Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has spoken about an interesting moment while making the 2011 film ‘Rockstar’. He shared that music composer AR Rahman he thought of doing it once Ranbir Kapoor sing all the songs in the movie. Rahman asked if Ranbir could sing and he was ready to record the entire album. However, when Imtiaz told Ranbir about the idea, the actor “freaked out” because he can’t sing.
Imtiaz recalls a funny conversation with Ali Rahman
Imtiaz took to Instagram to share an audio note, giving fans a glimpse into a fun conversation he had with AR Rahman during the making of ‘Rockstar’. He recalled how Rahman pitched the idea to Ranbir to sing all the songs in the film, and both he and Ranbir quickly shut it down. “I remember AR Rahman sir asked me during Rockstar if Ranbir sings. If he could, Mr. Rahman thought it would be a great idea to sing all the Rockstar songs. And I said, ‘No sir. Please don’t go in that direction either.’ And Rahman said, “Let’s see how good or bad it is.” I told Ranbir, and Ranbir was more shocked than me and said, ‘No, please. I never want to sing in front of him.’ So that didn’t happen.”Eventually, the makers went ahead with professional playback singers for the film. The ‘Rockstar’ soundtrack had 14 songs Irshad Kamil writing letters Mohit Chauhan lent his voice to nine songs, which became the soul of the film’s music. Composed by AR Rahman, the album went on to become one of the most loved soundtracks of Indian cinema.
How Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Rockstar’ opened doors for actors to sing in Imtiaz’s films
He also stated that even though the idea didn’t work out for Rockstar, it opened the door for actors to sing in his future films. Over the years, several actors have taken to the microphone in their projects, including Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjhand Parineeti Chopra. “In the next film, Alia became the first actress in my film to sing playback and that was really amazing. Then there was Parineeti and Diljit who sang in Chamkila. And now there is Diljit who sings in Main Vapas Aaunga. But the fresh news is of course that young man. Vedang Raina he is singing his part in the song Maskara. And he got that because of merit.”
How Vedang Raina got her big singing moment in Imtiaz Ali’s film
Ali also revealed how Vedang Raina ended up singing in the film, sharing the story behind the happy coincidence that made it all happen. He said: “I found out that Vedang sings. I’m very excited about the actors who can sing because it’s my dream to do a musical where the actors are singing and acting and dancing and recording it all live. I’m very excited when the actors can sing and make music. So I listened and asked Vedang. This is long before we started filming. Vedang sent some of his songs and they were very nice. He happened to be in the office when Hiral, who works with Mr. Rahman, who is the music director of this film, visited him. We were talking about the mask song. And then while we were going through the tune, Vedang was there. Being a music person, he was interested. Hiral asked him if he sings. We asked him to sing those parts.”“He was playing notes and then we invited him to come to Mr. Rahman’s studio that night. And he was singing there. And he was very strict, he was a little nervous. But he wanted to do well and it was a huge thing for him. I saw him touch his ears when Mr. Rahman’s name was called. But everyone is amazed, and now Rahman is amazed. Maskara part of Vedang,” said Imtiaz Ali.
