AR Rahman almost REJECTED 'Slumdog Millionaire'; reveals why project gave him sleepless nights

We all remember AR Rahman's Oscar-winning run with 'Slumdog Millionaire', but did you know that the music maestro almost passed on the golden opportunity to score the film.

Speaking at TIFF 2025, the composer recalled how his then-manager discouraged him from taking it up. “Actually, what happened was my agent at that time said, ‘Don’t do this because you might get fired,’” Rahman shared. But instead of giving in to fear, Rahman followed his instincts and revealed, “I said, ‘Okay, nobody will know that I got fired if I don’t tell it out'. So, I scored the movie, and Danny was amazing.”


Rahman admitted that he even worked on the film in complete secrecy. “The team thought it was a documentary or something like that. It brought in a bigger international audience for me. In life, you get certain projects which are very blessed.”

AR Rahman says sometimes people confuse you

Rahman credited Danny Boyle’s vision for giving him the courage to move forward. “Sometimes, people confuse you, but you have to think about what you have to do, what is right,” he explained. What followed was historic as 'Jai Ho' became an anthem, and he bagged two Academy Awards.

Rahman's struggles with perfectionism

Beyond the glitz of awards, Rahman confessed to a relentless pursuit of self-approval. “Please myself? Yes. I torture myself. I am not seeking validation. My validation,, which I seek, is within myself. If I do something under my level, I feel guilty. I don’t sleep for many nights.”

He admitted that even technical details like mixing can keep him up at night for weeks. “The problem with life is that – the more you evolve, the more guilty you feel, the more you want to go deep in within your work.”

On the other hand, AR Rahman's previous outing was in Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life'.