AR Rahman On How He Always Comes Through

Oscar winner AR Rahman never saw any barriers, only possibilities. He spoke to Brut about how he overcame challenges at home and across the world.

Transcript

00:00Because if you look at history, there are very few South Indian composers who crossed North India.

00:23I didn't see any barriers for me.

00:27And for me, music is a whole, like the sky. It's not just a piece of, you know.

00:33And even though I'm culturally rooted, but I was open-minded.

00:39And then, even appreciating musicians or singers, there were no barriers in my mind.

00:46If I liked somebody and if I feel instinctively that this is great and they will enhance my song, it was okay.

00:54It didn't have to come from school, even though sometimes there were no road singers.

01:04When you're moving away from certain things, you're done with it.

01:07And you're moving away to find new places in music and art.

01:12There is a following for certain things.

01:17And those followers are very religious in a way.

01:21That is the sound I like. That is what defines me. I'm moving away from that.

01:26And then there's a new set of people.

01:29And they have their own, you know.

01:32So when I look at this stuff, it confuses me.

01:35But then I say, I started with my own instincts and my own likings.

01:40And whatever I liked, I gave people. And that's how it should be.

01:44I try to go into silences. I try to be without anything sometimes. Just meditate.

01:50Because that's when you feel fresh when you come back.

01:53Otherwise, you get a sense of fatigue.

01:56And the fatigue is not good. Fatigue can make you choose the wrong things.

02:06There are so many people teaching out there.

02:09There are so many people teaching out there.

02:11You just have to look at YouTube.

02:13I keep saying that the whole world is now open.

02:17And the greatest things out there.

02:19Even the past. From the past. From the 60s, 50s and 70s.

02:23All those information out there.

02:24And place yourself and see where you stand.

02:27And try to push your individuality.

02:38We are expecting an original voice.

02:52And we want to augment that voice.

02:56And we want to help them facilitate.

02:58And connect them to greater talents in the UK.

03:03And help them reach their potential.

03:07And also, in a way, exchanging our stories, our narratives.

03:12Making it possible to get our narrators to reach an international stage.