Overview
- In a BBC Asian Network interview, the Oscar-winning composer said he has lost work in recent years and often hears that music companies replace him with multi-composer lineups.
- He suggested the decline might have a communal undertone but noted he has not experienced direct, overt discrimination.
- Rahman said he does not chase projects, preferring to let work come to him while using the time to be with his family.
- Reflecting on his trajectory, he said he felt like an outsider in Hindi cinema until Taal in 1999 made his music widely familiar in the North.
- He recounted learning Hindi, then Urdu and Punjabi, to better align with Hindi film music after early successes such as Roja, Bombay and Dil Se.. and later hits including Jai Ho.