He calls the controversy over music conductor Zubin Mehta's concert in Srinagar held recently as unfortunate where Mehta and his team were issued death threats by the separatists. One of the Muslim clerics even declared that music is 'un-islamic.' A. R. Rahman feels that Zubin Mehta's concert was good news as it was different from what we usually keep on hearing about shootouts and failed peace talks in the valley and on the border.
`I would perform there only if an opportunity arose and Kashmiris want me to perform, but not at the cost of a controversy,` adds A. R. Rahman.
The musician is a master in different genres like Indian classical, western classical, folk and pop. He says that when one likes music and respects its form, he will like to go deeper into it and study and learn it. One can experiment with the different genres of music but shall not mess with it, he adds.
Talking about pressure by the fundamentalists in Kashmir, A. R. Rahman says that life is all about pressure. Let us see how the things develop.