Baba Sehgal disses AR Rahman’s song Rukmani Rukmani: ‘Kitne vahiyat lyrics hai’

In a new interview, Baba Sehgal recalled how he was approached for the Hindi version of AR Rahman's song, Rukmani Rukmani.

Singer Baba Sehgal worked with AR Rahman on the Hindi version of Roja’s popular track Rukmani Rukmani. Now, in a new interview, he has revealed that he didn’t like the lyrics of the song at all.

Baba also spoke about why the song turned out to be his only collaboration with AR Rahman.

The song has been composed by AR Rahman for Mani Ratnam’s 1992 film.

Baba Sehgal reveals

During an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Baba Sehgal looked back at the time when he was approached for the Hindi version of the Tamil song during a performance in Chennai.

He shared that there was an assistant director who came and played Rukmani Rukmani’s Tamil version. But he didn’t pay much attention to it and just said ‘yes’ to the song. Baba claimed that Rahman, along with his team, came to his hotel and requested him to help release the song. He mentioned that he helped the team get in touch with some of his friends, who asked him to sing the Hindi version.

He said, “When I saw the Hindi lyrics, I was like, ‘Kitne vahiyat lyrics hai yaar. Kisne likha hai ye?’ (How cheap are these lyrics? Who wrote this?) The problem is, when we listen to songs in another language, they sound fine. But in our own language, we grasp the meaning. I don’t think Rahman or Ratnam knew what those Hindi lyrics meant”.

Baba also spoke about why the song turned out to be his only collaboration with AR Rahman. “It was a forced thing. I was not at all convinced with the lyrics. They were very cheap, I feel. Another lady was called to sing the female lines. Later, I told Swetha Shetty to sing those too, and she nailed it. That was my first and last song with Rahman. Language was a problem. We never met after that,” he shared.

About Baba Sehgal

Baba Sehgal is credited for introducing rap in India with his song Thanda Thanda Pani in 1992. An electrical engineer by training, Baba Sehgal attained stardom in the early 1990s as a rap star. His ascent had much to do with the rise of MTV in those years. Over the years, he released several songs that went on to take their place in the party playlist of people. Later in his career, he also appeared in films. He regularly takes to social media to share varied videos related to songs and music.