Javed Akhtar recalls AR Rahman’s flexibility during ‘Sapnay’: ‘He doesn’t impose anything on his singers and lyricists’

Veteran lyricist

Javed Akhtar

shared a heart warming anecdote about working with the acclaimed music director AR Rahman. Their collaboration on ‘

Sapnay

,’ the Hindi version of the 1997 Tamil film ‘Minsara Kanavu,’ starring Prabhu Deva, Kajol, and

Arvind Swamy

, left a lasting impression on Akhtar, particularly due to Rahman’s easy nature.
Talking to O2India, Javed Akhtar praised Rahman’s collaborative approach and highlighted, “AR Rahman, who is regarded as one of the most successful music directors, is very adjusting when it comes to collaborating with his

singers

and lyricists.

Mostly, others are very particular about certain things. They bring a lot of ifs and buts and interfere when the singer is singing. But, in AR Rahman’s case, he gives his singers a lot of freedom. He just tells his singers, ‘I have given you the tune, now you tell me how you want to sing.’ He saves everything that a singer has added to his creatives, and later uses whatever he likes.”
Javed Akhtar recounted a specific incident during the creation of the song ‘Chanda Re’ from ‘Sapnay.’ He requested a minor adjustment in Rahman’s tune to better suit the lyrics he had penned. “The line ‘Baithenge baatein karenge’ was not on the exact note. So, I told him, ‘Can you please make a minor adjustment in your tune because I write note to note? But, if I do that here, the line will be wasted. Then I won’t be able to write it. ‘Baithenge Baatein karenge ‘is a very informal conversation with the moon in the song. So if you adjust it a little, people will love it.’ He easily agreed to it and was like, ‘Sure, I will do it because it is a very beautiful line. We must use it.’”
Javed and Rahman teamed up for several heartwarming songs such as ‘Radha Kaise Na Jale’ (Lagaan, 2001), ‘Yun Hi Chala Chal’ (Swades, 2004), and many more.