Music maestro A R Rahman’s revelation about a gang spreading false rumours in Bollywood, stopping him from getting work saw Bengaluru-based music director and singer, Raghu Dixit, coming out with a similar allegation. Dixit, who has composed music for films like Psycho, Just Maatmaathalli and Love Mocktail, claims to have experienced a similar situation wherein damaging reports about him were the reason for him to have lost out on work between 2009 and 2015. “I lost out on prime years because of rumours that were spread about me. Apparently, not knowing Kannada, always make an escape to London, dictating terms to directors, being difficult to work with were some of the rumours spread,” he says, adding, “I have been voicing this issue for a long time through interviews, and it has come to limelight again with Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.”
Dixit, who is currently working on seven films, cites that agents and production managers (who recommend filmmakers to a producer, director or an actor) look towards getting a commission through music directors. “Back in the day, when I was approached for a movie, I wondered why there was a need for a booking agent. I then realised that most music composers work in a similar pattern [on a commission basis] . It’s often that people offered work but are not paid for which is humiliating,” he says.
He believes that the kind of work he should have got after two blockbuster albums, the price he could have commanded and the opportunities in other languages would have helped him grow. “But this loss is something irrecoverable. It’s become a matter of survival rather than contribution anymore,” says Dixit, who was accused in a #MeToo allegation in 2018.
Citing professional rivalry as the reason for the toxicity, Dixit says he has to ‘rebuild’ his career from scratch, and will eventually move to other industries if opportunities come by. “I want to gain the momentum and respect I had in 2008 and 2009. However, the regret of losing time is always there. If Rahman sir has to regret that he has lost his prime time, you can imagine a small fry like me. But there is hope with a new wave of filmmakers coming into Kannada films, wanting to work with me. It is great because their ideas are fresh and my music could sync,” says Dixit.
In a nutshell
Taking to Instagram, Raghu Dixit wrote: “It happened even to the amazing maestro ARR! This interview kind of explains why it’s not just important to do good work but also keep one’s ears to the ground in this horrible industry. The same happened to me after giving two block busters - Psycho and Just Maatmaathalli. Ridiculous rumours were spread about me and career damaging news articles were written and I didn’t get any films between 2009 to 2015. Best part - I didn’t even know about these rumours. Worst part - I never wanted to know why I was not getting any work and therefore did not do anything about it. To all those who made enormous amounts of hard work to stop me - you can try all you want, but you can never ever keep a good man down forever. See me rise like a phoenix from now on. I promise everyone a glorious sunrise. (sic)”