God chose me to collect the Oscars' : Rahman 2 Mar 2009, 0407 hrs IST,
Bhama Devi Ravi, TNN
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CHENNAI: "The Westerners should know the
musicians<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/God-chose-me-to-collect-the-Oscars--Rahman/articleshow/4209723.cms#>,
how will they vote for someone whom they do not know? So, I met an agent who
guided me," Oscar-winner A R Rahman joked at a felicitation ceremony held
by the Cine Musicians" Union and Trust on Sunday.
"People used to smile at me after Roja' and Americans smiled at me the same
way (after the Oscars) and praised me for the good
music<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/God-chose-me-to-collect-the-Oscars--Rahman/articleshow/4209723.cms#>,"
said Rahman, who won two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire.' "God had selected
me to collect it," he said, "Ten years ago when Japanese, Chinese and
Italian films used to make it to the Oscars, I used to wonder why Naushad,
Ilayaraja, M S Viswanathan, Madan Mohan and many others did not get the
awards. But they have people's love, which is a greater honour than the
Oscars."
Rahman devoted a great deal of time in thanking the classical
music<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/God-chose-me-to-collect-the-Oscars--Rahman/articleshow/4209723.cms#>fraternity.
"When film music makes it big, rarely do purists acknowledge it.
But I have been surprised by the goodwill," the composer told the gathering,
which included M Balamurali Krishna.
If the presence of Ilayaraja at the event set to rest the speculation about
Illayaraja's resoponse to Rahman winning the Oscars, especially after he
garlanded Rahman and presented him a gold chain, the feverish competition
between the fans of the two came to the fore when Rahman pleaded with his
fans not to create hatred. "There are a set of fans for every musician, and
I have been seeing a lot of hate mail on the web. Please respect everyone,
and I request my fans to desist from sullying anyone," Rahman said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/God-chose-me-to-collect-the-Oscars--Rahman/articleshow/4209723.cms
--
regards,
Vithur
