Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman has responded to singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s recent remarks accusing him of contributing to the decline of live instrumentation and promoting excessive reliance on technology in music.

In a chat with ANI, Abhijeet criticised Rahman for sidelining fellow artistes and instrumentalists with his tech-driven approach to music production. He also held Rahman responsible for the growing trend in the industry where most work is done digitally, leaving traditional musicians without work.

“It’s nice to blame me for everything. I still love Abhijeet, and I would send cakes to him. Also, it’s his opinion, and there’s nothing wrong with having one,” Rahman said in an interview with India Today.

He added, “I recently set up an orchestra with 60 women in Dubai. They are being employed every month and are being paid insurance, health, and everything. In every movie that I do, be it Chhaava or Ponniyin Selvan, there are close to 200-300 musicians involved, and some songs have more than 100 people working on them. I don’t show off or post photos with them, and thus no one gets to know about that.”

Rahman also explained that computers are used as a tool to design extraordinary harmonies, but he can’t afford to get musicians to play and reject them later. He also said that the producers he worked with can attest to how many musicians he has worked with.