Composer AR Rahman has taken a firm stance against the increasing trend of song remixes and “reimaginations.” In a recent interview, he expressed strong disapproval of this practice and highlighted the potential dangers of using artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry.

While remixing has been a part of Hindi music since the late ’90s, Rahman noted that it has evolved in recent years, with songs as recent as five to six years old being reworked. He stated, “You can’t take a song from a movie and use it in another movie six years later, saying you are reimagining it,” emphasizing the need for respect toward original works.

Rahman believes that while reimagined songs can be shared on social media, they should not be commercialized. He remarked, “You can’t reimagine people’s work without their permission. You could post it on Instagram, but certainly not make it mainstream.” He has personally encountered this trend, most notably with his 1995 classic “Humma Humma,” which was remixed as “The Humma Song” in the 2017 film OK Jaanu. Ironically, although he composed the score for the film, he was not involved in the remix process.

Beyond remixing, Rahman raised alarms about AI’s role in music, labeling it as “evil.” He warned, “An even bigger evil is people misusing AI and not paying the composer even if they are borrowing his style. We need to bell this cat because it could lead to major ethical issues. People could lose jobs.” Recently, Rahman scored for the Tamil film Raayan and Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila, with upcoming projects including Chhava and Thug Life.

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