South cinema is doing well and is rising, says Rahman

ABU DHABI: Suited in blue, the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman was easily one of the show stealers at the IIFA green carpet in the Emirates capital. He stops as soon as we address him in Tamil. “I am happy to be here walking the green carpet at the IIFA,” he says and quickly shies away from the cameras. However, once the cameras go down, the legend is back in his comfort zone.

Rahman, who constantly juggles between Tamil and Hindi cinema strikes a fine balance when asked about the entire pan-Indian debate. “South cinema is rising,” he says. He quickly adds, “ I am glad that south Indian movies are doing well. People need variety and when movies offer that, they accept it whether it is from the north or from the south. Sometimes it gets way too boring to watch the same old stuff repeatedly.”

However, he disagrees that Hindi cinema is losing its charm. “It is just a mass psychology. There is nothing wrong with Hindi cinema, it is just going through a phase,” he adds.

Rahman also talks about losing his colleague and friend singer KK, who passed away in Kolkata last week following a cardiac arrest. “We have lost quite a few people and it pains to lose some great artistes. I remember I had called him to sing for Strawberry Kanne in Minsara Kanavu in the early 90s while he was singing for jingles. He also sung for Ismail Darbar in Tadap Tadap. Six months ago, I had called him to sing for a movie. Unfortunately, he was unwell and couldn’t record. I didn’t know that we wouldn’t work together again,” he tells us. As the composer rushes for the event, we asked him about Ponniyin Selvan. “I am going to talk about it separately,” he concludes.

Are you in Chennai? Then click here to get our newspaper at your doorstep!