A video of singer-composer AR Rahman telling his wife to speak in Tamil rather than Hindi during an awards ceremony has gone viral. Rahman won an award at the recent Vikatan Cinema Awards, and he asked his wife Saira Banu to say a few words and accept the award with him. However, Rahman instructed her to talk in Tamil instead of Hindi, although his wife is not fluent in Tamil.
As seen in the video, AR Rahman was on stage with his wife Saira Banu during the award function in Chennai and the anchor requested Saira to say a few words. Saira who was about to speak, was interrupted by Rahman who said, “Speak in Tamil and not in Hindi”, to this the audience there could be seen laughing. Although Saira looked visibly uncomfortable, she decided to speak in English and apologized to the audience present there saying that she cannot speak Tamil fluently, and then goes on to praise her husband’s voice.
“Good evening everyone, sorry, I can’t speak fluently in Tamil, so please excuse me. I am super super happy, excited because his voice is my favorite. I fell in love with his voice. That’s all I can say,” Saira said on stage.
Notably, AR Rahman had been in controversy for allegedly mocking an anchor earlier in 2021 for using Hindi at a promotional event. While covering the event, the anchors primarily used Tamil to ask questions; however, one anchor also spoke Hindi. Rahman was startled to hear Hindi and walked off the stage in reaction. Rahman, however, clarified that he was just joking as he left the stage.
On the work front, AR Rahman is looking forward to the release of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus “Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2,” which stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Chiyaan Vikram in the lead roles. On April 28, 2023, the movie will be released in theatres across five different languages. Arijit Singh and Benny Dayal have sung the Hindi anthem song for the movie, and AR Rahman composed the music.