AR Rahman comes out in support of 3 Idiots star

Music maestro A.R. Rahman waded into the debate over rising intolerance in the country quoting an incident in which he experienced anguish a couple of months ago.

Speaking at the 46th edition of IFFI in Goa on Wednesday, the Oscar winner was inferred to have been referring to a fatwa issued against him by a Mumbai-based Islamic organisation called Raza Academy for allegedly insulting Muhammad the Prophet.

Mr Rahman had scored the music for the Iranian film “Muhammad: Messenger of God based on the life of the Prophet and invited criticism. A few Hindu outfits had added oil to the fire by inviting him to reconvert to Hinduism after the fatwa was issued. In the wake of protests against his scoring the music for the Iranian film, a couple of Rahman concerts to be held in Delhi and UP were called off.

The maestro expressed his staunch support for Aamir Khan who has been in the news after having spoken about the growing intolerance in the country. The actor’s comments had drawn a mixed response from all over the country, including Bollywood.

Mr Rahman supported him while going on to say that any protest should be conducted in a non-violent, civilised and refined manner. He said, “Nothing should be violent. We are all ultra-civilised people and we should show the world that we are the best civilisation.” He went on to welcome Ilayaraja’s opinion on making music a compulsory subject in schools. He went on to say that music alone has the power of bringing down violence.