A.R. Rahman received his seventh National Award last week, this time for the soul-stirring music of Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan. The Oscar and Grammy-winning musical legend had won his first National Award for his debut film Roja, also directed by Ratnam. It has been 32 years since and Rahman continues to scale new heights in music and beyond. t2 chatted with the maestro shortly after his National Award win.

You are no stranger to awards. You have received some of the biggest awards across the world and you continue to do so. But does winning a National Award elicit an emotion that hits different?

Yes it does. When I won my first National Award, which was for my first film (Roja), someone had asked me then: ‘Isn’t it too early?’ It struck me then that yes, it definitely is early and it also made me realise that I would have to keep my energy going because after winning the biggest award, I could not come down... I had to work harder to beat what I was doing. Over the years, there have been so many things that I have learnt and unlearnt that have kept me going. The sensibility which I have now, I have evolved into it, I have evolved into the human being I am now. In that sense, this feels like my first National Award.

That is also because the kind of music I made for Ponniyin Selvan is not something I had done before. The music of the film is completely evolved into the story and involved researching a lot into the past and and also taking artistic liberty to do much more than what was expected.

What do awards, in general, mean to you? Do you look at them as some kind of validation even now?

I don’t work for awards but when I get one, it makes me happy because it represents the hard work the team as a whole has put in. It is a recognition of the musicians and singers and technicians who work day and night with me. Getting an award for them makes me happy.

Your first National Award was for Roja, directed by Mani Ratnam. Your seventh is for Ponniyin Selvan, also directed by Ratnam. Does it feel like a full-circle kind of moment?

Yes it does. The first time I won it, I was actually in zen mode. Before Roja, I had worked on many things which never worked out, there were jingles which got rejected. I told myself: ‘Let’s not work towards success or failure. Let’s work sincerely. And if it comes, it’s fine. If it doesn’t come, it’s fine.’ As soon as I reached that state of mind, I got my first movie. After that, it was always about climbing the mountain constantly.

As I was saying earlier, I am mostly in an unattached mode when it comes to awards... when it comes in, I thank God, and if it doesn’t come, I feel it is not in my share, it is supposed to be for somebody else and that is fine.

As a filmmaker, Mani Ratnam has always been someone who looks to do interesting things. He never repeats himself and he just keeps going. He never repeats himself. With him, I am constantly learning.

The good thing about Ponniyin Selvan was that we had a lot of time to make the music... I had about three years. We want to Bali for research and also to compose the music. The experience was great.

At the time I got Ponniyin Selvan, I was working on an album called Why? The Musical (with filmmaker Shekhar Kapur). For four months, I was trying to finish off that project so that I could fully concentrate on Ponniyin Selvan. The good thing is that the film took some time with its CG (computer graphics) and that gave me time to relax. But I was very sure that once I got into Ponniyin Selvan, I would concentrate on it fully.

Composing for which other film has challenged you the most in recent times?

The Goat Life (starring Prithviraj Sukumaran). The film is almost set wholly in the desert, there is barely any other location. In this film, the music not only had to tell a story, it also had to move the movie forward and eventually assume the role of a character.

It took me a lot of time to understand what would really work for the film. I scored one song and then I re-scored it. I loved the challenge of making music for that film.

From your immersive multidimensional musical Le Musk to the virtual production studio in Chennai to your painstakingly put together AR/VR team, you have made technology an integral part of your creative being. I read an interview where you said that technology has been a very big part of you and your music since childhood, and you were introduced to it by your father. How do you walk the tightrope of making technology enhance your music and your creative skills but not overpower or overwhelm them?

Basically, these are all just tools to better yourself and your product. Indian movies are looking far better than what they used to be. We are on to a good things so why can’t we go further?

As far as music is concerned, most people don’t hear music anymore... they ‘see’ music. I feel it is important to use technology in a way that it works for you, but doesn’t make you work for it.

It also depends on what you want to do with technology. Some people just drag, drop and loop a song. I like using technology as a big drawing board for new ideas and innovations.

Le Musk, the virtual reality thriller film directed and co-produced by you, is an ambitious project. What is the way forward for it?

Le Musk has been rewarding but very challenging. The project began seven years ago. We made it and the Western world loved it and gave us a lot of awards. It is a virtual-reality piece which is showcased using a motion platform along with scents and haptics to provide a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. Right now if is going to South-east Asia — Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand — and we plan to expand it further.

You have also made a documentary called Headhunting to Beatboxing, that is based on the musical renaissance of Nagaland. Northeast India is a treasure trove of music. What got you interested in the music of Nagaland in particular?

It is a place with such vibrant creative energy. You have young people there doing songwriting as good as Bob Dylan. People come with their guitars and their pure voices and they sing in church. I thought that the world really needed to see this, that the rest of India needed to see it.

I asked Rohit (Gupta, director) to come with a camera to Nagaland. We filmed for over three years and the film recently premiered at Melbourne (at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne) and the first thing I was told was: ‘Thank you for bringing out this story.’ Nagaland has a wide variety of musicality. The place is so beautiful.

There is so much talent in India to take inspiration from. We have the young chess players from Chennai, you have so many talented musicians in Bengal. India is undefinable because we have so many different things happening at the same time.

What excites you the most as a musician now?

We all have a serious task now to bring people back to movie theatres. There are movies which go straight to Netflix, movies go unnoticed and as a team, we want films to release in theatres. Of course, it is heartening to see films like Kalki, KGF, RRR and Jawan bringing audiences back to theatres. Movies are a theatrical experience and music plays a major part in that experience. Stree 2 has now brought people back to theatres, which is a great thing.

The way people are looking at movies now is different from before. The good thing is they are appreciating an experience. Can you make the experience better? Musically, composition-wise, story-wise? Yes.

The whole idea behind Le Musk was that I wanted to challenge the rectangular format of films that we have had for over 100 years. With Le Musk, we have taken advantage of the medium and used it to its full potential. It is personal and more immersive.

Is there a new artiste whose music has created an impression on you?

I like Hanumankind. There are also many independent musicians on Spotify, some of who are very, very cool.