AR Rahman reveals Michael Jackson almost sang for Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran

Oscar-winning composer, AR Rahman has revealed that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson almost sang for Shankar's film Enthiran which costarred Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the lead.

Rahman recently took part in a fan meet and greet event where he spoke about his meeting with the legendary pop star months before his death.

In a video by Free Malaysia Today, Rahman revealed how he met Jackson shortly after winning an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire.

Rahman revealed he was in Los Angeles, USA, in early 2009 when he met someone who managed Michael.

"I asked if I could meet him. An email was sent out but there was no response for a week. Then, I got nominated for the Oscars (for Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire). Michael’s team said he wanted to meet me. I said, I don’t want to meet him now. I’ll meet him when I’ve won an Oscar,” said Rahman.

When he did win the Oscar, he explained the feeling as ‘top of the world’. “I met him at a home in LA the day after I won it. He was very kind, we spoke about music and world peace. He said, why don’t we do the next We Are The World, introduced me to his kids. He even showed me how he dances from the heart,” Rahman said.

Rahman eventually came back to India and told filmmaker Shankar about his meeting Micheal. Shankar asked the composer if the pop legend would sing for Enthiran.

“Shankar sir asked me if he would sing for the film. I said, wow, will he sing a Tamil song? I asked. He said, whatever you say, we’ll do it together.

The plan never materialised as Michael died in June of that year. “He was sick at that time,” said Rahman.

The OST of Enthiran featured no international singers, but it went on to be a massive success. The sequel of the film 2.0, featured music by Rahman as well and was released in 2018. The film featured Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson.

Shankar on Rahman’s absence in Indian 2

Shankar and Rahman have worked on numerous projects together, including the 1996 Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian. The sequel, Indian 2, however, features music by Anirudh Ravichander. When asked about it at a recent press meeting, Shankar said that he approached Anirudh because Rahman was busy.

“When we started work on Indian 2, AR Rahman was already working on the BGM of 2.0 and I needed the songs soon. I didn’t want to overburden him with Indian 2 and I also liked Anirudh’s music. His music was really popular and I thought, why not sign him on,” explained Shankar.