The collaboration of director Mani Ratnam and music composer AR Rahman is one of those gifts that continues to deliver. The two have worked on many films, starting from Roja, and then to Kadal and OK Kanmani. The two of them are collaborating once again for Thug Life. In an interview with India Today, Rahman opened up about their creative process and shared how they share the common purpose to ‘serve the audience and the cinema’. (Also read: Kamal Haasan stuns with knowledge; Mani Ratnam doesn’t waste time on set like other directors: Thug Life’s Ashok Selvan)

What Rahman said about Ratnam

During the interaction, Rahman talked about working with the director over the course of two decades and said, “We feel the same even today! I discovered myself in the jingle industry. He has seen my growth. When I was based in Chennai, he was there. When I was doing ‘Bombay Dreams’, he used to come to London for music. He didn’t come to Bollywood though. When I’m doing my virtual reality stuff, he’s seen it and commented on it.”

On listening to inputs on the music of Thug Life

He went on to add, “Our relationship is to serve the audience and the cinema. That is our common purpose. That common purpose drives us to excel. In fact, the final mixing of Thug Life was happening day before yesterday. And he asked me if we could make the music a little aggressive in a particular scene. I went to the studio, and we changed it one hour before the engineer left the studio. That’s the freedom we have.”

The audio launch of Thug Life took place in Chennai a few days ago. Some of the songs featured in the album are Jinguchaa, Sugar Baby, Muththa Mazhai, and Vinveli Nayaga. The gangster drama stars Kamal Haasan, Simbu and Trisha in pivotal roles. It is set to release in theatres on June 5.