What began as an invitation from Nagaland to partake as a guest at the Annual Hornbill Competition ended up in the Music maestro A.R. Rahman’s venturing into documentary production.
The result? A documentary titled “Headhunting to Beatboxing” that traces the musical journey of the Naga tribe in the north-east Indian state of Nagaland. The documentary explores how the healing power of music has allowed Nagaland, once engulfed in violence and bloodshed, to resurrect itself through music and emerge through a musical renaissance. It had its premiere in the 55th Indian Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
“Naga people just love music. They even have a Minister of Music and Arts,” said A.R. Rahman during an in-conversation session at Kala Academy, Goa today on the sidelines of IFFI 2024. It was a part of Lata Mangeshkar Memorial Talk with the theme “Musical Theatre in India”.
“The Western world attracts a large number of tourists through its musical theatre. We have all the requisite art potential to create such a thing. However, we need to build infrastructure, and to make it increasingly appealing in order to attract tourists as well as finance from other countries” added Rahman.
“With rising urbanization and cramped living spaces, the houses often feel like prisons. We need to give people immersive art experiences to serve as positive distractions. With many parts of the country having rich musical theatre legacy, this can also be a uniting factor. However, there is a need to re-discover our musical theatres with music and technology so that it becomes attractive for foreign tourists, with the aim to attract tourists who visit western countries for musical theatres”, he added.
Speaking about his inspirations, Rahman said, “Lata ji is an embodiment of perfection. She, along with artists like Michael Jackson, are a source of inspiration for me”.
A. R. Rahman also spoke fondly about his recent performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he brought Indian music to the audience there.
Replying to queries of participants about the overarching guidelines of music composition, Rahman advised them to be original. “Original ideas have longevity,” he stressed.
Speaking about impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the music industry, Rahman stated that AI should be used to empower people by creating better and meaningful dubs. “However, we have to be careful that it does not steal the jobs of the people,” he cautioned.
The music maestro had a different take on cloud-based music. He said that we should also have analog copies with us for the eventuality where all the cloud-based music disappears. “It shows our respect for an artist when we own a physical copy of his music record”, Rahman concluded.
The session was moderated by noted journalist, Naman Ramchandran.
