Baba Sehgal recalls Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman being against him singing Rukmani song in Roja: 'Rahman was just a bachcha then'

Before Roja became a musical milestone in Indian cinema, an unlikely collaboration was brewing behind the scenes—one that nearly didn’t happen. In a surprising revelation, rapper Baba Sehgal has opened up about how director Mani Ratnam and a young AR Rahman were initially against him singing the iconic “Rukmani” track in the film’s Hindi version.Recalling the incident in a chat with Siddharth Kannan, Baba Sehgal shared that he was approached after performing a solo show in Chennai with a massive crowd of 50,000–60,000 people. An organiser introduced him to a director, who played the Tamil version of a Roja song. Confused at first, Baba said he didn’t understand why he was being made to listen to it. He believes AR Rahman, then quite young, was also present during the meeting.Since Baba Sehgal was occupied with his concert, he asked the team to meet him later at his hotel. There, they requested his help in getting the music released. Baba connected them with a music company that was venturing into film music for the first time. The company agreed, but on the condition that Baba would sing at least one track. That track turned out to be part of the Hindi version of Roja, with Shweta Shetty as the female vocalist.

Baba Sehgal revealed that when he received the lyrics for “Rukmani,” he found them distasteful and was taken aback by how vulgar they sounded. Despite his reservations, he went ahead and recorded the song, aware that the makers hadn’t originally wanted him as the singer—they had preferred a classical artist. However, since the music company had made his involvement a condition, Rahman and the team had no choice. The song was recorded in just two takes.

When an elderly female singer was brought in to record a specific line, Baba insisted that Shweta Shetty sing it instead. That track ended up being his first and only collaboration with AR Rahman, as language barriers prevented further projects. Reflecting on that time, he recalled Rahman being very young and relatively new to the industry.Baba Sehgal later learned that director Mani Ratnam had initially opposed the idea of him singing the song. However, he firmly believes that his voice played a key role in the track’s popularity, crediting his contribution as a major reason behind its success.