AR Rahman reacts to remix culture, calls it distorted | Exclusive

AR Rahman’s musical catalogue is a national treasure. The Academy Award-winning music composer started his musical journey with filmmaker Mani Ratnam almost 30 years ago with Roja. Now, after three decades, they are back with their next big screen offering, Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1. In an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, Rahman opened up about the remix culture.

AR RAHMAN TALKS ABOUT REMIX TREND

AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam have completed 30 years of collaboration this year. In an exclusive conversation with India Today.in, Rahman spoke about his dislike for the remix culture and trend.

When asked about his thoughts on other composers remixing his tunes, Rahman said, “The more I see, the more it is distorted. The intention of the composer gets distorted. People say, ‘I am reimagining.’ Who are you to re-imagine? I am also very careful of taking someone else’s work. You have to be respectful and I think it is a grey area, we need to sort it out.”

However, how does the musician deal with requests from producer directors on remaking and remixing his own tunes to give them a modern-day touch? Rahman added, “The other day, we had the Telugu music launch and the producers said, every song that you two (Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman) make sounds fresh now because it is all done in digital mastering. It already has that quality and everyone appreciates it. So, if I need to do that, I need to recreate it. Of course, people take permission, but you cannot take something recent and remake it again. It feels weird.”

AR RAHMAN’S PONNIYIN SELVAN

AR Rahman is receiving love from fans for his exceptional work in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan. The album consisting of five songs is a super hit venture. Ponni Nadhi, Devaralan Aatam and Alaikadal are some of the hit songs from the Ponniyin Selvan album. The first part will release in theatres on September 30. The second part of Ponniyin Selvan will release in 2023.

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