Why The BAFTA Is So Special For A R Rahman

By Subhash K Jha, In some ways BAFTA was more special than any of the other Slumdog awards so far.

It also has to do with the sudden coming-of-age of Indian music.
Says Rahman, "For 18 years I've been hearing it will happen now, it will happen now. It didn't happen with some of my earlier efforts like the staged musical Bombay Dreams. Finally Indian music has gone international. And frankly, the expectations scare me."
On Tuesday Rahman returned from London to Chennai for just a day before heading to Los Angeles for the Oscars.

Says Rahman, "Danny, Dev Patel and the crew are all Britishers. To be honoured back home is another high altogether. For me also, London is like a second home. I've been coming here since 1996. It's my favourite city outside India. And to be getting the BAFTA is special."

Rahman thinks the popularity of his Slumdog score has a lot to do with the fate of the overall product. "It's the entire product that audiences have liked , and my music is part of that product. My song Jai ho has touched a chord because of the way it has been used. It comes at the end as a cathartic eruption of song song dance and happiness. That's the spirit in which people have received my music."

Rahman looks back on his life after Slumdog with some amazement. "It's been like a rollercoaster ride for one and a half months. The Oscar will be the culmination of the whirlwind of activities. Are people back home looking at me with expectations? I hope I don't let them down. I feel God has already given me much more than I ever expected."

--- SAMPURN

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