sceptical and his competitors simply written him off saying this boy is just trying his luck. Yes, that boy who was only 26 when he gave us Roja, is surely lucky enough to bag the Oscars for the best original score at the 81st Academy Awards. He is surely lucky enough that the best of the film makers like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Asutosh Gowarikar, Mani Ratnam only & only use his services whenever they think about music. He surely is lucky enough that many times his music becomes a better success than the movie itself (ex: Yuvvraaj, learn Subhashjii). And he surely is lucky enough to be the only Indian composer to work in the most international projects so far. 

No, neither he was nor he is lucky. He earned it for himself, in that process for India. He deserved it. Many composers have come & vanished after him (Aadesh, Ismail). Many biggies were no longer getting work (Jatin, Lalit, the great Anu Malik or Nadeem-Shravan). And today when the taste of the youth has changed a lot from hearing the monotonous heavy voice of Kumar Sanu and stereotype tracks, Rahman is one guy who is still going stronger and better than before. For he is one who always believed in two things: innovation & experimentation. Now he again faces competition just like his early years, but from a new gen composers, primly 3 of them: Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar & Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. But he has his style unchanged and still the most sought after musician.

In one of his interviews when a Tamil reporter asked him why does not he speak in Tamil, his mother tongue! He said "I do not even speak in Hindi or for that matter Urdu, I would like to take India to the world. So I speak one language, that is music. I am not a Tamil or a Muslim. I am an Indian." So it is no wonder that he recreated our national anthem with utmost dignity. He sang for Tamil Nadu, he sang for Delhi, he sang for Mumbai, he sang for Taj Mahal.

He, Rahman, always sang for India...