quietude AR Rahman is late. There are no apologies offered as he walks into a hall, shielded by bodyguards, all set to brief us about his five-part docu-series, Harmony with AR Rahman, a curated exploration of musical instruments and rarely-heard traditional vocal styles from across the country. He is an artiste who likes to keep his interactions brief and terse, and I am stymied by the 10-minute interview slot. How does one recap the maestro’s 26-year-old glorious career, starting with Roja (1992) to his guest compositions in Sanju (2018) in such a short time? Sound of discovery The show that sees Rahman playing host (for a change), has him travelling to Mumbai where he interacts with Ustad Mohi Bahauddin Dagar, an exponent of the rudraveena and the Dhrupad genre in Hindustani classical music. The composer then visits Thrissur in Kerala to meet Sajith Vijayan, who conducts a Lec Dem (an informal interaction between students and artistes) on the use of the copper drum mizhavu in Kalari and Koodiyattam dance performances. The journey is complete in the Northeast where Sikkim folk singer Bedabati Lourembam shares with Rahman the honeyed notes of the traditional bamboo flute, Panthong Palit, and Manipur singer, Mickma Tshering Lepcha, improvises on Khulang Esei folk tunes.