Rahman is a legend: Director Baz Luhrmann

‘Moulin Rouge’ director Baz Luhrmann’s fascination with B-wood has resulted in him creating several desi style productions
To the West, he’s the director of “Romeo + Juliet” and “Australia”, but to us, Baz Luhrmann is the guy who used the song “Chamma Chamma” in his film “Moulin Rouge”.
Even though Baz has always spoken of his fascination for India and all things desi, we never knew just how captivated he was, till we met him in Delhi last year.Baz, along with his friend Vincent Fantauzzo had come to India for a “creative adventure trip” and traveled across Delhi and Mumbai on Royal Enfield bikes, clicking pictures that were later auctioned for charity in the capital. At that time, Baz had told us, “I first came to India 15 years ago with my wife. We wanted to do a stage production of Benjamin Britten’s version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. This is the visit when I was also influenced by Bollywood and felt the need to integrate elements from it in my work.” A year later, the integration seems complete, as he is now working with Amitabh Bachchan on “The Great Gatsby”.
In 2010, he’d also met AR Rahman and had said, “Rahman is a legend and it is a privilege to have met him. We are looking for opportunities to work together and it will be a wonderful experience to work with him.”