It's the awards season in the Hindi Film Industry and when it comes to the best music category, there is practically no competition -- AR Rahman and cult film Rang De Basanti, it is. This unassuming composer says awards are energising. TIMES NOW's Naomi Dutta caught up with the talented musician and got talking first about RDB!

When he makes foreign (read: American) students sing `Maa Tujhe Salaam,' `Rang De Basanti,' `Zikr' (from Bose) and `Veerapaandi Kottaiyile,' you know that Kareema Begum's son is rising in the West.

The U.S. Consul General in Chennai, David T. Hopper, earlier this week, threw a party at his residence to honour the musician for his contribution to American society.

A. R. Rahman had performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in July, along with Global Rhythms, the world music band comprising American students, die-hard fans of the young legend.

From the moment Rahman, sporting a beige Van Heusen suit over his brown shirt and shiny black shoes, slipped into the party quietly, he was a class act. He chatted with absolute strangers with unassuming ease, taking compliments and answering queries with matter-of-fact candour.

How busy was he these days, we ask.

Rahman has a reputation of being super-productive in the middle of the night.

"Right now, I'm in the 5.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. zone. I have these phases. Earlier, I used to work nights and sleep only two hours between 3.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. These days, I sleep by 11.30," says the man often referred to as the Mozart of Madras. We had heard stories from youngsters like Naresh Iyer about the master musician's creative bursts of energy at midnight. Rahman had given the lad four songs in his very first movie. How did he have that confidence in Naresh?

"It just happens sometimes. We tried him out for the rough tracks, it worked for us. So we kept it," says Rahman, underplaying his own role. Sometimes, you just don't know if Rahman should take the credit or the blame for the spurt of sound engineers assuming the role of music directors, relying purely on technology.

"You should do it like a photograph. That's the simplest comparison I can think of. You should lay it out clearly in a way that you should be able to see all the people in it. It's not very different in music. People should be able to listen to every instrument used in a composition, just like the people in a picture. You should know who's on the right, who's on the left and who's in the centre. That's how it works."

Do directors tell him what they want in the photograph, filmmaker K. Hariharan, director of L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, asks him during the evening.

"It's good when the director tells you what he wants in the photograph. It makes it easier for us. Every film should have a distinct feel and theme. Some music directors have a formula. Directors go to them for that formula. But when they come to me, they expect something different every time. So that puts some more pressure on me," he explains.

Hasn't technology made it easier for sound engineers today to turn music directors?

"Yes, it has become much simpler today. You buy a Mac (PC or laptop), you get Garage band free, (an application for arranging music) which gives you a lot of pre-recorded preset loops to choose from. You can arrange it yourself and the quality of sound is pretty good."

We point out that Rahman was responsible for the trend of music directors taking to the computer and recording one instrument at a time. It changed the way music was made.

"No, I don't do it like that anymore," he says. "Earlier, we had constraints that we could not record everything at the same time. Today, I have an elaborate studio where I do live recordings with all the musicians."

How did he first hear about his international tribute band and how did it feel?

"It was unbelievable. It was about two or three years ago when I was a little concerned about events that shook the world and a little disturbed about world politics (post 9/11), I met this guy who showed me a video of American students performing some of my songs. That's when I realised the power of music. It was unbelievable. Not only did they sing the popular songs, they even sang the chaste Urdu lines bit from `Zikr' in Bose. I felt happy because I realised that it was only politics that separated people; art and music still continue to build bridges between people."

Rahman's next for Mani Ratnam's Guru will be out by Diwali and the musician will also be doing his next project with Aamir Khan, Lajjo. With the audio of Sillunu Oru Kaadhal rocking the city, Chennai is all ears, all over again.

Aren't we glad the son lives down South? 

