A R Rahman says work dried up in Bollywood, hints at communal bias

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Globally celebrated Indian composer A R Rahman has revealed that he has not received consistent work in India’s Hindi film industry for nearly eight years, suggesting that a shift in power — and possibly communal bias — may have played a role.

Speaking during an interview with the BBC Asian Network, the Oscar-winning musician described the situation as emotionally difficult, particularly given his international standing and decades-long contribution to Indian cinema. 

Rahman said he never personally experienced discrimination directly, but acknowledged that decisions affecting his career may have been shaped quietly and indirectly.

“Maybe in the past eight years, because a power shift has happened, and people who are not creative have the power now,” Rahman said. “It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers.”

Rahman’s remarks have drawn attention because of who he is — one of India’s most internationally recognized cultural figures, and among the few Indian artists to win multiple Academy Awards. Analysts say that if an artist of his stature feels professionally sidelined, it points to deeper structural changes within the Hindi film industry rather than individual career fluctuation.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power nationally in 2014, Bollywood has undergone a visible ideological transformation. The industry has increasingly aligned itself with Hindu supremacist narratives, producing films that glorify state power, militarism, and majoritarian identity, while Muslim characters are often portrayed through the lens of suspicion or antagonism.

Film scholars note that this shift has coincided with a narrowing of creative space for Muslim artists and critics of the Modi government — not through formal bans, but through informal exclusion, selective hiring, and a growing emphasis on ideological conformity. 

Several actors, writers, and musicians have faced online vilification campaigns, boycotts, or pressure to publicly assert Hindu nationalist credentials.

Rahman’s experience appears to reflect this broader climate. While he has continued to work extensively in regional Indian cinema and international projects, his relative absence from mainstream Hindi films stands in contrast to his earlier dominance in the industry during the 1990s and 2000s.

Rahman did not accuse any individual or studio of discrimination, and he avoided framing himself as a victim. Yet his remarks have resonated widely, as they highlight a pattern many civil rights advocates have long pointed to — that in today’s India, professional opportunity in cultural spaces is increasingly shaped by identity and political alignment, not only talent.

For a composer whose music once defined the sound of Hindi cinema across generations, the question raised by Rahman’s admission is a stark one: if even an Oscar-winning artist can be marginalized without explanation, what does that signal for creative freedom and pluralism in India’s cultural industries?