AR Rahman has revealed how he didn’t make full use of his opportunities after winning two Oscars.
AR Rahman made history when he became the first Indian composer to win two Oscars simultaneously for his composition in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. In a new interview, Rahman said that at the time, he got several opportunities from the West but he didn’t make full use of all of them as he was in his “chill out” mode. After Slumdog, Rahman did a fair amount of work in Hollywood but eventually, he started focusing on Indian films again.
In a conversation with Bollywood Bubble, Rahman said that with the concert culture growing across the world, especially in India, people are starting to “accept music as music”. He added that if Indian artistes can reach out to non-Indian audiences with their music, it will be a huge boost for them.
He said, “If we can reach out to an audience that is not just Indian, and I think that is important at this stage where people are willing to invest their time to listen to Indian music, Indian artistes and that happened during ‘Jai Ho’ and the Oscars, but I was more relaxed then.” Rahman said, “I didn’t use all the opportunities. I was like, I have done a lot, I might as well relax.”
He further added, “So, I was mostly in Los Angeles, I was doing Hollywood films and I didn’t use some opportunities that could have pushed the boundaries further.”
AR Rahman won two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for his work in Slumdog Millionaire. He also won a BAFTA, Grammy and Golden Globe for it.
After winning the Oscar, Rahman was felicitated at an event in Tamil Nadu, where he said, “I completed the music for Slumdog Millionaire in three weeks. It had only seventeen keys. For our films, there would be around 130 keys. The agent heard it and said it was really great and I should send it for the Oscars.
After I submitted it… the way people welcomed me after Roja… in the same way, everyone started smiling at me. Many people told me, ‘I love your music.’ And I started thinking, ‘What have I done that they are liking this?'”
AR Rahman revealed he ‘didn’t make full use of all opportunities’ after Oscar win: ‘I thought I had done a lot’