You're all over Mumbai with the ad hoardings for Worldspace radio. Are you embarrassed since you're quite shy? Not really. I'm extremely proud to be associated with Worldspace. People are bored of mindless and horrid TV shows. After a hard day's work, music can be so very soothing. Would you endorse a hair cream? (Laughs) No, never. Earlier, I endorsed Airtel because of its ad jingle which challenged me as a composer. I wouldn’t endorse a product, which would draw comments like, “Why is he selling shampoos, instead of his music?” . With Rang De Basanti, you returned to the charts with a bang. Were you relieved by the success? Undoubtedly it was a big gamble. The film broke every possible rule in the book. It was entertaining but not clichéd, the comedy bordered on self-sarcasm and the songs weren’t the typical boy-meets-girl stuff. Aamir Khan was also refreshing..he didn't make an effort to put himself in the limelight. It seems you may be asked to perform at the Oscar ceremony in the wake of your concert at the Hollywood Bowl? I don't know about that. But yes, I realised the wide reach of our music when we performed there. It's high time that Indian music crosses over to the West like their music reaches us. It's my dream to achieve that worldwide recognition, not for myself but for our music. When did you get to know that Chhaiyya chhaiyya was being used in Spike Lee's The Inside Man? I've still only heard about it from others, I should get a DVD and watch it for myself. I've heard they’ve used the original as well as a rap-cum-club version. That makes me feel good actually. After you compose a song and it goes into the market, do you feel a sense of loss? That's an interesting question. I only feel a sense of loss when the music I create after much difficulty doesn't become popular. That’s when I feel a sense of loss. But much more than that, my feeling after creating a song is a sense of liberation. Isn’t Fanaa quite Rahmanesque? More than being Rahmanesque, I feel Fanaa has a Sufi touch which I quite liked. I don't believe in the term like ‘Rahmanesque’. My job is to make music, not to take off on ego trips. Himesh Reshammiya says he wants to sing for you. That's very kind of Himesh. But I've never composed a song, keeping a singer in mind. When I compose a song which suits his voice, I'll definitely call him over. What do you make of his super-popularity today? It's fantastic. You may criticise his vocals but you can’t take away his success. Himesh is very talented. Even in Chennai, he is criticised for his over-exposure on TV. But that’s not under his control. He has composed songs which people want to hear. Why blame Himesh for this? Which are the three of your most undervalued soundtracks? Swades, Tehzeeb and Bose. Audiences have begun to appreciate the Swades music after two years of its release. I get emails from abroad saying that the music of Swades brings them closer to India. How come after Piya Haji Ali, you haven’t composed a qawwali again? Really? I've never thought about this. But I've just recorded a qawwali titled Khawaja mere khawaja for a film to be released shortly. Which has been the fastest song composed by you? Khalbali from Rang De Basanti. It was composed, recorded and mixed in six hours flat. That has been the fastest song that I've ever composed. What music are you listening at the moment? Amor, the new album by the Spanish singer Andrea Bocelli. Do you approve of the growing ipod culture? It's good because you can store so many songs in such a small device. And it’s bad because now we have far too many choices. We don't settle anymore for a single soundtrack or a single artiste. It's all about download: put it in the ipod, listen and erase. We have stopped valuing and preserving music. As a kid, I would never let anyone borrow my cassettes. Today, it’s all about 60 GB or 80 GB storage space. Still, the question is – are we really using that space for quality music? Or are we just flipping around with too much flippant stuff? Who would you say has the greatest voice in the world? That's like asking which is more beautiful, a rose or a lotus. And who would qualify as the greatest music director? Five names come to my mind immediately. Madan-Mohan, Naushad saab, Salil Chowdhury, SD Burman and Panchamda.

Rajeev Masand: The most obvious question first: Where did the dreadlocks go?

A R Rahman: I went for Haj, so I had to get them off. Or you can say, to washed my sins, I got my hair chopped off.

Rajeev Masand:That was your most marked characteristic. Do you miss them?

A R Rahman: I know, but my wife likes me better now.

Rajeev Masand:Rang De Basanti, your most recent work, is a film which really marked a milestone. Isn’t it? Apart from the fact that it has great music and it’s a great album, it is one of those rare soundtracks where the theme is blended perfectly with the music. Your earlier work Bombay and Taal were also examples of that. Do you agree?

A R Rahman: Yes, I think so. The process with Rang De Basanti started when Rakeysh (Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, the film’s director) told me the story, which had freedom fighters in it. I was working on Legend of Bhagat Singh with Santoshji at that time. So, I said that I would not do another film like this. Of course Rang De Basanti happened four years later.

