AR Rahman; singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya
| Photo Credit: PTI and K. Murali Kumar/The Hindu
Veteran music composer AR Rahman on Tuesday responded to singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s criticism that he led the industry to heavily rely on technology, leading to a decline in live instrumentation.
In an interview with India Today, Rahman said, “It’s nice to blame me for everything. I still love Abhijeet, and I would send cakes to him. Also, it’s his opinion, and there’s nothing wrong with having one.”
To refute Abhijeet’s claims, the composer went on to elucidate how he recently set up an orchestra with 60 women in Dubai. “They are being employed every month and are being paid insurance, health, and everything. In every movie that I do, be it Chhaava or Ponniyin Selvan, there are close to 200-300 musicians involved, and some songs have more than 100 people working on them. I don’t show off or post photos with them, and thus [no one gets to know about it].”
The composer added that he uses computers as “a tool to design extraordinary harmonies,” and that he cannot afford to get musicians to play those tunes and reject them later. “All the rejections need to be in the soft part, and all finals are always recorded live. One can go to any producers I have worked with to check on how many musicians we get,” the ‘Jai Ho’ singer added with a smile,” he added.
For the unversed, singer Abhijeet, in an interview with ANI, had slammed Rahman, stating the composer was the one who encouraged the industry to stop using live musicians.
“Baaki jo filmon mein musicians bajate the, woh ab berozgar hain — mostly thanks to Mr. Rahman. Unhone sabko bataya ki koi zarurat nahin musician ki… sab kuch laptop par ho sakta hai. (The musicians who used to play in films are now without jobs — mostly because of Rahman. He told everyone that musicians are not needed… everything can be done on a laptop.),” Abhijeet had said.
Meanwhile, Rahman recently announced the dates of his ‘The Wonderment Tour,’ which will see him perform in 16 areas all over North America this summer. The tour is set to kickstart on July 18 in Vancouver and conclude on August 18 in Boston.
Published – April 16, 2025 11:41 am IST
