AR Rahman wants to get 'intimate' with his audience

Indian composer, musician and producer is ditching big concerts for smaller, more intimate settings

Indian composer, musician and producer AR Rahman -- who has picked up two Oscars, two Grammys, and a Golden Globe on his way to international stardom -- is about to embark on a new adventure, working on a romantic musical film called "99 Songs".

Speaking to Reuters, the Oscar-winner shared details about The Intimate Concert saying, "I've been touring for almost 20 years now I think, and so my shows used to be very big. 12 singers and like 20 dancers, 40 piece orchestra and all this. It always used to feel like oh my god what am I doing? And this tension and last year we had this intimate concert tour idea where we're very close with our audience."

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"We can almost speak to them and sing along and stop and start and do whatever we want as a band. I got a very convincing and amazing band together.

"They come to see the musicianship, not songs. I feel like they want to see you. As an artist, as a musician and singer and all this stuff.

"There's always a doubt. The director will like it but the editor will say no I don't think it's right it should be like this and then it goes through a screening and it goes through a producer.

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"So there's multiple masters which is frightening. Unless I work with a person like Danny Boyle who actually owns it. He says, 'No, I like this. I'm sure everybody likes it. Everyone will like this one.' So I like to work with people who can stand by the work," he added.

Sharing details about his upcoming movie, Rahman said, "So 99 songs is about self discovery. It's a love story. It's about art. It's finding a thread, finding a way to awaken in a way things which could be better. So it's complex but it's yet simple."

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Rahman, who has a number of big awards including two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe, said that "music is not about awards."

PHOTO: REUTERS

"Music is not about awards. Music is about acceptance. Even now when I feel like when I do a song and people like it immediately they're not forced to like it because of the name but because of the quality and because what it is. That's when I know that it's true," said Rahman.

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"Awards are fine. I love them but beyond that is someone who lives to your tune or your playing and somebody who doesn't know you at all without any baggage. 'Oh he's an Oscar winner, I should like him.' It should never be like that," he added.