What struck me most in this conversation with AR Rahman was not his mastery but his humility. He talks openly about fear, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and why he constantly leaves comfort to evolve.
We got into everything, Bombay Dreams, London, Hollywood, Oscars, classical music’s future, AI composition, spiritual surrender, and why consistency matters more than lifestyle.
If you’ve ever wondered how someone stays grounded while being celebrated globally, you should watch this!
Timestamps:
00:00 – Early Life, Bangalore–Chennai Roots
03:17 – Childhood Trauma, Losing His Father & Growing Up in Studios
08:25 – Mother’s Strength, Family Survival & Entering Music Young
10:30 – Playing for Composers, Jingles & Early Experiments
13:30 – Building Panchathan Studio & Mani Ratnam Discovery
24:00 – The 90s Trend Change & Redefining Indian Music
26:36 – Classical Music, Gurus & The Spiritual Side of Art
31:00 – AI, Contrarian Thinking & Beating Predictive Models
34:29 – Talent, Practice, Singing & Evolving at Any Age
40:00 – Global Work: UN, KM Conservatory & Purpose-Driven Projects
43:18 – Fame, Privacy & The Price of Being Recognised
47:15 – Creativity, Tech & DM Collaborations
53:33 – Live Experiences, Theatre & Reinventing Entertainment
56:15 – Meta Glasses & His Passion Project
1:14:12 –His Personal Headspace, Altruism & Religious Beliefs
1:29:40 – Tu Hi Re: The Making, History & Magic Behind the Song
1:35:40 – The Future of Cinema: Immersive Screens, Haptics & Sound
1:43:54 – Final Thoughts: India, Scale, News & What’s On His Mind
#nikhilkamath : Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas
Host of ‘WTF is’ & ‘People By WTF’ Podcast
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#arrahman : Indian musical composer and record producer
Twitter – https://x.com/arrahman
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/arrahman/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/arrahman/
Threads – https://www.threads.com/@arrahman
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50 Comments
Cant thank enough Nikhil. You are incredible. I admire and get inspiration to the most. I love all your podcast.
thankyu soo much nikhil for bringing him n getting him to speak so much..❤❤
@Nikhil plays the guitar well. Good one .
A great climax for an interview ❤
Awesome interview with AR. Man of humbleness ! Lots of LOVE from Tamilians !
Nikhil Sir..
I am very thankful to you that you are connecting us with such a renowned person.
May i request/suggestions that please add hindi captions. It will help us to better..
Hope ❤
Rgd😊
Rahman so poor and couldn't buy petrol… What a pity, feels so sad to hear it and haunting than stories of below poverty people
Why do these podcast interviewers have to be so extra
Hes such a clever guy and very upfront ehich is what i love about Ar Rahman, one thing i have to point out in terms of having picturess woth celebrities, im from London,uk, ans me and friends have met a frw bolkywood celdbs at heathrow airport, i would bd honest the female ones are friendly with their fsns but the males ones are also pushy abd aggressive like hollysoid vdlebs and onr of the most agressivs ones i havd sedn hs arjun rampal, if hd is late for his check in you dont want to get on the wrong dide of him, i giess its like that with any human being though😂
I think maybe we should Ar Rahman in the dituation then what he thinks??
Everyone needs to provide the celebrities their personal space
Loved the conversation.. AR Rahman is a gem and people hardly know about him..thanks Nikhil for this conversation
AR sir you are a living legend
What an enlightening interview with such a great personality. It declutters most of spirituality, music and futuristic possibilities related stuffs. Quite appreciating and people should give some attention to stuff like this and follow the said ones to atleast test in their lives and be inspiration to the coming ones and create such an incredible legacy.
Thanks Mr. Nikhil kamath for this good deep intiative.
I got my PhD on 25th November 2025 🎓. Apart from Laughter yoga, having good coffee and excercise, listening to AR Rahman songs was on my playlist 😄. Made a huge difference. Feeling is amazing. Merry Christmas 🎁🎄 Thank you everyone 🙂
Learning Therapy❤
This is the most I heard Mr AR Rehman speak. What an amazing watch!!!🎉🎉
20:07 Delhi and Hyderabad are not on one side. Bangalore and Delhi are on one side
Great one
A r Rehaman ❤
Great gem Indian music
This interview reminded me of John Keat’s, a thing of beauty is joy forever ! Two beautiful souls, so natural, effortless and authentic, with not a trace of drama or pretence. Just pure, natural grace. Watching them felt refreshing…! 🫠 First timer here at this channel 😊
Best In Class Content I have ever watched, interviewing someone who doesn't speak much in public.
