Personally it means nothing’
WARM WELCOME: A R Rahman at the Chennai Airport, on his return from California, after receiving the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for Slu Express News Service First Published : 16 Jan 2009 06:15:00 AM IST Last Updated : 16 Jan 2009 09:20:57 AM IST CHENNAI: A R Rahman on Thursday posed for lensmen with the Golden Globe, an award that had eluded Indians for so long. But he refused to agree that he was the best musician in the country. “In fact, there are greater musicians in the country than me,” he said with a modesty that has come to define the 43-year-old. It was a visibly worn-out Rahman that one greeted at his home in Kodambakkam, hours after he returned from the US. “Today has been a really crazy day with little sleep,” said the musician, who, interestingly, has most often been accused of not living by the clock. Appreciation on having won the honour has been poring in from across and beyond the country. “I’ve not even checked my inbox,” he added, after mentioning the names of a few who congratulated him on his feat. They include “Advani-ji, our chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, BlaaZe, Shrinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan,” he said. “Personally, the award means nothing to me. But it means a great deal to think that I’ve been able to give this to the country,” he casually said. Slumdog Millionaire, which fetched him the Golden Globe, might not be his best album in a career spanning 16 years, agreed Rahman. But then, “Nothing is good or bad to me. It’s good as long as it complements the movie. And that way, Slumdog Millionaire was really good,” he explained. As for awards and honours, Rahman felt things just have to fall in place. “I don’t lust for honours. They come when the time has arrived for it. And when we really deserve it. Spiritually, I mean.” With the Golden Globe often looked upon as a precursor to an Academy Award nomination, does Rahman think he will live up to the Oscar dream, a fascination that our film stars still haven’t grown out of ? “I don’t really know. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed. There are issues to be sorted,” he added. A memory the musician will carry for a long time about this award was the appreciation he received at the awards ceremony. “There were great musicians from Hollywood. They had very nice things to say about my music. Maybe they were just being kind to me but it felt great then,” he said. “It was a good experience and working on the movie never wore me out or drained me,” he said. Slumdog Millionaire is scheduled to hit the screens in India next week. “The Indian release will be dedicated to H Shridar, my sound engineer who died in December. He was more than my colleague. He was like a brother. He has no replacement. When I used to sing my solos, he was like my mirror. From him, I would know how the song would turn out to be. I miss him,” Rahman concluded. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98Personally+it+means+nothing%E2%80%99&artid=Q3hurBkJLhQ=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=A+R+Rahman;+Golden+Globe,+award+;+musician;+Kodamb&SectionName=rSY%7C6QYp3kQ=
