No. It is each artist bringing his own unique personality to the anthem. We have not changed anything; it is the anthem we are all familiar with. But each artist, when rendering it through his or her voice or musical instrument, brings a unique personality, a unique soul, to that rendition and that is what makes each track stand out. It is not that we have improvised or anything -- you cannot tamper with it, it is the national anthem and belongs to the country, not to you, so you cannot do anything improvisational with it.

As a youngster, you played music, then you composed it for many years and for many films. But increasingly, there is a sense you get when reviewing your recent work that you want to move on, do different things. Is that what you feel, or is it just our perception?

I am an open person; I don't stick within the box. For me, music is an expression and it is also a messenger; so sometimes it is a statement I want to make through my music. Like, you know, I wanted to do that anthem, Pray for Me Brother, as part of the fight against poverty. When I worked on it, I tried to say it, to make my statement, in such a friendly way that you don't want to switch it off. It is like a love song, so if you take that example, there is a statement I want to make, and also a means of making that statement in the kind of composition I chose to create, and that is all intentional.

In an interview dating back six years, you spoke of how boring it could get doing the same thing over and over again, of how you sometimes combat that boredom by occasionally adding layers to your songs, then erasing them, tinkering with your music. Is this also a way of ensuring that you don't become creatively stagnant?

Yes, it is in a way. But also, you tinker because you never know when the magic happens. Sometimes, when you think you have finished a song, it is almost being born. You could get to the very end of your composition, and there you could find an idea that is the heart of your song. This idea then prompts you to rework the entire song, you scrap what you have done and start all over again.

So there is no real full stop for creativity, till we say okay, now we are going to release this, let's give them the master. And even then, it is possible that after mastering the song, fresh ideas occur to you, and the temptation to rework it a bit more -- but if by then they have shot it, then of course, that is that.

Does that happen to you, that you release a song, and then realise maybe that you could have done something different, or better?

Actually, I don't judge my work. Music is a divine thing. It is not something you do, it is something that comes to you. You need to value this gift; you cannot keep judging and condemning it. I do have a critical point of view of my own work, but at the same time, I also respect it because I believe I am just being a tube, a pipe for the music to flow through, or an engine that makes it happen. The fuel always comes from above, so I respect that, I respect my work.

Also Read: A R Rahman on SRK, Guru and music

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