"If AR Rahman can fall for TV distractions, we are all just mere mortals."

Long before the Netflix and the Amazon Primes of the world pushed us into binge-watching a series for days and weeks at a stretch, cable TV was all we had and it kept us hooked.

But what if we told you a television became the sole hindrance between maestro musician AR Rahman and his passion for music so much so that his productivity dropped to such levels that filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma wanted to punch the composer?

Recently one of Varma's gem, the 1995's Rangeela completed its 25th anniversary. The movie was a box office success and was also critically acclaimed. What's even more interesting is the fact that the Aamir Khan, Urmila Matondkar, and Jackie Shroff starrer movie also marked the debut of Rahman in the Hindi film industry.

The original score and soundtrack produced by Rahman was a roaring hit but it had to wait, at least some of it.

Revealing the new experience Varma had while working with the future Oscar-winning composer, the director told Film Companion in an interview that he found Rahman "peculiar" and unlike any other composer he had worked with in the past. Calling him a man with no arrogance, Varma recalled an incident that, however, left him red-faced.

"Rahman and I went to Goa and for five days we stayed in two cottages – Rahman was in one and I was in another waiting," the director told FC while shedding light on the backstory of how "Hai Rama" was conceived or perhaps was supposed to be. Varma wanted to shoot but there was no song ready. Days passed and Rahman kept delaying it.

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When Rangeela director lost all his patience, Rahman said something that we could all relate to.

"Ramu can I request you one thing? Next time you take me somewhere for music composing, see that I am in a room where there’s no TV," Rahman said admitting that he had been watching TV during the entirety of the stay and got no work done.

The excerpt from the interview went viral on microblogging site Twitter, eliciting amusement and wonder that if the composer could fall for TV distraction, we were all doomed.

Rangeela literally made AR Rahman sir a nation wide sensation!

Even there's The Amir Khan n gorgeous Urmila without ARR sir music wouldn't have reached this much n madness ! https://t.co/TliwUImRc7

— #GetWellSoonSPB sir 🙏 (@ajithkanth009) September 8, 2020

Of course, "Hai Rama" did eventually happen and it was a memorable one.