A R Rahman’s London concert, with Tamil and Hindi songs, got embroiled in controversy after concertgoers tweeted their displeasure at having to listen to Tamil tracks. CNN-TV18 spoke to several imminent personalities in the music industry to gauge their reactions to the row, the nature of multilingual performances and if the language war has cast its pall over the issue.
Javed Ali, singer: I attended the concert and I don’t understand why this is happening. We all enjoyed the music and the experience. There were both large numbers of North and South Indians in the audience; and Rahman sir always makes sure that everyone in his audience is taken care of. That’s probably why he played both Hindi and Tamil songs.
Usha Uthup, singer: This whole thing made me laugh. After having sung for 48 years and having perhaps started this trend of the 17 national languages, I find this to be quite the non-issue. It was advertised primarily as a Tamil concert so why would you go for it unless you were a big A R Rahman fan? It’s like if you go for a concert in Italian or Spanish, despite not knowing the music, because you love the music. Once you’ve bought the ticket, it’s your prerogative whether you wish to attend the show or walk out of it but this is a non-issue. Rahman will always be Rahman and if you love his music, whether it’s in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil or Telugu, how does it matter.
Chinmayi Sripada, singer: Rahman sir’s language spans across languages and he has sung in so many languages. Several years ago, there was a concert in Chennai, where the maximum number of his songs were performed in Hindi and none of us complained because we are all fans of Rahman sir and the language is of little regard. And the point is that the concert was marketed with a Tamil title so it all boils down to the language debate.
Talat Aziz, ghazal singer: I just got to know about this controversy and am not familiar with the details. But between you and me, as an artiste, I don’t understand what the controversy is about. Rahman saab has played songs in national as well as international languages and it is his prerogative which songs he chooses to perform. If the concert was advertised as something and something else entirely was performed then of course fans have a right to be angry, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. As an artiste I hate controversy and this is meaningless. I don’t condone any divide, music is a universal language.
Mahalakshmi Iyer, singer: As a performer I’ve travelled to the South often, and I’m South Indian myself. I’ve performed songs in Hindi for South Indian audiences and have never faced a situation like this so I don’t understand why this happened. He has performed in so many languages, and as a matter of fact, the work he has done recently for South Indian films has been discussed far more by North Indian musicians because they really dissect his music. Similarly, below the videos of songs in Tamil or Malayalam I’ve often come across comments by North Indians who say they love the music even if they don’t understand the words.
Tanvi Shah, Grammy awarded singer: In my opinion there is no need for this controversy. Language shouldn’t be a barrier from letting you enjoy music so I don’t know why this is happening. I don’t know why there needs to be this divide between Hindi, Tamil, or any other language, because at the end of the day you enjoy for the music for its melody, its genre and so I don’t see why this matters. I listen to music in other languages because I enjoy it and music makes me happy. That’s the thing, music makes you happy.
See the whole conversation below
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