A.R. Rahman says Hindi film industry has changed over past eight years: ‘It could be a communal thing’

Famous music composer AR Rahman says there is less work coming their way, which he attributes to the shift in power in the Hindi film industry over the last eight years and perhaps “something social”, though not his own.

The Oscar-winning actor said it sounded like “Chinese whispers” to him BBC Asian Network in an interview.

“I’m not looking for a job. I want the job to come to me; the sincerity of my job is to earn something. When I keep looking for something, I feel like it’s bad luck,” he said.

When asked if he faced any prejudice when he started in the Hindi film industry in the 1990s, Rahman said, “Maybe I didn’t know all this. Maybe God hid all this. But for me, I never felt any of this, but maybe because there was a change of power in the last eight years.”

“Non-creative people now have the power to decide things, and it could also be a social thing, but it’s not because of me. I’m getting whispers that the Chinese are booking you, but the record company went ahead and hired five composers. So I said, ‘Oh, that’s great, rest for me, I can get some rest with my family,'” he added.

The 59-year-old artist said he is the first composer from the South to enter the Hindi film industry and survive.

“This is a completely new culture, there were no other South Indian composers until then. Mr. Ilaiyaraaja had done a few films, but they were not mainstream films. So for me to cross over and have them embrace me was a hugely rewarding experience.”

Rahman believes Subhash Ghai’s 1999 musical hit “Taal” made him a household name in north India, while his music for Mani Ratnam’s classics “Roja” (1992), “Bombay” (1995) and “Dil Se..” (1998) became popular.

“I was still an outsider in these three films, but ‘Taal’ became famous in every home, it’s like it has entered the kitchen of everyone’s home. Even now, it is in the blood of most North Indians because it has a little bit of Punjabi Hindi and mountain music.” He also remembered the advice Ghai had once given him.

“I never spoke Hindi and it was difficult for a Tamil person to learn Hindi because we are so attached to Tamil. But then Subash Ghai said: ‘I love your music but I want you to stay longer. So you should learn Hindi.’

“I said, ‘Okay, let me learn Hindi’. And I will go one step further. I can say that I will learn Odu, the mother of Indian music of the 60s and 70s,” he said.

Rahman said that as an artist, he tries to stay away from films that are “made with bad intentions”.

The interviewer then asked him about his association with a “divisive” film like Vicky Kaushal starrer “Chhaava”.

“He’s divisive. I think he took advantage of his divisiveness, but I think the essence of it is to show courage… I asked the director ‘why do you need me for this?’ I said. “We just need you for this,” he said. I think it was an enjoyable ending.

“But I definitely think people are smarter than that. You think people are going to be influenced by movies? They have something called an inner conscience that knows what the truth is and what manipulation is,” he said.

The film, which follows the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire, who was tortured and killed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, was met with polarizing reactions after its release in February 2025, with many claiming that it distorted history.

However, it performed exceptionally well at the box office and grossed around 700 crores during its theatrical run.