Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya Bashes AR Rahman For ‘Unsystematic’ Work Ethics

Bollywood singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya is no stranger to controversies. He recently shared his not-so-positive work experience with Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman. The two had collaborated on only one song, “Ae Nazneen Suno Na,” from the 1999 movie Dil Hi Dil Mein, which featured Sonali Bendre and Kunal Singh.

Sharing an anecdote from the past, Abhijeet stated that Rahman kept delaying the song’s recording, and when it happened he wasn’t even present at the studio. In an interview with Bollywood Thikana, the singer was asked the reason behind working with AR Rahman only once. Replying to the question, he said, “During that time, I was getting calls from all the major composers. Anu Malik would be on the line, and then Anand-Milind would call, and then Jatin-Lalit would call. I was busy dubbing all the time. I went (to meet Rahman) and was left waiting at the hotel.”

He continued, “I decided that I can’t keep waiting, and that we could record in the morning. At 2 am, I get a call summoning me to the studio. Am I crazy? I said that I was asleep. I went in the morning, but he was not there. They don’t have the habit of working at regular hours. I’m used to working in a systematic manner. Now, in the name of creativity, if you say that you will record at 3:33 am, I don’t get it.”

Further, Abhijeet shared that Rahman’s assistant was present on that day as in charge of the recording. He added, “Because of the air-conditioning in my room, I had a cold. But he insisted that I sing. I’ve done a lot of hit songs for super-flop movies, and this was one of them. Nobody watched the film. The song belongs to Rahman,” he said, giving credit where it’s due. He added, “I kept asking for Rahman, but didn’t get a firm answer. An artiste doesn’t become big or small by doing these things… I was told that I should have waited for him and left later. But I told them that I had prior commitments.”