Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman made his first public appearance after the recent controversy when he appeared on The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 4 on Netflix. The episode saw host Kapil Sharma gently pulling Rahman’s leg while also addressing the chatter around the composer’s remarks about getting less work in Bollywood.
Rahman was joined on the show by the cast of the upcoming silent film Gandhi Talks. Kapil welcomed Aditi Rao Hydari, Vijay Sethupathi, Siddharth Jadhav and Rahman on stage.
Kapil Sharma Pokes Fun At AR Rahman On The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 4
A clip from the show has been widely shared on social media, showing Kapil teasing Rahman about his famously brief responses. Kapil joked, “Rahman sahab ko chaar lines ka sawaal poocho. Inka jawaab ek shabd mein aata hai – Yes ya No, very good”.
He then took the humour a step further by referring to Gandhi Talks, a film with no dialogue. Kapil said, “Rahman sir, jab aap Kishor ji se mile, unhone kaha ki sir, ek film hai [music] jismein koi dialogue nahi hai. Aap confuse toh nahi hue ki yeh mujhe as a music director sign karne aaye hain ya as an actor?”
The joke landed well, with Rahman smiling and the audience laughing. The moment showed a lighter side of the composer, who has otherwise been at the centre of serious discussions about Bollywood’s changing work culture.
DON'T MISS
During another segment of The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 4, Rahman spoke about how messages often lose meaning as they pass from one person to another. Referring to the show’s whisper game, he said it was a perfect example of miscommunication.
He said, “This is a good exercise to see how information gets misunderstood. Different states, different cultures. The problem with the world is this, how messages get corrupted on the way.”
Many viewers saw this as Rahman subtly addressing the backlash he faced recently over his remarks about communal bias in the film industry, which he later clarified had been misunderstood.
What AR Rahman Had Said About Bollywood Work
In a recent BBC Asian Network interview, AR Rahman spoke openly about the noticeable drop in his Bollywood projects over the past eight years. He explained that power in the Hindi film industry has shifted from creative minds to corporate and “non-creative” decision-makers. According to him, this has led to a preference for fragmented music albums with multiple composers instead of a single musical vision.
Rahman also hinted at possible communal or regional bias but clarified that such issues are rarely said “to his face” and usually reach him through “Chinese whispers”.
Earlier, in 2020, the composer had revealed that a so-called “gang” in Bollywood was allegedly spreading false rumours about him. He shared that Dil Bechara director Mukesh Chhabra was warned by several people not to approach him. Rahman stressed that he never turns down good work, but misunderstandings and targeted narratives often pushed him out of mainstream projects.
Despite this, Rahman maintains a calm and grounded outlook. He has said he is not chasing work and prefers projects to come naturally.
Meanwhile, The Great Indian Kapil Show Season 4 airs every Saturday on Netflix. This latest episode is already streaming on the platform.
