'People who are not creative have power to decide things, could be a communal thing': A R Rahman on power shift in Hindi film industry

Noted music composer and singer A R Rahman in an interview gave us a glimpse into how the music industry is actually running. Less work has been coming his way, said Rahman, attributing it to a power shift within the Hindi film industry.

"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," he said.

It comes to him as "Chinese whispers", the Oscar winner said in an interview with BBC Asian Network.

"It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers," he said while adding that it then gives him time to chill out with his family.

The past eight years, he said, have been different "maybe because the power shift has happened."

As an artist, Rahman "tries to avoid movies that are made with bad intentions."

Talking about the movie Chhaava, starring Vicky Kaushal, he said it is a "divisive" movie.

"It is divisive. I think it cashed on the divisiveness of it but I think the core of it is to show the bravery... I told the director, 'why do you need me for this?' He said we need only you for this. I think it was an enjoyable finish.

"But I definitely think people are smarter than that. Do you think people are going to get influenced by movies? They have something called internal conscience which knows what the truth is and what manipulation is," he said.

Furthermore, the 59-year-old said he was the first composer from the south who went to the Hindi film industry and survived it.

"It's a whole new culture, no other south Indian composer till then. Mr Ilaiyaraaja had done a couple of movies but they were not mainstream movies. So for me to cross and them embracing me was a huge rewarding experience," he said.

Rahman credits Subhash Ghai's 1999 hit Taal for making him a household name in north India. "I was still an outsider with these three films (Roja, Bombay and Dil Se..) but Taal became famous in every household, like it entered the kitchen of everybody's house," he added.