A. R. Rahman Quotes

It's much easier to be successful than it is to be relevant. The tricks won't keep you relevant. Tricks might keep you popular for a while, but in all honesty, I don't know how U2 will stay relevant. I know we've got a future. I know we can fill stadiums. And yet with every record, I think, 'Is this it? Are we still relevant?'

In the entertainment business, the biggest gift you could ever get is not an Oscar, it's not a Grammy, it's longevity.

I don't think I can speak of the achievements of Indian cinema because it's so large next to me. It's not stopping. It's ever-growing. We are going towards the right direction. We are evolving as a filmmaking industry as actors, directors, producers, singers, musicians. Everybody just pushing the boundaries.

The film industry is large enough and has many successful icons that have taken Indian cinema to shores beyond India. I think that Indian cinema itself needs to be applauded beyond one individual.

'Baahubali' has brought so much name and fame to our industry. And if given a chance to work with Rajamouli, who would say no? I hope to work with him. You never know, maybe my 151st or 152nd film.

Indian cinema will continue to grow, I am very sure.

I owe everything to Punjabi cinema.

I was mesmerised by South cinema and the kind of work is done out here.

I want Punjabi film industry to make it's way into the text books, so that when children read about this industry they should know how it reached to its glory.

I am happy with my journey in the Indian film industry.

It isn't easy to break into Bollywood. But that's not my goal.

Getting to the top is one thing, but staying there is quite another. That's the difficult bit.

I know whoever I'll work with, will open up different avenues for me, be it Imtiaz Ali or Rajkumar Hirani, the list is endless, the amount of talent we have in our country in terms of directors is insane.

I had success. I had a number one record. I had a number one album. I have to make this kind of record again or else I'm going to lose it all. That's how you end up making the same song over and over.

We're focused on making our fans happy, keeping each other happy, so we can do this forever.

Having a hit is nice, having some success, but when you move popular culture, that's a high.

There are definitely directors I want to work with like Dibakar Banerji, Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bharadwaj, and so many more.

I know that in Bollywood, there is this constant talk on which actor's film is minting how much money, but we are living in a time where the focus is shifting from 'actor's responsibility' to the result of a great team work. I believe filmmaking is about that.

I didn't grow up watching Hindi films and loving them, or wanting to become a Bollywood actor. That, to me, was the most fantastical idea.

'Khoobsurat' was an eye-opener in many ways. Cinema is a colossal money-churning business in India, and working in that environment offered me quite an incredible learning experience.

I consider anybody who has been able to make a living in this business [movie business] without having to do something else for a living for any period of time let alone 43 years would be a miracle.

Your best work involves timing. If someone wrote the best hip hop song of all time in the Middle Ages, he had bad timing.

The key factor in my strategy is longevity.

I think the reason why I haven't done a film in India so far is because I haven't found a script that's completely gotten my attention and made me passionate to get it made. I keep saying I'm not at all famous in my own country, because people do not think I have done anything for India. The reason why I'm making movies outside my country, bit by bit, is to be able to come back to India equipped with the knowledge and understanding of how to hopefully produce my own films one fine day.

You know, like, there's songs like "Valerie" and "Bang Bang Bang" that I was so proud of. And, you know, the level of success that they had - if they were little cult hits meant that, you know, I could sellout Webster Hall or Williamsburg Musical Hall or the El Rey theater in LA. Like, that was having made it to me. So the thought of having a number one song in my own career, like, never even registered.