‘Communal reason for not getting work?’ Remark by AR Rahman sparks outcry

Composer A R Rahman’s claims that he possibly faced instances of “communal” discrimination in the last eight years in Bollywood caused an outcry on Saturday. During an interview with BBC Asian Network, Rahman was asked, “…today there’s a lot of discrimination against the Tamil community within Bollywood. What was it like in the 1990s. Did you ever face…”Before the question was completed, Rahman answered, “Maybe I didn’t get to know all this stuff. Maybe God concealed all this stuff (laughed). I never felt all those…” before he went on to say, “Past eight years, maybe, because the power shift has happened… people who are not creative have the power now to decide things. And this might have been a communal thing also, but not in my face. But I would hear like Chinese whispers that this happened. And they booked you and the music company went and funded the movie and got five composers. And I said, ‘Oh, that’s great. Rest for me’.”The answer put out verbatim suggested there was a possible communal angle to some producers preferring other musicians. The interview said “you’re very proud of the soundtrack of ‘Chhaava’ and it is a really good soundtrack, but it is a divisive film.” The composer said, “It is… I think it cashed on divisiveness. But I think the core of it is to show bravery.”Interestingly, A R Rahman said that the director insisted on him working for the project. In his words, “The director, I told him like, ‘why do you need me for this?’ He said, ‘We need only you for this’.” ‘Chhaava’, directed by Laxman Utekar, was among biggest hits of 2025.The maestro has won a clutch of National Awards for best music; more recently for ‘Kaatru Veliyidai’ (Tamil, 2017) and ‘Mom’ (Hindi, 2017) and ‘Ponniyin Selvan 1’ (Tamil, 2022).Writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar sought to play down the controversy. Speaking to IANS, Akhtar said, “People in Mumbai have great respect for him. Maybe they think he has got busy with the West (producers). Or they think he is busier with his big shows. Small producers are also scared to approach him. I don’t think there is any communal element.”Bollywood singer Shaan also said there’s unlikely to be any communal angle to the situation. He told IANS, “I have sung so much over the years, yet even I don’t get work at times. But I don’t take it personally, because it is a personal matter; everyone has their own thinking and their own preferences… Rahman saab has a signature style and he is a great composer. His number of fans hasn’t gone down, but are increasing. I don’t think there is any communal or minority angle in music. Music doesn’t work that way.”