When AR Rahman won not just one but two Oscars for the song “Jai Ho” and the original score of Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, Tamilians were ecstatic. The composer further made the state of Tamil Nadu proud by speaking in his mother tongue on the most prestigious stage. “Ella Pugazhum Iraivanukae (All praise is for the lord),” became the most popular sentence in Tamil and continues to be. However, when the dust settled, everyone wondered if “Jai Ho” of all other AR Rahman’s brilliant songs deserved the much-coveted award. Even the ardent fans of Rahman aren’t huge fans of the album. And the surprising fact is that even AR Rahman shares the same doubt. In a felicitation ceremony that was conducted for him in Chennai after he bagged two Oscars, the composer pondered over the same question.
The ceremony was attended by all the Tamil music legends including MS Viswanathan and Ilaiyaraaja, who were two huge inspirations of Rahman. Harris Jeyaraj and other musicians were also present at the event. When Rahman took the stage, he said, “Raja Sir said this is because of the blessings of my parents, which is true. I am harvesting the profits of all the work done by my parents. For the past ten years, at every Oscars, I kept seeing either a Japanese composer, or a Chinese composer, or an Italian composer getting awards, and I used to wonder are there no composers here at all? Here we have Raja Sir and MSV Sir and KV Mahadevan Sir, Madhan Mohan, Roshan… but they all didn’t need it. Beyond that, they received a lot of love. When Raja Sir stood up, you all made so much noise… that reflected the respect you have for him. This is bigger than Oscar.”
He added, “Only later I realised that for them to give an Oscar to you they should know who you are. How will they give it without knowing you? I met an agent, and he said that you could create good music but that doesn’t mean you will get it. When I think about it, I think God was seeing all this. When I had no time, this film came my way, and I had to let go of one project and take it up. I never thought I would get all this. I completed the music for Slumdog Millionaire in three weeks. There were only seventeen keys. For our films, there will be around 130 keys. The agent heard and said it was really good and that I should submit it to Oscar. After I submitted… the way people received me after Roja… similarly, everyone started to smile at me. Many told me, ‘I love your music.’ And I was like, ‘What did I do much that they are liking it?.'”
However, only later AR Rahman understood why it worked. “When we looked at the music along with film, its impact was extraordinary. And God is very kind. I don’t think it was for me. It is the labour of all of them (Ilaiyaraaja and MSV) and God had sent me to collect it on behalf of them.” The whole auditorium erupted after hearing it, and Ilaiyaraaja and MSV sported subtle smiles.
AR Rahman changed the Indian music scene after his Oscar win and paved the way for other musicians to dream big. He made the Oscar dream possible from Indian cinema, and it happened again in 2022 when RRR’s “Naatu Koothu” won the Academy Award for Best Song.
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