While speaking to India Today, the filmmaker said, "No, I don't think there is a communal bias in the film industry. I've been here for a long time, and I've never seen it, and AR Rahman is one of the brightest figures that I've met in the film industry."
He added, "I do not actually believe that he made all the comments that are being attributed to him, or maybe it's been misconstrued. In fact, I know that he did not say exactly what is being perceived. Also, I don't remember of a single incident where there was any communal bias or animosity."
A R Rahman's daughter Raheema and Khatija too have a shared a post in support of their music composer father after he courted controversy for his comments about declining work from Bollywood.
The Oscar-winning composer told BBC Asian Network in a recent interview that the volume of his work in the Hindi film industry had declined over the past eight years and hinted that it could be linked to a “communal thing”. He also said there have been changes in industry power structures where creative control has shifted away from creative people.
The remarks sparked a debate online and across entertainment circles, with critics questioning the basis of Rahman’s observation, following which the composer issued a clarification, saying his comments were misunderstood and that he never intended to “cause pain”.
Raheema and Khatija on Monday shared a post by music composer Kailas who said that people can disagree with Rahman “but you cannot deny him the freedom to express his experience”.
