Shekhar Kapur thinks AR Rahman's faith plays a major role in his music: 'He reads namaz before....'

When it comes to awards, only a few can beat AR Rahman’s track record. Lovingly called the ‘Mozart of Madras’, the Indian music mogul began his journey in the early 1990s and has gifted the world with an endless list of magical tracks till now. That being said, while it’s always easy to recognise Rahman’s songs, it won’t be wrong to say that no one understands music quite like him. As the world is aware of AR Rahman’s passion and love for music, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor recently spoke about the legendary singer-composer, emphasising how faith plays an important role in music for him. Describing him as a genius with a remarkable level of humility, Shekhar recounted an incident that instilled confidence in Rahman when he was a bit nervous about working overseas. In a conversation with Ranveer Allahabadia, Shekhar Kapur recalled working with Rahman on his Broadway musical ‘Bombay Dreams’. “He had a name in the industry by the time I met him. The only mentoring I gave him was that I told him about technology and took him out of India,” the filmmaker said. Recalling the time when he worked with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Shekhar said how Webber was upset on learning about Rahman being brought. “I convinced him to bring Rahman. He was scared (Rahman) and wasn’t sure if they would accept him, but I told him that if they accepted me they would accept you too. I knew Rahman was a genius and had a lot of humility,” he continued. ‘He reads namaz before recording music…’ Shekhar , while mentioning that Rahman’s faith plays a major role in his ability to craft soulful music, said, “When I was working with him, he made me sit and went upstairs. He came back and started playing the tune. I think he reads namaz whenever he asks to excuse himself. In that prayer, he listens to everything and gives everything to the faith. He gets the tune through his faith. He gets one hint and makes the whole tune. I saw this humility in him, he has no arrogance.”