When A R Rahman told Gulf News that he's the 'captain of his own ship' in an earlier interview in Dubai

Dubai: As Indian Oscar winner AR Rahman gets dragged into a fresh controversy this week, it feels right to re-visit one of my earlier interviews with him, that was held in Dubai, far from the noise of social media outrage.

We’re revisiting this interview because before his words began getting picked apart online, Rahman was spending long stretches in the UAE doing the kind of work that rarely makes headlines: building an all-women orchestra from scratch for Expo 2020 Dubai.

When Gulf News met him then, Rahman was focused on the Firdaus Orchestra, a 50-member ensemble made up of women musicians from across the Middle East.

The idea, he said, was simple.

“We wanted to encourage women from this region,” he told us. “Dubai is opening its arms to different philosophies, arts, music. It’s a sign of liberation.”

He was clear that the project mattered to him beyond the music.

“I am like their big brother,” Rahman said.

“Sometimes we need to have a balance in a weighing machine. This could even out all that women underwent for decades and centuries.”

The orchestra took shape over nearly two years, much of it during the pandemic, with Rahman based in the UAE for long periods.

“We started auditioning and got this whole team together,” he said. “The thing with an orchestra is that it’s teamwork and no one can mess it up.”

That process, he admitted, changed how he looked at his own work.

“My outlook towards life is now different,” Rahman said. “Everybody had to be good together. Encouraging women from this region felt so good. In some places in the world, music can be a taboo thing.”

At the time of this interview, the Firdaus Orchestra was set to make its first appearance at the Expo 2020 Dubai opening ceremony, followed by a full concert weeks later.

Dubai, Rahman explained, felt like a natural base for the project.

“I came here a couple of years back,” he said.

“Since I have a conservatory in Chennai where we teach music to under-privileged children, I have always been interested in such projects.”

His interest in Arabic music, he added, has been part of his creative life for over 25 years, showing up even in early hits like Humma Humma.

He also spoke about being impressed by how Expo 2020 was run.

“All my career, I have been doing things on my own. I am the captain of my own ship,” Rahman said.

“But here it works in a beautiful corporate way. I have learned many things.”

There was a personal pull too.

“And India has such a big connection to the UAE,” he said, describing Dubai as a place where his ambitions and intentions seemed to meet.

His family was part of the journey. Rahman said his daughters travelled with him, and his singer-daughter Khatija was particularly moved by the project.

“She’s proud of me for doing this,” he said.

“When you look at these women, they could be mothers, sisters, daughters and they come from different places. This is a perfect example of exchanging humanity. Music can be such a perfect meeting point.”

Creatively, the orchestra worked without hierarchy. Rahman recalled moments when ideas came directly from the musicians. “In the exclusive video we released, the Turkish march came from Siham who played the Qanun and Sahar Khoueiry,” he said. “I just arranged it. The process was so organic.”

“For the past three months, I was constantly jamming with them and it was so collaborative,” he added.

Despite how settled the work made him feel, Rahman joked about how often he was on the move.

“I felt as if the Dubai airport lounge was my make-shift home,” he laughed. But the bond he formed with the musicians made the exhaustion worth it. “Meeting these musicians was so cathartic,” he said. “We lived in a villa and we grew up with them. And it feels good.”

At a time when Rahman’s words are being debated and dissected, this Dubai chapter feels like a useful reminder of how he actually works: patiently, collaboratively and with a long view.