When I started on this film last year, what we decided to do was not to have anything which is preachy and going to bring people down. We wanted to go abstract and go counter-point, like people and children are dying there and we have a happy soundtrack, which is Ru Ba Ru and going to the light and there is more positivity rather than going along with the film.

In fact, everything is in opposites -- like the song Khalbali, which has the word ‘ziddi (stubborn)’, and it came because of the tune. And then the way after the song was recorded, which Rakeysh used in the film, when Bhagat Singh refuses to take any food and becomes ‘ziddi’. Now that is the stroke of a genius. And that's how things should be done, more interactively, not by having a per se idea and defining it. If you want to break and go on to the next level, you need to take a chance. Sometimes, it works out this way. And in this film, it all worked out, I guess.

Rajeev Masand: One of my favourite songs in Rang De Basanti soundtrack is Lukka Chhupi. I have read a fair bit of criticism about the song, largely perhaps because it is a collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar. I could be wrong, but I guess the reason should have been Lata Mangeshkar. The song is really a mother’s call and a mother’s song.

A R Rahman: See, the song was not designed to be in the film at all. I was doing the film and I was doing Ru Ba Ru and Khalbali and Pathshaala. I felt it was all upbeat and modern. What was the film about? It is about a call of a mother. It is how the characters in the film change. I was actually hearing a song from Born On The Fourth Of July soundtrack and there is a song, which goes this way: ‘Where have you been my blue-eyed son’.

I thought why not do a similar song for the film. It is very abstract, it takes the inner feeling of the film into a soundtrack. So I was telling Zaria, and Rakeysh was saying, “Mmm... OK.” And Prasoon, of course, said it won’t work. We then came up with Lukka Chhupi. I said why don't we have an answer for the mother who calls. And in a way, I was trying to do a duet with Lata Mangeshkar, which I had wanted to do for a long time, because whenever I had approached, it never happened. The plan got cancelled for almost six times, until it finally happened.

So, in which scene will this song fit in is the next question, right? When we tried to spot the scenes, it fitted exactly with Waheedaji and the death. But then the reverberation of the song is within the film and outside the film also. So, I feel doing a song is taking me from the cliché' of situation which films have. And working outside it and then fitting it in. So all these things fitted in.

Rajeev Masand: You have just signed up as world ambassador for World Space. This is not the first time that you have endorsed a brand. How long does it take or how do you decide as to what is it that you want to get attached to and don't ?

A R Rahman: I probably was the first one to get the radio of World Space. I just wanted to check it out first. I was really impressed with the variety and the manner World Space had put up their advertisements. I did not know that here was a policy of not having any hassle in it, which is brilliant. I remember 20 years back, I used to go all the way to Bangalore to pick up my favourite music, and here we have everything on the touch-move-button --jazz, classical, pop. So when they ask me, I said: "Yes, let's do it!"

Rajeev Masand:You were in Toronto recently for the opening of the Lord Of The Rings musical. Tell me, was that a daunting task, for doing a score for that? Especially, because the comparisons between the musical and Lord Of The Rings film series were almost inevitable and especially because those films have gone on to become cult films.

A R Rahman: I think people very well know what is possible on stage and what is not. In films, you can add a lot of special effects and get away with. But to do something like this on stage is an incredible task. We have to give it to them the way they produce it and direct it and how they have put up this whole thing. It was a big gamble and they have succeeded in it. And being a part of it is a nice feeling.

Rajeev Masand: You have composed music for a musical before, including Bombay Dreams. Was Bombay Dreams perhaps a little easier, especially because you were familiar with the milieu. It was a story of a boy who wants to become an actor in Bollywood?

A R Rahman: One more thing is Bombay Dreams is a musical, which was written around the music of life. So we already knew that Ayesha was going to be in it. Taal's music was going to be in it. The music was written around it. But here it was vice-versa, we have script and the successful movies and they said do not derive inspiration from the movies. No music should come out of the movie, but it should be original from the book. So this is more difficult, this is really difficult. And I worked with Bartana, who is from Finland. Ultimately, when the music was put together, you could only see the scene and the episode there and get excited rather than trying to research which music is whose and cannot find that out.

