I Never Use The Word Bollywood; It’s Great To See ‘Naatu Naatu,’ A Telugu Song, Win Oscars, Says AR Rahman

According to A R Rahman, a musician whose music spans genres and locations, India has a variety of cultures, languages, and film industries, much like the many colors in a rainbow. It is time for the world to recognize this.

Rahman made his music debut with Mani Ratnam’s “Roja” in 1992. He has since worked in the Hindi cinema business, the South, Hollywood, Broadway, and the London stage. The double Oscar winner said the Academy Award for “Naatu Naatu,” a Telugu song from “RRR,” offers a look into the range of talent from India as he prepares to commemorate three decades of music with a series of performances.

“The Hindi film business, often known as Bollywood, is widely believed to be the sole film industry in existence. It’s wonderful to see the Telugu song “Naatu Naatu” win an Oscar. Since Bollywood is an easy and Hollywood-derived term, I never use it. When people use these phrases, I constantly correct them, Rahman said in an interview with PTI.

In 2009, he received two Oscar nominations for “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”: one for best original song and one for best original score. Rahman’s “Slumdog Millionaire” also received a Grammy and a Golden Globe award.

The 56-year-old Rahman said that other cinema industries exist in the nation, including those in Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, and Malayalam.

“It’s crucial for the world to see the incredible abilities there. They can create beautiful things if given money and exposure, and that is how it should be since India is diverse and has many different cultures, like a rainbow, rather than just one.

Rahman is preparing to organize the “Marakuma Nenjam” performance to honor his exceptional career, which is roughly translated from Tamil to mean “will my heart be able to forget this.” In his career, he claimed to have accomplished “something special” that he had always yearned to achieve.

Just a year before to signing on with “Roja,” he claimed to have realized that only writing music for motion pictures would provide the financial reward necessary “so that you can expand your studio”.

But he said, “But I always wanted to do something special and the special thing came, god gave me the thing that I manifested,” giving praise to his “friend and mentor” Ratnam, as well as the directors Shankar, Ram Gopal Varma, and Subhash Ghai.

Having them was a gift, he continued.

 

While he has worked on several films for Ratnam, including the most recent “Ponniyan Selvan” parts one and two, he has also worked on “Enthiran,” “Sivaji: The Boss,” “Rangeela,” and “Taal” for other directors.

 

For “Roja,” he received both a National Award and a Filmfare prize. Working with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Bollywood-themed musical “Bombay Dreams” in England was a “real eye opener” for him, he said.

The musical was shown both on Broadway in New York and the West End in London.

“Webber helped me understand who I am and where I can go. What has happened over the last 20 years is a result of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s eye-opening invitation to make music. Doing ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was the key factor that brought me to Hollywood, he said.

The composer believes that musicians should return to the country’s more than 3,000-year-old ragas and ancient lyrics.

“In my opinion, we may go much farther back to ancient poetry. I’ve seen that some individuals haven’t adopted ragas, our 3,000-year-old literature, resources, or poetry. We enjoyed doing “Ponniyan Selvan” parts one and two, so we did some study and brought back the “Devarattam” or old poetry,” the man stated.

On August 12, “Marakkuma Nenjam” will have its Chennai debut before traveling to other towns and nations.

“I’ve been loved for the last 32 years, but people have always questioned why I play in the United States, London, Singapore, and Malaysia but not in Chennai.

“As of right now, more than 40,000 tickets have been sold. I couldn’t believe it. So, even though Chennai lacks the infrastructure for large concerts, I believe that this is a crucial test for determining what we need here. Thus, this is comparable to a trial run for a large concert, he added.

Additionally, the performance will make its debut in Switzerland, Germany, and Paris, France.