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Exclusive! A R Rahman on SRK, Guru and music

On working with Shah Rukh Khan

I decided not to compose the music for his film, Om Shanti Om because I was refused the publishing rights of the film. But we could surely work in future. There should be no hard feelings in this business. Shah Rukh is warm-hearted and a smart producer but he was misled in this case.

The concept of music publishing is new in India and his advisors did not understand what it meant. They made him a bakra with their wrong advice.

As a composer, it is important for me to own some rights to the music, so that I could use it any way I want 20 years from now. For me, owning these rights is more important than owning property. Anything can happen to property but music rights will not collapse.

This is not an uncommon thing in the West. But in India, some producers have begun understanding the concept. Aamir Khan is giving me the music publishing rights to his next film. Rajnikant's daughter, who is producing a Tamil film called Hara, is going to do it too.

On his own label

I want to publish not only my non-film compositions but also the songs of legends like Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan saab. So many singers, including Sonu Nigam, have learned from him. He is my guru too. There are so many gems of his that are unpublished. Even people who are acquainted with Hindustani music are not aware of this music. I want to do it. There is no commercial consideration in this venture. Over the years, I have composed music for films that are not big in the traditional way. Films like MF Husain's Meenaxi or Shyam Benegal's films.
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