Exploring AR Rahman on a personal, intimate level

It’s a dream for any budding writer to pen a book on Mozart of Madras. Undoubtedly, lady luck smiled on this 25-year-old city-based author Krishna Trilok to write the authorised biography of AR Rahman. The book titled Notes of a Dream was released recently and Krishna couldn’t contain his happiness. In a chat with DTNext, the youngster opens up about the book. 

“Rahman sir has always been about change. It could be changing something about him or what he’s doing or how he is doing it. Or it could be changing the world around him in some way. He’s been doing it through his music for a long time now. But now he is directing the virtual reality film Le Musk. This interested me; I wondered why someone who’s primarily been a musical personality for so many years is suddenly moving into something totally new, where he is a beginner again. The idea was to create a book that would explore Rahman sir’s transformation, his becoming a filmmaker, by comparing it to his previous transformations. The inspiration was to capture this spirit of transformation in his life and work and understand his personality,” says Krishna.

The book touches on every aspect of Rahman’s life, both professional and personal. “We have inputs from his wife, sisters, friends from his days as a jingles composer, directors such as Mani Ratnam and Imtiaz Ali, and from members of his staff, about his style of working and his professional persona. We also explored who Rahman sir is on a more personal and intimate level. His thought processes and views on various subjects, including spirituality, success, giving back to the world, work and dealing with hardship.” The book also shares information about his childhood and the days before Roja as well.

His music has defined the lives of millions of people around the world and it’s a huge responsibility to tell his story. Krishna knew he had to do justice both to all the people who love him and his work as well as to the man himself. “It was a big responsibility, but Rahman sir trusted me and gave me this task — and that was a great encouragement. I love his music as much as anyone else, but the more I understood him as a person, the more my respect and admiration for him grew. His goodness and capacity to choose love over hate all the time were eye-opening. I saw how hard he worked, how passionate he was about anything he chose to make a part of his life. After a point, it became less about writing his story and more about going on a journey of growth with him. In trying to write a book about his transformation, I got transformed.”

Krishna never asked ARR questions in the interview style — they just talked about various things and that’s how Notes of a Dream happened. “I was 23 years old when I started writing this. But never once did Rahman sir treat me as a youngster. He had high standards that he expected from me, in terms of the book’s content. We had intense review meetings — sometimes at odd hours. As with everyone he works with, he didn’t cut me any slack. That said, there were lighter moments which were really fun. We’d have conversations about all sorts of things. He would keep cracking jokes (he has a great sense of humour and is very witty). I personally see him as the kind of wise, warm guru who one reveres automatically.”

The author assures that ARR fans will get a look into his life, thoughts and ideas as never before. It can be an inspirational or self-help book for those who are looking at it that way.