A.R. Rahman unhappy with use of ‘Jai Ho’ in poll campaign

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Music maestro A.R. Rahman, whose compositions in
“Slumdog Millionaire” made him the first Indian to win twin Oscars, is critical
of political parties using for a poll campaign the song “Jai Ho” that he
composed for Danny Boyle’s rags-to-riches drama. “I was like in the bed, I was
dehydrated, exhausted, and then all these things happened, somebody told me
these people are using it. I hate politics. I just want people to serve the
people. I want governments, whichever government comes in, to be unbiased and
say there should be justice in the country and that’s my purpose in life,”
Rahman said in an interview on CNN’s Talk Asia.The interview will be aired on
CNN May 20 and there will repeat telecasts May 21 and May 23.

The Congress had bought exclusive rights to the song
“Jai Ho” for its poll campaign but the jingle was later dropped as the party’s
theme song. In the interview, the shy composer also explains how his accolades
for “Slumdog Millionaire” are also a recognition for India. “I got very
emotional when saying this is for India, when you guys truly deserve it because
there are so many different film industries in India, so many different markets,
Hindi film industry, Tamil film industry, Malayalam, then Bengali, so in a way I
think it culminates all their aspirations and so it’s here,” he said. Before he
shot to stardom with the film “Roja”, Rahman used to create radio jingles.

He has since collaborated with international music
superstars like Michael Jackson and Kylie Minogue. When asked about his next
project post-Oscars, he said: “I have a couple of offers from Hollywood. Pure
American movies which I thought for the heck of it let’s do it and a couple of
other surprises that you’ll know very soon if it works out. Big surprises I
think.”