AR RAHMAN CONTROVERSY: TASLIMA NASREEN CHALLENGES AR RAHMAN’S 'COMMUNAL' COMMENT; CITES SHAH RUKH, SALMAN’S SUCCESS
AR Rahman's recent claims that he may have lost work in the Hindi film industry due to a communal bias have stirred a controversy in the industry. While the music composer issued a clarification later, explaining his intention was not to hurt anyone, it ignited a huge debate on social media. After lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar and actor Kangana Ranaut, writer-author Taslima Nasreen has also reacted to the row. Citing examples of superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan, she claimed that the 'rich' ones don't face difficulties.
Taking to her X handle, she wrote in her detailed post, "AR Rahman is a Muslim and is extraordinarily famous in India. His remuneration, as far as I have heard, is higher than that of all other artists. He is complaining that he is not given work in Bollywood because he is a Muslim. Shah Rukh Khan is still the Badshah of Bollywood; Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi – all of them are superstars. The famous and the rich never face difficulties anywhere."
Recounting her own experiences, the author further added, "No matter what religion they belong to, what caste, or what community. Difficulties happen to poor people like me. Even though I am a strict atheist, because of my name I am assumed to be a Muslim. Those who are anti-Muslim do not care whether one is an atheist or a believer. No one wants to rent me an apartment. When I go to a hospital, they deceive me and cut off my leg. I get beaten even for being an atheist in Hyderabad; I cannot set foot in Aurangabad; I am pushed out of West Bengal."
Nasreen also talked about her life in the country and wrote, "These problems do not even come within the farthest boundaries of A. R. Rahman’s life or of Muslim stars in Bollywood. I am not a citizen. Between a citizen and a resident, except for the right to vote, all other rights are the same—at least the law says so. Many citizens do not live in India out of love; I live here because I love it. I never deviate from principles and ideals."
She continued, "After tearing apart the hollow bones and marrow of Islam, I am living a sentence of exile, yet people still say to me, “You people celebrate Eid by sighting the moon,” or “polygamy is practiced among you.” The common people of this country hardly know anything about atheism, or about the humanism that stands upon atheism."
She concluded her tweet by mentioning how Rahman is adored by people across different communities. "There is nothing I can really do. The men and women of this land are my own people. The culture of this soil is my culture too. How far can I ngo if I leave it behind? A. R. Rahman is revered by Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, atheists, and believers alike. It does not suit him to be pitied."
AR Rahman's 'communal' statement
The controversy started when AR Rahman appeared on BBC Asian Network, where he was asked if being a Tamil composer affected his Bollywood journey. To which, the Oscar winner admitted getting less work in the industry in the last eight years and replied, "Maybe I never get to know of this, maybe it was concealed but I didn’t feel any of this. Maybe in the past eight years because a power shift has happened and people who are not creative have the power now."
He added, "It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their 5 composers. I say good, I have more time to chill with my family. I am not in search for work. I don’t want to go in search for work. I want work to come to me; my sincerity to earn work. Whatever I deserve, I get."
A day ago, he took to his Instagram handle to share a video, clarifying his intentions, saying he didn’t want to cause pain to anyone. "India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood. But my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music. I have never wished to cause pain and I hope my sincerity is felt. I feel blessed to be Indian, which enables to create a space which always allows freedom of expression and celebrates multicultural voices," he said.
"From nurturing JHALAA, presented at the WAVES Summit in front of the honourable Prime Minister and Rooh-E-Noor, to collaborating with the young Naga musicians to create a string orchestra to mentoring the Sunshine Orchestra, and also building Secret Mountain, India’s first multicultural virtual band and the honour of scoring Ramayana alongside Hans Zimmer, each journey has strengthened my purpose. I remain grateful to this nation and committed to music that honours the past, celebrates the present and inspires the future. Jai Hind and Jai Ho," Rahman concluded.
Several celebs have reacted to his controversial remark, including, journalist Shobhaa De, singer Shaan, Javed Akhtar, and Kangana Ranaut. In fact, the composer's daughters Khatija and Raheema also came out in their father's support. Both of them shared Malayalam music composer Kailas Menon's long note defending Rahman, on their Instagram Stories. "People blaming A. R. Rahman for speaking his mind are missing a basic point. He spoke about how he felt. That is his right. You may disagree with him, but you cannot deny him the freedom to express his experience," it read. The post was titled as, "Disagree, don’t disgrace."
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2026-01-19T13:04:02Z