India brought home 2 Oscars this year – one for Best Original Song (Naatu Naatu) and 2nd was Best Documentary Short (The Elephant Whisperers).
Recently, AR Rahman’s remark about ‘wrong’ movies going to the Oscars went viral. The comment comes from his interview with fellow music legend L Subramaniam.
Before any feathers get ruffled, an Indian Express report states that this interview was shot on 6th January, way before the Oscar nominations!
AR Rahman talked to L Subramaniam about his music process and how having a home studio helped him technologically adapt and carry on experimenting.
“I came in the transitional period of technological change. It gave me a lot of time to experiment and fail. Nobody knew my failure, they only saw my success because it all happened inside the studio. We kept coming back again and doing it. So, that freedom is what I got because of having a home studio,” the composer said.
‘We all need to get money but beyond that I had passion. I mean the West is doing it, and why can’t we? When we listen to their music, why can’t they listen to our music? I kept asking that and that ‘why’ became better production, better quality, better distribution, and mastering… that still drives me.
Sometimes, I see that our movies go till the Oscar… they don’t get it. Wrong movies are being sent for the Oscars. And I am just like DON’T. We have to be in another person’s shoes. I have to be in Westerner’s shoes to see what’s happening here. I have to be in my shoes to see what they are doing,” Rahman commented.
In 2009, AR Rahman won 2 Oscars for his work in Slumdog Millionaire – Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Jai Ho).