AR Rahman: Indian composer faces backlash for ‘bias’ in Bollywood remarks

The Oscar-winning musical composer faces backlash from right-wing Hindus for saying he lost work due to ‘communal bias’ in Bollywood.AR Rahman won Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009 [File: Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]Published On 19 Jan 2026New Delhi, India – Allah Rakha Rahman, popularly known as AR Rahman, is undoubtedly India’s most famous composer. He has won some of the world’s most coveted musical awards – including Oscars, Grammys and a Golden Globe. His song Jai Ho (May You Win), which won him an Oscar, became a celebrated anthem. The 59-year-old “Mozart of Madras” has also been honoured with Padma Vibhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, for his contribution to music.But last week, when Rahman, a man of few words, shared in a TV interview that he potentially has lost work due to “communal” bias in Bollywood, India’s Hindi film industry, he was subjected to a massive online backlash from Hindu right-wing voices.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Diljit Dosanjh’s new film is a global success. Why can’t Indians watch it?list 2 of 3MF Husain was forced into exile; now his work finds permanent home in Qatarlist 3 of 3Why a Bollywood spy film sparked a political storm in India and Pakistanend of list“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,” Rahman told the BBC Asian Network in the interview aired on Friday.“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 said in the 90-minute interview.Right-wing commentators and activists questioned Rahman’s patriotism and talent, accusing him of playing the “victim card”.Vinod Bansal from the far-right organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded an apology from Rahman for “defaming” the country.“We are proud of him and whatever he has done for the country. But for someone who has earned his living from the Indian industry, the way he is trying to defame the country is highly objectionable,” he told Al Jazeera.Barring a few outspoken voices, industry insiders have closed ranks, offering no solidarity and distancing themselves from the remarks.Within a day, the composer was forced to tender an explanation amid an unrelenting stream of social media trolling. In a video posted to his Instagram account, Rahman said: “I understand that intentions can sometimes be misunderstood, but my purpose has always been to uplift, honour and serve through music.”He stressed that he remained grateful to the nation and noted that he had thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support of India’s entertainment industry and young creatives and was working on the background score for the upcoming film Ramayana, based on the Hindu epic, with German composer Hans Zimmer.Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan speak on stage during the ‘EAST TO WEST: The Global Rise of Bollywood’ panel at the 2025 Joy Forum at SEF Arena on October 17, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The three Khans have been Bollywood’s leading figures for the past three decades [Amal Alhasan/Getty Images for GEA]Rising religious intolerance in IndiaBut the backlash on social media continued for days, bringing into the spotlight the struggle of being a Muslim amid rising religious intolerance in India.“Incredible to see Rahman being moved from the good Muslim to the bad Muslim category overnight,” Indian journalist Fatima Khan posted on X.“Almost every Muslim public figure in India has had or will have the penny drop moment. No matter how many patriotic songs, movies or tweets. They’ll all live through the cruelty of it.”Online trolling helps manufacture majoritarian consent, according to Debasish Roy Chowdhury, coauthor of To Kill a Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism.He argued that when enough noise is generated on social media, it seeps into mainstream coverage and starts to look like the dominant social mood.“The loudest voices then drown out tolerance and reason until hate is all that is heard and can be falsely claimed as representative of society,” said Roy Chowdhury, who has written about Bollywood being used as a propaganda tool.India has seen the rise of anti-Muslim violence under the rule of Prime Minister Modi [File: Sajjad Hussain/AFP]Hindu right’s influence on art and cinemaRahman isn’t known for being outspoken about politics or talking about his Muslim identity. He has worked on a fair share of nationalist films, including Roja, released in 1992 and celebrated for its patriotic themes and portrayal of the armed rebellion in India-administered Kashmir in the 1990s.Rahman’s 1997 song Maa Tujhe Salam (Salute to You, Mother) on his album Vande Mataram was seen as unifying the diverse nation of 1.4 billion people.The composer started his career in the southern Tamil film industry. He is based in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.The Oscar winner’s comments last week raised questions about the Hindu right’s influence on art and cinema in India, particularly in Bollywood.The Hindi film industry has been called out for producing films that echo Hindu supremacist narratives, works that vilify Muslims and secular leaders, or even glorify Hindu extremists.Some argued that this has happened because of a sustained culture war on Bollywood, pressuring it to abandon its pluralist, liberal ethos and pushing it towards Hindu majoritarian narratives, aligning cinema closely with the ruling party ideology.The Kashmir Files (2022) triggered anti-Muslim hate across India while the Kerala Story (2023) was accused of spreading Islamophobia by portraying Muslims as potential “terrorists”.More recently, Rahman composed music for the film Chhaava, which was accused of demonizing Muslims. The film portrayed Mughal ruler Aurangzeb as a brutal and violent ruler. Rahman, in his BBC interview, admitted the film was “divisive”.