When Angry Mani Ratnam Wanted To Fire AR Rahman For Delaying The Song From Bombay But Ended Up Getting Emotional Over His Song (Picture Credit: Wikimedia)
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AR Rahman is one of the leading music composers in the film industry. He has revolutionized the Indian music industry with his unique sound and innovative approach. He has frequently collaborated with renowned filmmaker Mani Ratnam. Together they have been instrumental in shaping the landscape of Indian cinema.
Their collaboration began in 1992 when Roja was released. The album’s success not only established Rahman as a musical genius but also marked the beginning of a fruitful partnership between the composer and the director. Even though their collaboration has been iconic but there were some hiccups too.
In 1995, Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman once again collaborated on the film Bombay starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala in the lead. It was during this time that the legendary filmmaker wanted to fire the music maestro. Filmmaker Rajiv Menon revealed that the makers were shooting the film, Bombay.
They were all set to film ‘Humma Humma’, but Rahman had not even prepared the song until then. In an interview shared by O2 India, He recalled, “We were shooting, and we had to shoot the Humma Humma sequence, but it wasn’t coming.” After much back and forth, Rahman asked them to come in the evening as they were supposed to shoot it the next day. Rajiv shared, “We go there, and he says I don’t have the tune. So Mani asked, ‘Why did you call us?’ Rahman answered, ‘But I have something else,’ and then he plays the theme music of Bombay.”
Rajiv said that this was an emotional experience for him and Mani Ratnam as both of them had tears in their eyes after listening to the theme music. “Tears started rolling out of my eyes. Mani said, ‘What have you done, Rahman? I have come here to fire you, and you are making me cry with this song. He said, ‘I just got this tune’. So he scored the entire thing for three days, unable to do ‘Humma Humma’, but what he did instead was create the background score for the main theme,” he shared.
Previously Mani Ratnam heaped praises on AR Rahman and his famous music sessions through the night. “Earlier, we would do the sessions till 5.30 in the morning. What comes out at that time sometimes it is so blissful. It is quiet, it’s three in the morning, and he works with his headphones on, so when you are there, you can’t listen to a thing. Finally, he gets up, gives you the headphones and walks out,” said the director.
After Bombay, Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman collaborated on films like Dil Se, Iruvar, and Guru, among many others. They recently collaborated on the Ponniyin Selvan movies.
