Rahman googled for info on Pele before composing for biopic

Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman might know everything about music, but when he was approached to score for a biopic on Pele, he had to Google to find out about the legendary footballer.

Rahman has scored music for "Pele: Birth of a legend", based on the life of the iconic Brazilian soccer player.

"When I was approached for the project, I first Googled who Pele was, because my life is all music. I saw amazing things about him and who he was. After that I read the script. I had tremendous respect for the project," Rahman told PTI.

The "Slumdog Millionaire" hit maker says giving background score for a film is easier than creating a stand alone song, which needs to "hold for itself".

"Movies have this charm, where you just have to follow the story. Music is just a part of filmmaking, whereas a stand alone song has to hold for itself. Scoring is much more simpler than writing an individual piece of music, because the story itself tells you what to do," he said.

Rahman, 49, has also composed a song called "Ginga" for the movie which will celebrate Pele's legacy in soccer.

The composer says the song was not initially part of the screenplay, but came organically as he was intrigued by the word 'Ginga', which is a style of playing football.

"Ginga was one of the main things how Pele won a match. I found the word very interesting, I said why don't we make a song. They asked, 'do you feel like making a songIJ' I said yes. By the time I finished the score I played them the song and they really liked it," he said.