Rajeev Masand: Your music is quite a rage among Chinese filmmakers. Your score in Warriors of Heaven and Earth became immensely popular. You have apparently been getting lots of offers from Chinese filmmakers. Is that true?

A R Rahman: Yes, there were a couple of offers which came in, but then I was busy on this side.

Rajeev Masand: Is it difficult doing a Chinese score? What's the challenge there?

A R Rahman: The challenge for me was not just doing a Chinese film. It was about the Silk Route, the Turkish and the Russian influence, and all those stuff. Working of the film was really good. For the first time, I got to work with the Prague Orchestra and the orchestral experience was really something.

Rajeev Masand:Which you used again in Mangal Pandey…

A R Rahman: Yes.

Rajeev Masand:If I ask you to pick your most under-rated film score out of 1947 Earth, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Bose... which one do you think had the most under-rated score which could have perhaps done well, but didn’t ?

A R Rahman: I want every film score I do to do well. But some don’t, because there are a lot of actors involved. Yet, it adds to the repertoire because someday people might listen to it in a different frame of mind. Like when I did Mani Ratnam's Iruvar, I literally had a person asking me why did I do a score which looked so old-fashioned. He didn’t know that it was a period film. There are so many elements and when people come to know about them, then after a year they buy the same music.

Rajeev Masand: You are dodging the question. Which is that one score that you were disappointed with, perhaps because of its failure?

A R Rahman: Yes, sometimes you get disappointed, but then its not just you, it’s the entire team that gets disappointed because it did not succeed. Bose, I know that most people wouldn’t have listened to it at all. Most people won’t be having a cassette or a CD of it. I hope it gets released soon as I have heard it was finally getting released some time (soon). I hope that gets done.

Rajeev Masand: Have you ever been embarrassed by the way a song has been filmed?

A R Rahman: Yes, a lot of times. But, I guess the people are intelligent enough now to know all that, what is personal and what is not, and what is done for the movie.

Rajeev Masand: You won’t take any names?

A R Rahman: No.

Rajeev Masand: We know that Mani Ratnam has been an influence and a mentor. While you were doing ad films, he offered you Roja and most of your best work has been with him. Tell us as to what kind of relationship do you share with him. Is it something apart from just the director-composer relationship? Are you two friends? Do you hang out outside the studio?

A R Rahman: We don’t hang out much (laughs). What is really a relationship? A relationship means the first good experiences, like first love and you always remember that. He picked up the best out of my work and said, “This is you.” He was the first one who gave me a good work. For us, it’s been a challenge to cross each thing from Bombay to Iruvar. Whenever we sit, we don’t talk about old things, rather we try sharing a new frequency to create the same magic again.

Rajeev Masand: Your score for Roja was ranked by the Time magazine as one of the 10 best scores in the world. How do you look back at it now, since so many years have passed since Roja? Is that flattering?

A R Rahman: Yes, it’s quite flattering. It’s a small world, isn’t it? You see Inside Man using Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan, Lord of War using Bombay theme.

Rajeev Masand:Do you think Roja is your best work?

A R Rahman: It’s probably my first good work. Like I said about Mani Ratnam, who gave me my first good work. It brings back all those memories. It gave me the urge to go further and maintain quality work, crossing over to the North Indian audience with the film, lyrics which were never imagined before.

Rajeev Masand:Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan is one song that you've always been remembered for. People continue to love this one song. It was used in Bombay Dreams, in Hollywood films, Spike Lee’s Inside Man… Do you ever feel like telling people to get over with it and look at your new work? Do you ever feel that it is a like a double-edged sword?

A R Rahman: It was very strange how Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan was done. I wanted a Punjabi singer for Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan, while I had Nusrat’s voice in my head. I asked my friend Brijbhushan in Bombay if he knew anybody like that. He suggested me three names. Finally he said ‘Mr Singh’ will be coming in.

I had expected somebody with a turban . That's when Sukhwinder Singh landed in Chennai. He was working on Govind Nihlani's Thakshak and I asked him if he knew any Sufi lyrics because his voice has that Sufi touch. He said, “Yes, I know this.” We went to a room and then did Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan. It was lying there for one year. I wanted to use it for my album Vande Mataram, but it didn’t fit in. Then Mani asked me if I had a tune for his next film. I said something is ready and he immediately liked it. Then Gulzar sahib wrote the lyrics. It was first Thaiyan Thaiyan and then it was changed to Chhaiyyan Chhaiyyan. At that time, I realised that it had the potential. The intention of doing this song was not to make it into a film song. It had that Sufi aspect.

