Author Kamini Mathai, who spent months researching a biography of AR Rahman, has interesting tales to share.
She’s always wanted to write a book, act in a movie and do her PhD. The movie and PhD may take a while to happen but she has fulfilled her writing ambition. We’re talking about Kamini Mathai, journalist and author of the book AR Rahman: The Musical Storm.
Speaking at a book reading in the city organised by Reliance
Time-Out and Penguin India, Mathai confesses she was never a die-hard fan of AR Rahman. “I did, of course, like him just as much anyone else. But before this book, I knew as much about him as any average music lover,” she said. So, why was he chosen as the subject? “Penguin approached many people to write a book on Rahman. I was one of them. They liked my proposal of starting the book with his present, then delving into the past and coming back to the present. So, that’s how I bagged the book,” she said, adding, “I don’t think I could’ve chosen a better subject if it was left to me”.
The first-time author says she’s excited because it’s her first book, but apprehensive because it’s about the world famous Rahman. “Rahman is someone who keeps doing something every minute. That’s why the most difficult part was to find a good ending to the book. Where do I end it? I asked myself several times. Fortunately, he won the Oscars and gave it an apt one,” she exclaimed.
“The book speaks a lot about Rahman’s past. One can always Google him, yes, but, researching Dileep Kumar (as he was known before he converted to Islam and changed his name), posed a problem,” she said. To get past that obstacle: “I read each and every interview of his, listened to all his songs. Read anything that was written about him anywhere. I also spoke to anyone he had mentioned in any interview he’d given. And I verified everything before I put it in my book”.
Talking about meeting Rahman, she said, “I admire his temperament. His replies are generally limited to a yes or no; he especially hates talking about his past. He’s also very philosophical and believes that Dileep was an absolute failure, and Rahman is the successful one. The one thing that keeps him going is his faith”.
There are pages in the book that speak about the long waits for an interview with him. She says, “After I took on the project of writing this biography, I waited 10 months for an interview with him. Every time I went to his office, I spent more time waiting outside his room than inside, talking to him. It was useful, though. This was the time I learnt a lot more about him, by talking to the people around.”
There have been a few controversies about the book not being ‘official’. Mathai confirms that this biography is not an official one, but is known to Rahman and has his blessings.
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