Music maestro AR Rahman
expressed his gratitude saying that he was fortunate to have some of the best
mentors in his career. As ambassador of BAFTA’s ‘Breakthrough Initiative’ he
conveyed his wishes to offer the same help to up-and-coming talent from India.
The British Academy of Film and
Television Arts’ (BAFTA) announced Rahman as its ambassador in India on Monday with
the aim to scout talent from across the Indian entertainment industry.
The initiative, supported by
Netflix, aims to recognise and support up to five talents working in film,
games, or TV industry in India.
Also Read | Music composer AR Rahman named BAFTA Breakthrough India ambassador
The double Oscar-winner said he
would not only drive BAFTA across the diverse creative landscape of the country
but also spread awareness about the organization and its work.
“My role is to curate and along with the
(other) judges find those amazing and original voices from India. We nurture
them for a year. There is networking opportunity, mentorship, screenings and
workshops. When these talents interact with the BAFTA breakthrough mentors, a
lot of things change. They get nudged,” Rahman told PTI in an interview.
He hoped his experience as a
producer and a composer all across the north and south film industries in the
past 20 years would count for something and help him unearth amazing talents.
Asked about his early years as
a budding musician and the questions he faced, Rahman said in his experience,
the best guidance comes from one’s own self.
“You need to have instinct, be
conscious that I need to push myself and find my own voice and be original.
When you have all these questions, opportunities will find you,” he said.
Recollecting his success as an
artist with Mani Ratnam’s 1992 film “Roja” in India and internationally through
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ‘Bombay Dreams’, Rahman said that his career was
like cascading process.
“It was a gradual process for me,” he said
adding that with time he understood what a composer meant, how was supposed to
behave and understand one’s self-worth.
“These are the things that I
learnt through collaborations… I was lucky enough to get best mentors.”
Rahman said even though Indian music went international long ago, the country
needs to come together to keep up the good work.
“We have reached the stage of making Indian music popular
globally long back. (Still) we have to put our act together; we have to be
united. The whole India has to come together and we have to be one to achieve
greatness,” he said.