Imtiaz recalls chorus girls didn't recognising AR Rahman

Imtiaz Ali recently spoke about his collaboration with Oscar-winning music director AR Rahman for the 2011 film '

Rockstar

' and recalled a moment when the musician completely vanished without communicating or responding to his messages. At the same time, he also shared an incident where some girls, who had come to sing chorus, did not initially recognise Rahman.
In a recent interview with O2India, Imtiaz revealed that Rahman’s behaviour made him believe that the music legend was deliberately avoiding him. However, this assumption about Rahman’s silence turned out to be entirely wrong. “I was thinking maybe he doesn’t want to do the film, and that’s why he doesn’t want to say no directly. So he is giving me a hint, maybe,” he shared.
Imtiaz

travelled to Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin to scout locations for his film. It was there that he heard something which changed his perspective. Someone told his assistant that Rahman had been there to check the location and had said he was making a song for Hazrat Nizamuddin. Imtiaz realised that it was for his film. “He is not saying no, but he is also not saying yes to me,” he added.

This was the moment that helped Imtiaz understand Rahman’s unique style of communication and his creative process. Imtiaz recalled discussing this with Rahman. “He said, ‘I told you I will do it. There are no questions about it.’ One thing about Rahman is that he never lies. He would do a song for you even if he had promised it a decade ago.”
As the film shoot began in Kashmir, Imtiaz invited Rahman to join him in the picturesque locations. They visited snow-covered peaks and dargahs in Pahalgam. However, the musician declined to record the song 'Phir Se Ud Chala' during that time.
Imtiaz spoke about Rahman’s simplicity: “Rahman sir set up this recording console in the reception of the hotel. He was wearing a black T-shirt paired with grey trousers. These girls came in to sing chorus and suddenly asked who the music director was. Now, these people were not really exposed to cinema or its people, so they didn’t know me or Rahman sir. When they asked, ‘Who is the music director?’ I gestured for them to be quiet and directed them to the recording area. Rahman sir came out from behind the table. One of the girls, who was quite bold, asked again, ‘Who is the music director?’ I finally pointed towards Rahman and said, ‘Here he is —

A.R. Rahman

.’”
Imtiaz continued the amusing story: “One of the girls then refused to believe it and said, ‘Yeh A.R. Rahman thodi hai! I’ve met him — he looks different.’ Rahman played along and said, ‘Yeah, yeah, forget about it.’”
He then started recording without paying attention to the conversation, and the girls sang without knowing it was for Rahman.