Recently, a remake of Falguni Pathak’s melodious song “ Maine Paayal Hai Chankai” was released. People were not happy with the remake as they felt the remake stands nowhere close to the original one and is pathetic. Sung by Neha Kakkar, the song received a lot of backlash. Falguni Pathak herself was not happy with the remake of her song. She expressed her disappointment saying she wants to take legal action, but she can’t because the rights are not with her. the controversy was initiated with a lot of prominent singers reacting to it. Now, living legend AR Rahman is the latest musician to express his displeasure with the remix culture. Many iconic songs have been recreated in the past few years which proved to be nothing but a disappointment.
Recently, AR Rahman said he is not fond of the remix culture and is himself very careful about using someone else’s work.
Upcoming songs composed by Mr. Rahman will be heard in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan Part 1, marking his reunion with the filmmaker after 30 years. AR Rahman revealed that he and Mani Ratnam have received compliments for the freshness of their songs.
When asked about his opinion on other musicians remixing his tunes, Rahman told,
“The more I see, the more it is distorted. The intention of the composer gets distorted. People say, ‘I am reimagining.’ Who are you to re-imagine? I am also very careful about taking someone else’s work. You have to be respectful and I think it is a grey area, we need to sort it out.”
He was also asked how he deals with requests from producers and directors to remix his tunes and modify them with latest trending music. He replied,
“The other day, we had the Telugu music launch and the producers said, every song that you two (Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman) make sounds fresh now because it is all done in digital mastering. It already has that quality and everyone appreciates it. So, if I need to do that, I need to recreate it. Of course, people take permission, but you cannot take something recently and remake it again. It feels weird.”
Rahman’s upcoming album consists of five songs, including Ponni Nadhi, Devaralan Aatam, and Alaikadal. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on September 30. The second part will come out in 2023.
