AR Rahman explains why he left stage as anchor spoke in Hindi at 99 Songs event, jokes ‘it saved us a lot of money’
Last month, a video of AR Rahman walking off the stage at an event after the anchor spoke in Hindi went viral. Now, he has explained his actions in a new interview.
Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman explained why he walked off the stage last month, during a promotional event for 99 Songs. He is the co-writer and producer of 99 Songs. Explaining his apparent displeasure with the anchor speaking in Hindi at a launch event, he said that it was a ‘joke’ and not meant to be taken seriously.
In a viral video, after the anchor posed a question to 99 songs lead star Ehan Bhat in Hindi, Rahman could be seen exclaiming, “Hindi?”, and walking off the stage, as the crowd cheered.
Now, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Rahman explained his actions. “What happened is, we are doing a three language launch. Hindi is already launched and we are coming to Tamil Nadu. So there are certain kinds of protocol on the stage. We are talking to Tamil audiences who are already saying that Ehan is very fair. So I told her (the anchor) to speak in Tamil and follow the protocol,” he said.
“I think she wanted to be kind to Ehan and he understands Hindi better and so she talked in Hindi. So I said, ‘Hindi?’ and I had to leave the stage. After that other people had to come on stage. So people put this one and one two and that I got angry. It was a joke. It was not meant to be serious. I think it saved us a lot of money by becoming viral, spreading Ehan’s and my face,” he added.
After walking off the stage, Rahman could be seen smiling in the video as he teased the anchor in Tamil, “Didn’t I ask you already if you speak in Tamil or not?” and added, “I'm joking.” She replied that it was ‘always a pleasure to be trolled by the maestro’.
99 Songs will release in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on April 16. Presented by Jio Studios, the film is produced by AR Rahman’s production company YM Movies and co-produced by Ideal Entertainment.
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