Oscar winner AR Rahman never saw any barriers, only possibilities. He spoke to Brut about how he overcame challenges at home and across the world.
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00:00Because if you look at history, there are very few South Indian composers who crossed North India.
00:23I didn't see any barriers for me.
00:27And for me, music is a whole, like the sky. It's not just a piece of, you know.
00:33And even though I'm culturally rooted, but I was open-minded.
00:39And then, even appreciating musicians or singers, there were no barriers in my mind.
00:46If I liked somebody and if I feel instinctively that this is great and they will enhance my song, it was okay.
00:54It didn't have to come from school, even though sometimes there were no road singers.
01:04When you're moving away from certain things, you're done with it.
01:07And you're moving away to find new places in music and art.
01:12There is a following for certain things.
01:17And those followers are very religious in a way.
01:21That is the sound I like. That is what defines me. I'm moving away from that.
01:26And then there's a new set of people.
01:29And they have their own, you know.
01:32So when I look at this stuff, it confuses me.
01:35But then I say, I started with my own instincts and my own likings.
01:40And whatever I liked, I gave people. And that's how it should be.
01:44I try to go into silences. I try to be without anything sometimes. Just meditate.
01:50Because that's when you feel fresh when you come back.
01:53Otherwise, you get a sense of fatigue.
01:56And the fatigue is not good. Fatigue can make you choose the wrong things.
02:06There are so many people teaching out there.
02:09There are so many people teaching out there.
02:11You just have to look at YouTube.
02:13I keep saying that the whole world is now open.
02:17And the greatest things out there.
02:19Even the past. From the past. From the 60s, 50s and 70s.
02:23All those information out there.
02:24And place yourself and see where you stand.
02:27And try to push your individuality.
02:38We are expecting an original voice.
02:52And we want to augment that voice.
02:56And we want to help them facilitate.
02:58And connect them to greater talents in the UK.
03:03And help them reach their potential.
03:07And also, in a way, exchanging our stories, our narratives.
03:12Making it possible to get our narrators to reach an international stage.