After singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya slammed AR Rahman for overusing technology and not giving chances to traditional musicians when he is composing, the Oscar-winning composer has hit back at his remarks. In a recent interaction, Rahman rubbished Abhijeet’s allegations and insisted that he uses multiple musicians in his music.
In an interview with India Today, Rahman said, “It’s nice to blame me for everything. I still love Abhijeet, and I would send cakes to him. Also, it’s his opinion, and there’s nothing wrong with having one.”
Rahman also shared how he set up an orchestra with 60 women, declining Abhijeet’s claim that he is responsible for the decline of live instrumentation. He said, “I recently set up an orchestra with 60 women in Dubai. They are being employed every month and are being paid insurance, health, and everything. In every movie that I do, be it Chhaava or Ponniyin Selvan, there are close to 200-300 musicians involved, and some songs have more than 100 people working on them. I don’t show off or post photos with them, and thus no one gets to know about it.”
Rahman went on to explain that computers are used to design extraordinary harmonies, which is essential in a competitive market as he can’t ask musicians to play instruments and then reject their symphonies. After giving music in Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava, Rahman is set to showcase his music in Aamir Khan’s production Lahore 1947, Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life, and Aanand L Rai’s Tere Ishq Mein.
For the uninitiated, Abhijeet, in an interaction with ANI, had slammed Rahman and said, “Baaki jo filmon mein musicians bajate the, woh ab berozgar hain — mostly thanks to Mr. Rahman. Unhone sabko bataya ki koi zarurat nahin musician ki… sab kuch laptop par ho sakta hai. (The musicians who used to play in films are now without jobs — mostly because of Rahman. He told everyone that musicians are not needed… everything can be done on a laptop.).”
