AR Rahman was worried scenes in Lal Salaam will be ‘cringy, preachy’ but was surprised: ‘It’s Rajinikanth’s wisdom’

AR Rahman‘s short and powerful speech from the Lal Salaam audio launch has gone viral on social media as the famed musician was at his candid best while talking about the film and his initial inhibitions in accepting it. Rahman was initially skeptical about the film and worried Lal Salaam would be didactic and preachy. However, contrary to his reservations, the film surprised him, and the same scenes that worried him turned out to be heartwarming moments for the composer.

“When Aishwarya first told me the story of the film… I thought ‘This film is going to be boring da’. I thought it would be preachy. Until I saw the film… The scenes that I thought would be cringy and preachy were handled very thoughtfully and were heartwarming. I then asked her who wrote dialogues for the movie, and she said, ‘I wrote and Appa changed a bit.’ I realised it was his wisdom. Because he respects everything, he has researched well and has said many rare things,” he said.

Talking about Aishwarya Rajinikanth, Rahman said, “Daughter of the superstar. It is very very difficult to be his daughter. I understand what you are going through. Whatever you do, you face criticism. You get criticised for dancing, making films, wearing certain clothes… despite all that you have proved yourself.”

Story continues below this ad

AR Rahman has been a frequent collaborator of Rajinikanth. However, after 2.0 (2018), the two haven’t joined hands. With Lal Salaam, they have broken the streak.

Directed by Aishwarya Rajinikanth, the film stars Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth, Dhanya Balakrishnan, Vivek Prasanna, and KS Ravi Kumar among others. The film will be out on February 9.