AR Rahman Calls Bollywood’s Remix Trend ‘Disastrous and Annoying’!

Global Icon AR Rahman has won several accolades for his work and so far he has been awarded for two Academy Awards, one BAFTA, one Golden Globe, one Grammy, and six National Awards, among others.

Meanwhile, Bollywood has been on a remake spree of all the iconic songs and films from the past. A number of questions have sparked controversial remarks about the same and many artists have stood against the tradition taking over the industry. 

Now, AR Rahman, also known as the Mozart of Madras spoke about how he has been away from Bollywood for so long. In an interaction with Hindustan times, Rahman said,

I was concentrating on my movie, 99 Songs, which is yet to release and Dil Bechara, which is supposed to come out. I was also doing Tamil movies. My time was divided between my productions, building a studio, and spending time with my kids and nurturing them into musicians. That required a lot of attention and a lot of time. And now, they are almost on track (laughs). You have to play all the roles. I am satisfied with the time I have spent with them.

- AR Rahman

In a career span of over two decades, Rahman is widely known for his unique music in popular movies such as Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Dil Se… (1998), Rang De Basanti (2006), Rockstar (2011). 

However, while the remake trend has gradually gripped the industry, Rahman has shared his concerns about the same. He was also whether he liked any of his songs being remixed. 

The one which I was happy with was The Humma Song (Ok Jaanu; 2017) as it helped the movie. However, after that, I didn’t like any of them. Some of them are really disastrous and very annoying. In fact, I told the company who made the remix, ‘You are forcing me to support this but I hate this one, and people are going to troll me if I support this’. As far as the trend is concerned, it’s over. I think people are realizing that music needs love and finding a song for the movie, rather than taking the fast-food route.

AR Rahman is one of the most respected individuals in the industry who has also worked for Hollywood.

- AR Rahman