When ‘successful music director’ spoke ill of AR Rahman’s ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ behind his back: ‘What kind of song is this?’

“Dil Se is the pinnacle of the Mani Ratnam-AR Rahman combination. It’s the wildest album that you can ever imagine… You cannot get an album that is more complete than this,” he said, before launching into a story. He said, “It’s not meant to be controversial, but I’ll tell you why Rahman is who he is. It’s very difficult to understand his music the first time, even musicians, because they tend to straightjacket. I was singing a little bit in Bollywood when Dil Se was released, and were going crazy for ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’. I was with one music director, I don’t want to mention his name. He told me, ‘Arey Srinivas bhai, yeh gaana kya hai. Samajh mein nahi aa raha yeh Rahman ne kya gaana banaya (What kind of song is this, I don’t understand what Rahman has done).’ This man is a great musician who I respect. He said this, a successful music director.”

Srinivas said that Rahman’s music needs to be heard without ‘prejudice’ and with an ‘open’ mind. He continued, “I’ll tell you one more thing. At that time, I was a very busy singer. Chennai had big studios those days. During the tea breaks, these great musicians who I respect till today, these people would say, ‘What has he made? What is this song?’ And I used to think they’re great songs, but the working musicians at that time would not understand. But if you go to their homes, their children would be playing those Rahman songs.”

Srinivas said that he might be sounding like an ‘AR Rahman fanboy’, but he’s actually just a lover of good music. Srinivas has sung Tamil and Telugu versions of several hit Rahman songs, from films such as Bombay and Dil Se. Rahman and Mani Ratnam recently collaborated on Ponniyin Selvan: II, which was released in theatres last week.