The Grammy-winning composer addressed what he described as stigmas surrounding musical artists on the sidelines of the ongoing Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea.
“If you look at most of the iconic movies, they are all losers or they commit suicide. Why is that stigma, which is reflecting in the movies?” Rahman was quoted as saying by media reports on Wednesday.
Rahman cited examples of movies like the recent reboot of “A Star Is Born” starring Bradley Cooper and “Inside Llewyn Davis” featuring Golden Globe Award nominee Óscar Isaac in which musicians die at the climax of the movie.
“Why can’t we make something about a success story? Not just success story, but also the internal war which a creative person faces”, the composer asked.
Venturing outside the music world for the first time, Rahman is attending BIFF along with the cast and crew of “99 Songs” an upcoming Indian Hindi-language musical romance film in which he co-writes and produces the film. Both duties are firsts for the composer.
In his 27-year career, Rahman has garnered six National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards and 17 Filmfare Awards South, the record for an Indian composer as of 2018.
The music composer in 2010 received the “Padma Bhushan” award - India's third-highest civilian honour - the same year he received a Grammy Award for his music in the Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire”.
His work in a drama-thriller movie “127 Hours” won him a Golden Globe award, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and two Academy Award nominations (Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song) in 2011.
