Chinmayi defends AR Rahman against claim that he refused to sing Vande Mataram; Meerra compares him to Priyanka Chopra

AR Rahman recently received flak for his statements in an interview and Chinmayi Sripada and Meerra Chopraa came to his defence.

Music composer AR Rahman found himself in the centre of a social media storm after his statements in a recent interview left people offended. Singer Chinmayi Sripada has now defended him against a claim that he refused to sing Vande Mataram when asked to, while Meerra Chopraa compared him to her cousin, Priyanka Chopra.

Chinmayi slammed claims that AR Rahman refused to sing Vande Mataram.

Chinmayi Sripada defends AR Rahman

A journalist took to X (formerly Twitter) and claimed to be ‘incredibly hurt’ by Rahman’s comment. They also claimed to ‘beg’ the music composer for at least half an hour to sing Vande Mataram/Maa Tujhe Salaam at an interview, only to be turned down. However, Chinmayi came to his defence, saying, “A R Rahman and all us sang Vande Mataram to a crowd that chanted with us on November 23 2025 in Pune at the R K Laxman memorial award concert.”

She also added that he sings it at ‘every concert’ and reasoned that he might have turned her down for another reason than what is being implied. “He sings Maa Tujhe Salaam at almost every concert @bainjal - everyone who has attended the concerts knows this. Maybe he felt his voice was not at its best or just didn’t feel like singing that day when you interviewed him. And that’s OK,” wrote the singer.

Chinmayi also called out those jumping to conclusions, writing, “The responses under this tweet ‘OH THAT EXPLAINS IT’ shows exactly what’s gone wrong in the recent past.”

Meerra Chopraa compares AR Rahman to Priyanka Chopra

Meerra, who is starring in the film Gandhi Talks, which has music by Rahman, also came to his defence. “Only two Indians have truly taken India to the global stage in a way the whole world recognizes — @priyankachopra and @arrahman. Trolling him for something he didnt even mean is not just wrong, it’s disgraceful. Respect the legend. He's the one who composed the most iconic #vandemataram,” she wrote, comparing him to her cousin Priyanka.

Rahman recently came under scrutiny for stating in an interview with BBC Asian Network that he has lost work in Hindi in the last eight years due to a ‘power shift’. “It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face,” he said. The composer also stated that Chhaava cashed in on ‘divisiveness’ and stated that it’s ‘cliché and cringe’ that whenever something bad happens, the characters say ‘Subhanallah’ and ‘Alhamdulillah’.