‘I respect what AR Rahman ji has shared’: Anup Jalota on composer’s ‘communal’ remark

3 min readMumbaiJun 30, 2026 06:55 PM IST

Anup Jalota weighs in on AR Rahman's "communal" remarks.

Veteran singer Anup Jalota has now weighed in on AR Rahman’s claims from earlier this year that over the past eight years, the Grammy Award-winning composer has less work coming his way in Bollywood, attributing it to a “communal thing.” Jalota said while he respects Rahman’s remarks, his experience has been very different, where music has always played a unifying role.

What Anup Jalota said

“I have always believed that music belongs to everyone, and rises above religion, caste, and every other identity. Throughout my career, I have worked with musicians, composers, and artists from diverse backgrounds, and I have always been treated with warmth and respect. Every individual has their own experiences, and I respect what AR Rahman ji has shared,” Anup Jalota said in a recent interview.

“Personally, however, my journey has reinforced my belief that music has the unique ability to unite people where many other things divide them,” he added while speaking to the Times of India.

AR Rahman’s remarks and clarification

In January earlier this year, asked if he faced any prejudice in the Hindi film industry when he started out in the 1990s, AR Rahman told BBC Asian Network, “Maybe I didn’t get to know all this stuff. Maybe God concealed all this stuff. But for me I never felt any of those, but the past eight years, maybe, because the power shift has happened.”

“People who are not creative have the power now to decide things, and this might have been a communal thing also, but not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you, but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers. I said, ‘Oh that’s great, rest for me, I can chill out with my family’,” he added.

He also opened up on composing the music for a “divisive” movie like Laxman Utekar’s period war drama Chhaava, staring Vicky Kaushal, last year. “It is divisive. I think it cashed on the divisiveness of it, but I think the core of it is to show the bravery,” said the composer, adding, “But I definitely think people are smarter than that. Do you think people are going to get influenced by movies? They have something called internal conscience which knows what the truth is and what manipulation is.”

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After his comments invited widespread backlash online, AR Rahman posted a video in which he clarified his intention was to never undermine the unity of India. “India is my inspiration, my teacher and my home. I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood, but my purpose has always been to uplift, honour ,and serve through music,” he said.