New Delhi: On social media, a video of composer AR Rahman instructing his wife to speak in Tamil rather than Hindi during an awards ceremony has gone viral. Rahman received recognition at the most recent Vikatan Cinema Awards, and he asked his wife Saira Banu to speak briefly and accept the trophy with him.
Rahman's wife became emotional when he thanked her and walked readily towards the stage on being invited by her husband. Rahman gave her a hug and encouraged her to speak briefly before presenting the prize. However, as she was ready to begin, he interrupted her in Tamil, saying, "Please speak in Tamil, not Hindi."
Saira smiled at Rahman and said, "Sorry, I can’t speak fluently in Tamil. So, please excuse me. I am super happy and excited because his voice is my favourite. I fell in love with his voice. That’s all I can say.”
Here's the video of A R Rahman and his wife at the award function:
Rahman has argued in favour of the Tamil language despite having worked in several sectors and producing music in numerous languages.
The Tamil national anthem, Tamil Thai Vaazhthu, was written by Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai and composed by MS Viswanathan. When Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that residents of different states should communicate with one another in Hindi rather than English, Rahman shared an illustration of "Thamizhanangu" of "Goddess Tamil" from the song.
In 1995, Rahman and Saira were united in marriage, arranged by his mother. Several years ago, he admitted to Simi Garewal on her chat show that he didn't have time to look for a spouse. He said, "To be honest, I didn’t have time to go and search for a bride. I was doing all these films and Rangeela in Bombay so I was so busy in that. But, I knew it was the right time for me to get married. I was 29 and I told my mother. I said, ‘find me a bride’.”
ALSO READ: Zeenat Aman Recalls How She Got Hare Ram, Hare Krishna: 'Dev Anand Persuaded My Mother...'