What Rahman means to India

Like Sachin Tendulkar, he represents the aspirations and energy of a young India. Slumdog's music composer may be less rooted in tradition than his precessors, but he is our first rock star

Many say Rahman's music for Slumdog Millionaire is "noisy but nice". That phrase could come in handy when you look at his oeuvre as a whole, and try to put in perspective what he has come to represent to his fans in India.

When India turned 50, A R Rahman gave Vande Mataram a new, aggressive musical interpretation. A year on, Kargil fund-raisers used the song extensively at their shows. His style won appreciation from the unlikeliest quarters: Swapan Dasgupta, then columnist for India Today, felt the young composer had finally freed the song from "Nehruvian distortions" by setting it to an attacking tune. Another columnist, Tavleen Singh, said Rahman's song was the only cheering item at the 50th year Independence Day celebrations in Delhi.

Rahman's fame seems to come from his ability to repackage Indian music for an audience slowly drifting away from an idiom rooted in its classical and folk music. His work represents the energy of a post-liberalisation generation sceptical about Gandhi and all that his pacifist philosophy represents.

You may have noticed that Rahman's work is strong on rhythm, and his hit tunes are not touched by regret or sadness of any sort. In Vande Mataram, Rahman is not awed by all the beauty Bankim celebrates -- of the streams, the lush greenery or the grand mountains. It does not dwell in romantic subtlety. Rahman sees the song in military terms, and not as a prayer, as All India Radio's interpretation does. AlR has based its tune on Desh (meaning 'country', a raga which must have suggested itself when they set out to make a patriotic tune. But Rahman breaks free of raga ornamentation, and all the nostalgia it brings with it.

For an older generation, Rahman's music may be no patch on what Ilaiyaraja or the great Hindi film music composers have accomplished, but remember, not one of them had got the world so excited. Rahman is India's first rock-star music composer!

s.ramakrishna@mid-day.com