Criticism is the reason why I'm alive in the industry: AR Rahman
Mumbai, Dec 16: Music maestro AR Rahman believes the reason for his longevity and success in the music industry is the fact that he takes criticism in his stride.
The 51-year-old Oscar-winning composer said even though reviews matter to him he does not let the negativity affect him.
"Sometimes it is good to take criticism. Some of it is venomous while some of it is beautiful, there is concerned criticism as well. And all this is one of the reason why I am staying alive today, otherwise I would have gone. You have to be open (to criticism).
"Sometimes they are your teachers but some stuff are not good. Today because of Twitter and everything is in your face, I don't see it (comments) sometimes. We don't have to creatively nudge ourselves, you have to be in your own zone and do your best," Rahman told PTI.
The music director believes it is important to be honest towards his work.
"For me it is about longevity and it comes from integrity. If I am honest with my work, I am right. If I am dishonest then I deserve whatever comes my way. If I fail even after being honest, I take it sportingly. My integrity is important, have I given my full to it or not?" he said.
Rahman said his aim as a composer is to provide audience with the music they need and not what they want him to create.
"It is not about being authoritative, I will give what you need than what you want."
The music director, known for his experimental approach towards music, said he does not surrender to a trend.
"There is a trend that comes and goes. As long as you are receptive about it and enjoy it, it is good. This is your profession, this is your life. It is nice to understand new trends. I adapt these things in my own way," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Chhattisgarh coal levy scam: Rs 4 crore assets of suspended IAS officer attached
Raipur (PTI): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has attached properties of Rs 4 crore belonging to suspended IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, an accused in a coal levy scam, for allegedly amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, officials said.
The EOW had registered a disproportionate assets case against Vishnoi in July 2024, an official release said on Saturday.
During the investigation, the agency identified nine immovable properties, valued at around Rs 4 crore, allegedly acquired through illicit means in the names of Vishnoi’s family members and associated firms, it said.
“An application seeking attachment of these properties was filed before the Special Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Raipur. Following a hearing on April 17, the court ordered attachment of all such properties,” the statement said.
Accordingly, the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing attached the properties. The attached properties cannot be sold or transferred, it said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier provisionally attached five immovable properties linked to Vishnoi in connection with the coal levy scam, it added.
Proceedings are also underway in cases involving other public servants, including action taken in September last year against properties linked to Saumya Chaurasia, who was deputy secretary in the chief minister’s office during the Congress government, the statement said.
Vishnoi, a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, was first arrested in 2022 by the ED in connection with the alleged coal levy scam. He was among several accused who were granted bail last year by the Supreme Court.
The case refers to an alleged Rs 540 crore racket between July 2020 and June 2022, when an illegal levy of Rs 25 per tonne was being extorted by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen for every tonne of coal transported in the state.