I realise now why some people are so talented, I bow to AR Rahman and his knowledge in what it does and how his conduct his. Thanks Nikhil for getting me so close to my favourite AR Rahman.
I can't help but compare Bollywood stars who are so shallow and bad in their conduct.
I watched the whole episode to listen to the last 3 minutes 🕊️
Meta band idea is truly unique. I think Nikhil took sometime to even get what it was. Amazing
Nikhil, please invite Shri Mohanlal to your podcast, He knows so much if you can bring this much out of ARH, then I am sure it would be a delight to hear you speaking with Shri Mohanlal. Great Going Nikhil
❤
Fuck the host -sit properly respect the legend its podcast not job interview
dumb ah don't talk abt ai and tech when you know sh!t abt it
Hats off to Nikhil and team for making god of music talk so much both interestingly and spiritually
Nikhil Kamath's "People" show's guest list includes:
– Episode 1: Mr. Bill Gates (Microsoft, Gates Foundation)
– Episode 2: Shri Ranbir Kapoor (Mumbai City FC, ARKS apparel, Xolopak, JioSaavan, DroneAcharya, Beco, Gambit, PictureShuru Productions)
– Episode 3: Mr. Nandan Nilekani (Infosys)
– Episode 4: Prof. Yann LeCun (Chief AI Scientist at Meta)
– Episode 5: Mr. Kumar Birla (Birla Group of Industries)
– Episode 6: Shri Narendra Modi (PM of India)
– Episode 7: Mr. Christopher Luxon (PM of New Zealand)
– Episode 8: Mr. Bill Gates (part 2)
– Episode 9: Neal Mohan (YouTube CEO)
– Episode 10: Ted Sarandos (Netflix Co-CEO)
– Episode 11: NiKesh Arora (CEO, Palo Alto Networks)
– Episode 12: Vinod Khosla (Silicone Valley VC, Co-founder of Sun Microsystems)
– Episode 13: Sam Altman (ChatGPT/Open AI CEO)
– Episode 14: Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO)
– Episode 15: AR Rahman (Genius who stepped up Indian Music to the world)
– Episode 16: Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, X .com, The Boring Company, Neuralink, Zip2, OpenAI, Solar city, PayPal)
one with Arjit please
A.R.R sir is living legend, who teach us you keep on learning, evolve, be successful and learn go on be example to others
.. be consistent
Why is Nikhil's face so blank to whatever the guest is saying. He is like a zombie. Could do better. Does he know how big ARR is? I doubt
you cannot COMPARE Sanathan Dharma with Abrahamic religions you can be a atheist and still be a sanathani
ARR has no clue about Islam sufi or any sect are the same they hate Kaffirs !!!! It's only that ARR has been duped if he reads the Quran and Hadiths there is no way he will be in this cult, But he cannot leave as we all know what happens if u leave Islam !!!
He should be given Bharat ratna…..bcz he truly is…!!
Invite Lucky Ali please
Best part : 21:30
1:27:00 ARR couldn't define spirituality. He thinks morality is spirituality and Nikhil asked the right question in the same lines.
" There's nothing spiritual about Islam. If you try really hard you can maybe say 1% of it is spiritual. Rest is nonsense – OSHO "
Great to see the depth in ARR thought process and futuristic ideas… Kudos to NK for making ARR to open-up naturally and share his thoughts🤩
Respect! So much humility and patriotism ❤
And that's the reason we watch Rahman the words, the music and how my childhood became wholesome…❤ Watching an emotionally content person speaking and how to approach situations and raaga… You just want to pause and let that sink in.
Wonderful. Insightful. Saw a different side of Rehman. Great podcast ❤
If this would have been Raj , Beer Biceps or any other podcasts, questions would have been Tell 3 goods things about working with Aamir , 3 for Shahrukh, Sing Vande Mataram please, What's your equation with Imtiaz or Salman Khan. Oscars mein Jake kaisa laga.😂😂 Gossip questions.
It was like forrest gump, I never wanted it to end
Legendary Podcast! and What a song…This acoustic version of TERE ISHQ ME in ARR's voice is even better than the original one in the movie album sung by Arijit…. I have played it like a hundred times. I wish he releases an acoustic slow version in his voice as a song.🤞🏻😍
the genius music director
Superbly conducted and seamlessly covered so so many important points
Ad nhi aa rhe … Monotize bhi nhi kr rakha sayad 😂
@nikil you are the only one podcaster who makes the podcast real and simple and authentic. I don’t watch anyone else’s podcast and only yours and can spend any amount of time complete my watch. Kudos to you ❤