Few months back, acclaimed music composer AR Rahman had found himself in the middle of a controversy after he suggested during an interview that communal bias has seeped into the entertainment industry. It sparked a wave of reactions from people across the music and film industries. Now, singer Rabbi Shergill, known for songs like ‘Bulla Ki Jaana’ and ‘Tere Bin’, has come in support of Rahman’s comments stating that the concerns they raise is impossible to brush aside in the current climate.
When asked to respond to Rahman’s comments on The Life Savers Show, Rabbi said, “I don’t know in what context he said it, but how can you deny that right now? How can you deny the communal angle?”
The singer also spoke about “propaganda cinema” and claimed that a lot of film financing has gone into that direction. “I can’t specifically say it’s there in the music industry because I don’t live in Mumbai or interact with those people daily. But a lot of film financing has gone into what many would call propaganda cinema,” he said.
Rabbi gave examples of films like The Kashmir Files (2022) and The Kerala Story (2023). “These are political films and they don’t necessarily present an unbiased view of things. So, if Rahman is saying this, I think you have to take him at his word. It probably does exist, and that’s one of the biggest problems of our times. It’s not just India; it’s happening across the world,” he said.
The singer also went into a broader analysis of the global political mood. Asked whether what he was describing was part of a larger worldwide shift, he said the question answered itself. “Absolutely. If you look back to the 1960s, left-leaning politics was influential across much of the world. Today, if you look around, you see right-wing governments and ideologies becoming more dominant in many countries. Maybe it’s cyclical and things will change again, but right now nobody is immune to these global currents,” he said.
“Just look around our neighbourhood. Pakistan has changed dramatically over the decades. China is deeply ideological. Sri Lanka too has become increasingly driven by ideology. It’s difficult not to conclude that politics everywhere is moving in this direction,” he said.
Earlier this year Rahman came under the line of fire over his comments. In an chat with BBC, when AR Rahman was asked whether he had faced any “prejudice within the Hindi film landscape”, he said, “Maybe I never get to know of this, maybe it was concealed but I didn’t feel any of this. Maybe in the past eight years because a power shift has happened and people who are not creative have the power now. It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face. It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their 5 composers. I say good, I have more time to chill with my family. I am not in search for work. I don’t want to go in search for work. I want work to come to me; my sincerity to earn work. Whatever I deserve, I get.”