Mumbai
the mecca of Indian films and the entertainment industry, a place where
any and every musician will find a way out to survive and earn enough
to feed him for the day. It would have been so easy for a musician like
Rahman to come down and settle in Mumbai and work for acclaimed
filmmakers post Roja and Bombay. But the man preferred not leaving his
home, his roots to a place where instant fame, recognition and money was
assured.
Of the many ignored facts, Rahman’s major success lies
in working from his home. Home is where your heart, mind, body and soul
is. Rahman being in Chennai at his home, has made him unscathed of the
many negatives associated with being in [Mumbai. Mumbai, a place where
anyone can get carried away by its humongous larger than life, plastic
coated emotional people, and a place where hate daggers fly in public
and in private.
With Rahman opting to work from Chennai, made
only the cream of filmmakers approach him. Or else by now, there would
have been a dozen of Yash Raj, Karan Johar, Sooraj Bharjatiya etc.
films that would have Rahman’s music. Goodness gracious, Rahman saved
himself from the torture of running in and out of the same rat hole that
the Mumbai entertainment industry is.
In Mumbai, musicians spend a lot of time outside
the studio, whereas they should be spending most of their time in the
studio. Example this, a music composer ’scores music’ for a film and
the music is out. He will now go on to spend the next 2/3 months
attending various music parties, launches, 15 day record breaking sales
party, singer being nominated for a sidey-shady award party, press
interviews, television shows, etc… And then that music composer
vanishes into thin air….sample these music composers and try to track
their whereabouts….Anu Malik, Jatin, Lalit, Sameer Sen, Dileep Sen,
Himesh Reshammaiyya..and so on…what have these guys achieved, some of
them are getting work on their previous works goodwill, some are retired
coz of their arbid soundscape, and some are busy acting…Fortunately
Rahman has been far away from all these social PR protocols, located in
one of the serene narrow lanes in Kodambakkam, Chennai. With no
distraction whatsoever, he has all his energies focused on doing quality
work from the comfort of his home.
My father once said “Look at
Rahman, he has not left his home to work on any project. Did he move to
Mumbai after so many Bollywood hits under his belt…” And his words
striked a chord in me, its so true. It means a lot to be based out of
the place where your family is, where your soul is..your home, your
hometown.
4. Let your work speak for itself
Yes,
let your work speak for itself. Many a times, there are instances where
one will be criticised for the way he is, his dressing, his upbringing,
his economic background. One will be made fun off, and will be called
names. One will not get the support he expects to receive from his
seniors and so on….But at the end of all this, if you have a strong will
power you can overcome all these, and prove yourself with your work.
I
had a very bad patch in my life, where I had to leave my dream halfway
through and come back to Pune. I had no clue what I would do here in
Pune, because the music scene here was bad. I got to share my
experiences that I had in Chennai with Rahman, to which he was taken
aback..and he advised, there will be many obstacles that one may have
to overcome to achieve their goals, but it should not stand in the way
and pull you down. He gave an example, where he was being humiliated by
some directors and producers over the kind of music he had scored, and
all this when Rahman was at his peak. He could do nothing about it, and
preferred to remain calm and unmoved. And when his work was released, it
got an outstanding response and was embraced by the masses. This
overwhelming response and success he says was a slap on the face of
those producers and directors. These words gave me the courage to stand
up and face life afresh.
I started off as a brand new piece of
particle on this planet and gathered my resources, knowledge and love
and affection from my parents and sister to reach where I am today. Not
that I have achieved something great in life, but what I have achieved
today is purely because people have appreciated my work. And that’s
helped me move on, and overcome the toughest phases in my life.
5. Be Humble. Be Honest. Be Simple.
With
all the above in place, being humble, simple and honest is all that one
needs to do to ensure a great life. With so much of stardom and
attention after the Golden Globe, he could have so easily attended the
grand premiere of Slumdog Millionaire in Mumbai, however he chose work
over publicity. Oscars nominations were announced on the same day and
Danny Boyle mentioned, “Can you believe AR getting 3 nominations that’s
mind boggling, and that man is there working down south on Delhi 6…truly
what a great musician.”
One instance of his humbleness is when I
started to work with him, I was put on a software that I did not know
to work on. I was told what I was supposed to do by him, but when he
understood that I didn’t know the software, he sat down next to me and
taught me how to work on it, and ensured that I knew exactly what I was
doing, before I could start of the task..and that was a big learning for
me.
Couple of months later one more such instance which I
witnessed was, when there was a new pitching software that he ordered
got delivered. Whilst unwrapping the software pack his excitement
levels rose to that of a kid who would love to unpack the wrapper of his
favourite chocolate. He could have so easily asked one of his
assistants to get hands on the software and teach him the same, but he
chose to learn it by himself. He inserted the software disc and started
reading the manual, to know in and out of the software.
One thing that I learnt from the instances above
is that, he makes it point that before designating a task to anyone
before hand he wants to be sure that he himself knows how to do the
task. He prefers not being an alien to any task assigned to someone by
him. This shows his honesty, humbleness and simplicity. He carries no
weight around him, and that makes him completely approachable and
genuine.His childlike smile can pacify ones fear and anxiety of meeting
him in person. Its like his smile speaks a thousand words. It depicts
the purity of his heart and soul.
Today, Rahman has his inner
circle populated by few people whose skills, and creativity can serve
and benefit him and his music — people who professionally complement
their own skillset and creativity(like, the music arranger, asst. sound
engineers, sound engineers, etc.). He trusts this circle of people, has
faith in them and believes in them and stands by them come whatsoever.
Being A.R.Rahman
Through
his eternal values and simple living he presents us with opportunities
for professional success provided we learn from them, adapt them to our
own situations and implement them appropriately.
- Prashanth Pillai
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