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‘Truth about today’s India’: Mehbooba backs AR Rahman's ‘communalism’ remark after Javed Akhtar reacts
Music composer AR Rahman kicked up a row after he said it could be a ‘communal thing’ that he has been getting lesser work over the last few years.
Music maestro AR Rahman's remarks about growing “communalism” in the country, and how he thinks it affected his work, have stirred an intense debate, with politicians and movie industry professionals also weighing in.
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Latest in this is a reaction from a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti. She responded to lyricist Javed Akhtar, who reportedly dismissed Rahman's remarks and hinted he might have been misinterpreted.
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“When Javed Akhtar dismisses A.R. Rahman’s concerns about the growing communalisation of Bollywood he contradicts lived & shared realities of Indian Muslims including those of his own wife Shabana Azmi, who has openly spoken about being denied housing for being Muslim in a cosmopolitan city like Bombay. Bollywood has always been a living mini India mirroring the country’s social realities. Brushing aside such experiences does not change the truth about today’s India (sic),” Mehbooba said in a post on X.
What Javed Akhtar said
AR Rahman, a noted music composer whose melodies have ornamented Indian movies for decades now, said in a recent interview with the BBC Asian Network that he has been getting lesser work due to a power shift within the Hindi film industry in last few years and said it could also be due to the "communal thing".
"I'm not in search of work. I want work to come to me; the sincerity of my work to earn things. I feel it's a jinx when I go on in search of things... People who are not creative have the power now to decide things and this might have been a communal thing also but not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that ‘they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers’. I said, 'Oh that's great, rest for me, I can chill out with my family," he said in the interview.
Responding to his remarks, lyricist Akhtar dismissed Rahman's apprehensions and said that fewer people might be approaching him because of his tall stature in the industry.
"I don't agree with that, and I also doubt that he would ever say something like this. Rahman is a great composer, and a lot of people respect him. But they are scared to reach him because he is so big. They are scared to talk to him and handle him. It's a wrong assumption, though. It is out of awe and fear of him that people keep away... that humare bas ka nahi hai, yeh toh bohot bada aadmi hai ('we won't be able to handle him; he is a big shot')," Akhtar was quoted as saying by India Today.
Rahman, who composed the music for Vickey Kaushal-starrer Chhaava, one of the biggest box office successes of 2025, said the film was divisive and capitalised on that sentiment.
AR Rahman responds amid row
As the row rages over his remarks, Rahman broke his silence on Sunday and reiterated his love for India in a video message shared on his Instagram handle. He said it was never his aim to cause pain with his statements, and he has always strived to serve the country through music. Rahman ended the video with footage of his song Maa Tujhe Salaam/Vande Mataram being played during a cricket match.
“India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood. But my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain, and I hope my sincerity is felt,” he said in the video.
Rahman's ‘communalism thing’ remark kicked up a row, drawing strong reactions from Bollywood stars such as actor-politician Kangana Ranaut, who lashed out at Rahman and said that she has not anyone as “prejudiced and hateful” than him in her life.
Taking to her Instagram handle, Ranaut claimed that Rahman refused to meet her or work on the music for her directorial film, Emergency, because he allegedly considered it a "propaganda film."
"Dear AR Rahman, I face so much prejudice and partiality in the film industry because I support a saffron party, yet I must say I have not come across a man more prejudiced and hateful than you. I desperately wanted to narrate my directorial Emergency to you, forget narration, you even refused to meet me. I was told you don't want to be a part of a propaganda film," Ranaut wrote.
