AR Rahman recollects challenging situation in professional & personal life

Oscar and Grammy-winning music composer had to work on a tight deadline despite sister’s ill health

Mumbai: Oscar and Grammy-winning music composer AR Rahman, whose recent album ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ has received great acclaim, recollected an incident when he encountered a challenging situation professionally and personally.

Rahman spoke with IANS and shared that prior to becoming a composer, it was around 1986-87 while he was arranging the music for a film, one of his sisters fell seriously ill, and he had to work in the studio on a tight deadline.

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“It was 1986 or 1987 when I was arranging music for a movie for the first time, and one of my sisters fell seriously ill. My producer had a budget problem and I had to finish the project by 5 pm. My mother called to tell me about my sister’s illness,” he said.

When asked about the film’s title, Rahman said he didn’t clearly remember as it has been nearly 40 years. “I thought, my mom is really smart, she will handle the situation. It’s just a couple of hours more, let me finish the work,” he added.

The composer said he completed the work and went straight to the hospital to meet his sister. “Thank God, she was doing fine,” he said.

Reflecting on the experience, Rahman shared the broader lesson: “As an artiste, you always encounter situations when you’re not just not ready to go forward with work, but you have to.

Sometimes you may be working on a happy song, but your state of mind could be very sad. Sometimes, you could be very happy, but you have to compose a song about sorrow. You need to compartmentalise your mind and work towards finishing the task at hand.”