Composer Rahman has no regrets about Slumdog

The Oscar nominee thinks that the film was a great way of showing the past reality and the growing economy of India, nullifying all criticism of negativity.

Oscar nominee A.R. Rahman has a polite suggestion for those in Bollywood who complain that the hit film

HT Image

Slumdog Millionaire

casts India in a negative light with its depiction of poverty in Mumbai's slums: don't just criticize it but make your own film.

"In my opinion if creative people want to comment on a film, and if I were a director and felt that way, I would make another film and prove my point and say this is what India is about," Rahman told The Associated Press in an interview from Los Angeles before returning home to work on film scores before participating in the Feb. 22 Oscars awards show.

As for

Slumdog Millionaire

the noted Indian film music composer believes it is "a great statement of showing in a way the past reality and the growth of the economy in India, which all comes across beautifully."

The 43-year-old Rahman has been hailed in India for his three Oscar nominations for

Slumdog Millionaire

- for best original score and the songs

O ... Saya

and

Jai Ho

. But the rags-to-riches saga of a Mumbai orphan who competes on India's

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

quiz show received a controversial reception in India.

Rahman refused to comment on a defamation lawsuit filed against him and actor Anil Kapoor, who plays the quizmaster in the film, by a Mumbai slum-dwellers' rights group alleging its members found the term

Slumdog

insulting.

But he said he had no qualms about working on the film with British director Danny Boyle and his crew, whom he described as "very sensitive people."

"When you came out of the film ... that felt so good and positive that nothing else mattered to me," said Rahman. "I loved working with Danny and I loved his whole vision of the screenplay and the artistic quality of the film.

"And for me it's not about India alone, it's about the human spirit which triumphs, and this could have happened in China or Brazil or anywhere else."

Rahman says the film is consistent with his humanitarian goals. An honorary U.N. ambassador, he set up the A.R. Rahman Foundation to support educational programs for underprivileged children across India, supporting in his own way the U.N. millennium goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2015. He has also founded a conservatory in his home city of Chennai to prepare youngsters for careers in music by offering training in both the Western and Indian classical music traditions.