‘I have a soft corner for Northeast’: AR Rahman at Cannes

Oscar winning music great, AR Rahman who has been collaborating with musicians and organisations from the Northeast to further promote and popularise the music of the region has said that he has a soft corner for the region and lamented that the region has not been portrayed or included in movies the way it should be.

Sharing his thoughts on how he chose to make ‘From Headhunting to BeatBoxing’, Rahman in an interview to Brut said, “I always have this little soft corner for Northeast. I feel like they are not included the way they should be in movies or anything. I was invited for the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland. I went there and I got super inspired and seeing the whole place, the vibe.”

Rahman believes that one must look at Nagaland, it’s history and present, only for the sole purpose of getting inspired.
He said, “It didn’t look like India. The India, that we normally see. I felt like it’s a very special, transformative, inspiring place and the world should see that and get inspired, also from a history of violence to peace and music.”

“The world is going through this turmoil now, so primal killing each other. I think this will be a good example for them to see and get inspired, that we have evolved in so many things, in science and everything but still we are killing each other. So primal,” Rahman further said.

Rahman spoke about his love for Northeast and Nagaland in particular in Cannes where he had participated in the release of
‘Headhunting to Beatboxing’, a docu-feature in Naga musicians.

The docu-feature is directed by Rohit Gupta and produced by AR Rahman. It delves into the intriguing journey of rhythm and sound, charting music’s growth through generations.