Music maestro A R Rahman — whose career spans over three decades and multiple languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and English, in a recent interview — said that he is selecting expensive films and non-film projects that “satisfy his creative instincts” and that he “no longer feels the need to prove himself”.

Rahman said, “I won the Oscars (Jai Ho, Slumdog Millionaire, 2008) a long time ago, but now, who cares? I am doing work that is close to me and will inspire future generations.”

Speaking to The Week, he also disclosed the two things that now irritate him the most: “With age, my tolerance has actually gone down. Two things annoy me: a selfie request with a timer and directors who lead me astray. They’ll add crazy lyrics, and I ask myself, ‘Would I want to perform this on stage?’ If the answer is no, I turn it down.”

Despite this change in pace, Rahman’s output remains impressive. This year alone, he has composed music for several major projects including Ayalaan, Lal Salaam and Raayan in Tamil, Aadujeevitham in Malayalam and Maidaan and Amar Singh Chamkila in Hindi.