Awards and nominations are nothing new for A.R. Rahman, but his Academy Award nod this time is special. It's the first time the Indian composer has been nominated for his work on an American film.
Rahman and Dido were nominated for the song, 'If I Rise' from the film '127 Hours' by director Danny Boyle. The pair last worked on the 2008 Academy Award-winning film, 'Slumdog Millionaire.'
"For me, getting nominated again is a big statement, along with Dido, and with Danny Boyle and all the stuff. But I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. But I did enjoy working on the song and the whole movie. It's a cult movie. It's going to be a moment forever. So I'm proud of that," Rahman said.
While Rahman tends to favor heavy, complex scores with electronic instrumentation, he opted for a guitar-rich sound.
"Well, the two things that motivated me to use the guitar, which is the landscape and it's also about a young person who's very adventurous, who daring and stuff. The guitar spearheads the whole score. It's got acoustic guitars and electric guitars and all kinds of stuff," Rahman said.
Dido says she was ecstatic to work with Rahman and Boyle on the project.
"It's been amazing. It's been such a joy to work with A.R. He's just an incredibly inspiring musician to work with and to be involved with something Danny Boyle's directing," Dido said.
The singer said the collaboration marked a first time for her.
"A.R. is the first person - I never sung anyone's melody other my own," she said.
Rahman says he wasn't sure what he thought about the score until the first audience saw the film.
"It was Toronto," he said. "When I heard about what happened there, it was very encouraging. It had a similar kind of conversation like 'Slumdog (Millionaire).'