No one can be the next anybody: AR Rahman

He's been feted by the Berklee College of Music, which, apart from conferring a doctorate on him, has now also announced a scholarship in the name of AR Rahman. He's busy with many Kollywood and Bollywood projects, which he juggles smoothly along with his Hollywood commitments.

But none of this has changed ARR's demeanour the least bit, for he is still the calm, composed, quiet person he always was, as Chennai Times discovered when he spoke to us about why his students are his biggest award, his inspiration behind writing the lyrics of Mental Manadhil from O Kadhal Kanmani, his nervousness about working with Majid Majidi, and more.

Excerpts:
How do you feel about getting a doctorate from such a prestigious college?

I always wanted to go to college. In fact, back in 1992, I was contemplating on attending Berklee, when the call from Mani Ratnam came. I chose films and here I am. I never went to college and now, I have my own college (laughs). I missed college a lot, but now, a lot of things are filling up that void.
This doctorate is one of those things. However, my role is much greater now, my responsibilities have grown and commitment is greater. Part of which is the Sunshine Orchestra...

These students are all from underprivileged backgrounds. We scout the corporation schools in the city to identify talent and then give them free music education. What we want to do is create India's own symphony orchestra which can perform all over the world. This is our vision and we are training them for that.
So, if one wants to be the next Rahman...
(Interrupts) That is a wrong perception. No one can be the next anybody. They can only surpass someone's path and find their own direction.

How does a college teaching music help the creative person or the creative process?

The most important thing about art is that despite having all the complex ideas, complex formulas, one can make things seem simple. That is the beauty of art - whether it is painting or music or composition or even a phone, it is all about simplicity. That is what gives you peace. It's like how it is explained in The Alchemist. You need to take a journey around the world to find out what is within you. This is that kind of journey.

Mental Manadhil is a popular number... it is a romantic song, and yet comes from someone as spiritual as you...

(Laughs). When you are a professional, both your spiritual and romantic sides play an important role. When you are in work mode, a switch gets turned on and suddenly, when you least expect it, you hit upon something interesting. When we got talking about Mani Ratnam and I writing Mental Manadhil, both of us wanted an interesting coinage for the song. So, during our jamming sessions - I was saying 'Laka Laka' to rhyme with 'Mana Mana... Manadhil...' Mani said 'mental'. So we coined 'mental' and 'manadhil' together and that is how the song came about.

You've scripted a film, too. Its status?

I have been tweaking the script for the last four years, making sure the characterisation is right. It took me a long time to find the right team. Getting the right director itself took me about three to four years. We finally zeroed in on a director called Vishwesh, who is from Mumbai. So, work will start soon.

Tell us about your experience working with Majid Majidi on his upcoming Iranian film...

It was a great experience. The standards were very high and I was extremely nervous. The only thought in my mind then was 'What if I get fired?'. I was going into a completely different aspect of cinema and even though music is universal and does not have any language, the way we apply it matters a lot. But in the end, Majid was happy with the music. So much so that he hugged me and congratulated me. That was a very moving experience.

What next?

This! (he looks around the college) My future is my students and that is my biggest award.