Apr 15, 2025 09:14 PM IST
AR Rahman defends himself against Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s claims of undermining live instrumentation, stating he employs hundreds of musicians for his projects
Oscar winning musician AR Rahman has reacted to singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s claims that the music composer is responsible for decline of live instrumentation and overuse of technology.
In a recent interview with ANI, Abhijeet slammed Rahman for disrespecting fellow artists and undermining instrument players with his tech-heavy production while composing music. He also blamed Rahman for the recent shift in music industry where everything is done on laptop while artists who play music are left jobless.
(Also read: AR Rahman made Padma awardees wait on bench for hours, says Abhijeet Bhattacharya: ‘Ye ek Padma Bhushan ki izzat hai’)
Rahman’s reply to Abhijeet’s claims
Rahman has now come out in his defense and said that Abhijeet is entitled to his opinion while debunking his claims in an interview with India Today.
“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 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,” he added.
Rahman also explained that computers are used as a tool to design extraordinary harmonies, but he can’t afford to get musicians to play and reject them later. He also said that the producers he worked with can attest to how many musicians he has worked with.
AR Rahman’s latest project
Rahman’s last projects were Vicky Kaushal starrer Chhava in Hindi and Kadhalikka Neramillai in Tamil. He is set to compose for Aamir Khan’s production Lahore 1947, Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life and Aanand L Rai’s Tere Ishq Mein. Rahman will also collaborate with world-renowned musician Hans Zimmer for Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan.
