A section of the entertainment industry in Mumbai doesn’t think AR Rahman was pranking when he walked off the stage at an event in Chennai after the anchor switched from Tamil to Hindi.
Rahman doesn’t look even remotely amused when the anchor, switched languages effortlessly. On hearing the linguistic rollover, Rahman’s expression is clearly one of exasperation.
“Oh Hindi!” he says adding, "Didn’t I ask you already if you speak in Tamil or not?" he then added "I'm joking." The host replied, "Thank you sir, it's always a pleasure to be trolled by the maestro." Rahman then walked off, as a section of the audience clapped and cheered.
This was not a prank. This seemed to be Rahman's reaction to Hindi being imposed on non-Hindi speaking sections of India. The objection was to Hindi being spoken at an event for the release of a Hindi film.
Let’s for the sake of argument, turn this around. Suppose it was a Bollywood composer at a Chennai event walking off the stage on hearing Tamil being spoken on stage.
Image source: Youtube/Cinemavikatan
Image source: Youtube/Cinemavikatan