Rajeev Masand: Gulzar sahib once said, “A R Rahman’s greatest achievement is that he didn’t mess around with my lyrics.” Is that something you like to elaborate on?

A R Rahman: Yes, I do. And where is the need to mess around with the lyrics when somebody writes them so perfectly?

Rajeev Masand:You have often confessed that you are not so familiar with Hindi.

A R Rahman: (Laughs) Yes, I can’t talk but my vocabulary is better than what it used to be. I have been learning Urdu. I can’t talk but I can read now and I can understand most of the vocabulary. The thing about words, certain words give you a sound and meaning, if you get the right kind of balance, the song becomes a hit and everybody takes pride in it.

Rajeev Masand:So many actors, especially in Hindi films, have been singing their own songs and you have said that it is good for actors to know how to sing so that they can act as if they are singing themselves.

A R Rahman: Yes, like in the West, actors never practise to use someone else's voice. Nicole Kidman used her own voice in Moulin Rouge. I think that should happen in India too. It will be good if actors learn music because it will make our industry more credible. It will be good if these things could happen simultaneously.

Rajeev Masand: Let me put you in a tough situation. What do you think of Aamir, Shah Rukh or Amitabh, who've been singing their own songs? What do you think of them as singers?

A R Rahman: I think they are intelligent enough to choose songs, which go along their own voice. You can’t expect classical songs being sung by kind of actors like Shah Rukh. They don’t want to torture people like that.

Rajeev Masand:You said some of your songs were composed in two days while some of them took up to 45 days. How do you know when a song is ready?

A R Rahman: It’s based on one's instinct. Sometimes, when you overwork on something you go back and sometimes abruptness is the best.

Rajeev Masand: Over the years, you've sung many songs yourself. Like, Ye jo des hai mera, in Swades, Chale Chalo from Lagaan, or Ru Ba Ru from Rang De Basanti. How do you know when a song requires your own voice?

A R Rahman: Sometimes I've worked from the scratch using my own voice. Like in Dil Se, Mani said why don’t you sing it in your own voice. Or when I did Ye Jo Des…Ashutosh Gowarikar suggested that I should be singing this song. Initially, I was supposed to sing Ek Taara but it didn’t match Shah Rukh's voice.

Rajeev Masand: Has it ever happened that you recorded a song in your voice and the director told you that someone could have sung this better? Sukhwinder Singh or Shankar Mahadevan? Has it ever happened to you?

A R Rahman: I would be the first one to suggest such a thing (laughs). The last thing I want to do is put my voice in a song. There are so many lovely singers out there and I would love to get their contribution in my music.

Rajeev Masand:You daughters are learning music as well. In fact, they are on the soundtrack of Mangal Pandey...

A R Rahman: They are getting trained, but they have not been singing so much. It’s just to give them a choice that they can take up music if they want to.

Rajeev Masand:So in many ways, it’s like a legacy you want to give them.

A R Rahman: Yes. That’s true.

Rajeev Masand: Talking about Mangal Pandey, apparently you've still not been paid entirely for your work in the film. Does that upset you since the actor and the producer of the film have gone on record saying that the movie was highly successful. Not only did they recover the entire investment in the first week, but that they made a lot of money.

A R Rahman: That’s a very delicate question. Mr Bedi came the day an article on it was published. He promised me that everything will be settled sometime in July. I didn’t want to go the legal way. He is a nice man and I trust his word. Besides, everybody has been watching everything. All these things were not intentional I guess.

Rajeev Masand: Please tell us what do you like to do when you are not working? What kind of a husband are you? What kind of a father are you?

A R Rahman: Good question (laughs). I think you should be asking this to my wife and children. My mother, my kids are very supportive of me. They always know what I'm going through. I also try to play my role as best as I can within the limitations of my schedule.

Rajeev Masand: Let’s hope you have lots of time for them. Let’s also hope we can see lots of interesting work from you in India and outside it. Thank you very much.