‘Vilification of Muslims’Raja Sen, a screenwriter and film critic, said: “We’re seeing a kind of vilification of Muslims on our screens.”“Earlier, it was just like an anti-Pakistan narrative. Now, there’s a different kind of narrative,” he told Al Jazeera.Hindi cinema has traditionally cast Pakistan as the enemy, focusing on topics of war, ‘”terror” and espionage, which are shaped by decades of hostility. The two neighbouring countries have fought several wars over the disputed Kashmir region. They were briefly engaged in a four-day war in May after gunmen killed 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir.Films that once centred on a foreign adversary now increasingly frame Indian Muslims as an internal threat.Sen claimed that a major filmmaker changed an upcoming film’s Muslim protagonist’s name to a Hindu name, fearing controversy.“They must have thought, why make the protagonist, a good, heroic guy, a Muslim. It’s perhaps similar to what used to happen in post-9/11 America in terms of how the stereotyping was being done,” Sen added.Bollywood’s once largely secular ethos presented Muslim characters as positive, even if stereotypical. They were loyal friends, brothers or benevolent poets and singers in films like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Coolie (1983).In recent years, however, Muslims increasingly have appeared as debauched (Animal), regressive (Haq), “terrorist” (A Wednesday) or violent (Kalank), mirroring post-9/11 Hollywood films when Muslim identity became shorthand for danger or moral deficiency.Dilip Kumar (real name Yusuf Khan – right) was India’s biggest star during the 1950s and 1960s [File: KK/FY/WS]Muslim stars targetedMuslim actors, filmmakers and other artists have played a central role in shaping Hindi cinema from its early days to the present.The prominence of stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan has often been cited as evidence of Bollywood’s secular credentials and broad appeal.Yet in recent years, the country’s biggest Muslim stars have increasingly found themselves targeted. This has not happened only over their films but also for their opinions expressed publicly on religious intolerance.Aamir Khan’s films have repeatedly faced boycott calls from right-wing Hindu groups, including his 2014 film PK for critiquing organised religion, including Hinduism and Islam, and 2022’s Laal Singh Chaddha for his past remarks on intolerance.Aamir Khan had to reassure people that he “really loved his country”. He has also been accused of promoting love jihad, a conspiracy theory accusing Muslim men of marrying Hindu women to convert them, a charge amplified by a televised interview with news anchor Rajat Sharma, who questioned him about marrying Hindu women.Shah Rukh Khan has been targeted on multiple occasions for remarks and professional choices. In 2015, he was branded “anti-national” for mentioning intolerance. He was also subjected to campaigns questioning his patriotism when his son, Aryan Khan, was arrested in a drugs case in 2021 despite the charges later being dropped.More recently, he was labelled a traitor by a ruling party member after his Indian Premier League cricket team signed a Bangladeshi player. The Kolkata Knight Riders, co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, dropped the Bangladeshi player amid tensions between the two countries.In recent years, rights organisations and independent monitors have documented what they described as a systematic campaign of hate and discrimination against Muslims in India, who make up about 14 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion people.According to the India Hate Lab Report 2025, there has been a sharp rise in antiminority hate speech – from 668 reported incidents in 2023 to more than 1,300 in 2025 – much of it voiced at political rallies, processions and public events that is then amplified online into mainstream discourse.Human rights groups like Amnesty International have also documented demolitions targeting Muslim-owned businesses and homes in several states.Beyond studies, lived accounts and news coverage point to systematic exclusion in everyday life from difficulties finding rental housing to practising religion and being lynched over accusations of transporting cow, considered sacred by some Hindus.‘A chilling effect’Such backlash has a chilling effect. Artists said creative freedom in Hindi cinema has narrowed markedly in recent years, mostly by the anticipation of a backlash. Silence and self-censorship, some feel, have become critical for survival in the film industry today.“Since 2014, there has been a group within the film industry that works within the influence of government and benefits from it, that boldly and aggressively underlines and creates many of these controversies,” filmmaker Avinash Das said.Das revealed how, on several occasions, producers refused to work with him after they found out about his criticism of the government.He pointed out that a 1983 satirical film, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, which depicted a Hindu religious performance, cannot be made now.According to him, cinema is not just an art form but a business shaped by risk, which makes filmmakers and producers wary of anything that could be seen as controversial. The same extends to those who speak out.Indian celebrities seem to be bound by the same code of silence, which explains why so few, regardless of whether they are Hindu or Muslim, speak publicly about the country’s current direction.Roy Chowdhury said Bollywood contrasts sharply with Hollywood, where open dissent by celebrities, even disparaging remarks about United States President Donald Trump, is fairly commonplace.“But for Muslim celebrities in India, the constraints are even tighter because in new India, Muslims are not meant to be heard,” Roy Chowdhury told Al Jazeera. “They are expected to be voiceless and faceless. They are expected to lurk in the fringes and not take the spotlight.”