When AR Rahman said he composed ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ because of what Prophet said about Islam: ‘Being patriotic is half of it’

“Even in Islam, it says being patriotic to your country is half of it. So, we decided to make this one big song. We started with it, and when Mehboob (Kotwal, lyricist) brought ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam,’ it became a beautiful expression,” Rahman said on veteran actor Farida Jalal’s podcast Yaadein BTown Ki on Shemaroo back in 1997.

“It was a song which was there for nearly 100 years. So, the youth should relate to it without any bias. The whole thing was to bridge this thing. And I think that happened very well, and it reached out to people,” added Rahman. He revealed the idea came from Bharat Bala, his past collaborator on ad campaigns, when they met in Mumbai.

“Bala’s father had told him to do something for the country. So, he said we should do ‘Vande Mataram.’ I said if we plan to do ‘Vande Mataram,’ it should be done to reach out to the youth, from every religion, all around the world, and all the NRIs for them to feel a sense of belonging and feel like they have a home,” recalled Rahman.

AR Rahman’s recent controversy

A couple of weeks ago, Rahman confessed during an interview with BBC Asian Network how less work has been coming to him due to a power shift within the Hindi film industry in recent years and said it could also be due to the “communal thing”. “People who are not creative have the power now to decide things and this might have been a communal thing also but not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers,” he said.

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Addressing the rampant backlash that followed, Rahman put out a video message on his Instagram handle a couple of days later. “India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood. But my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain, and I hope my sincerity is felt,” he said in the video.