Every film industry has its “what if” stories. Tamil and Telugu cinema just got its biggest one retold, loudly, by S Thaman.
In a conversation with Honest Townhall that made the rounds this week, the Telugu composer revisited a story that has floated around Indian film circles for years: that AR Rahman and Michael Jackson were going to make a song for Rajinikanth’s Enthiran. According to Thaman, it had moved well beyond an idea.
“AR Rahman had actually planned a single with Michael Jackson. They met, they designed a song, both of them wanted to compose a song for Rajinikanth,” Thaman said, as quoted by Gulf News. Jackson died on 25 June 2009.
The Details Depend On Who Transcribed It
Here is where we have to be careful. Different outlets carried slightly different versions of Thaman’s words on the timeline.
- Gulf News quoted him saying Rahman “had signed the deal in May, but Michael Jackson passed away in June.”
- Inshorts quoted him saying: “He was to meet in May, but the pop star died in June that year.”
- Tupaki quoted: “For Robo, Rahman had planned a single with Michael Jackson. They met and discussed the song. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson passed away in June that year.”
Everyone agrees on the core: there was a plan, it involved Enthiran (released in Telugu as Robo), and Jackson’s death ended it. Whether a formal deal was signed is a claim we can attribute only to one transcription of a secondhand account. Neither Rahman nor the Jackson estate has confirmed a signed contract in anything we could find. So: plan, confirmed by multiple tellings. Signed deal, unverified.
What Rahman Himself Has Said Before
This is not the first time the story has surfaced. Rahman told a version of it himself at a fan event in Malaysia, as reported by Outlook. He said he met Jackson at a home in Los Angeles the day after winning his Oscar. “He was very kind, we spoke about music and world peace. He said, why don’t we do the next ‘We Are The World’, and introduced me to his kids,” Rahman recalled. He then relayed the meeting to director Shankar, who asked whether Jackson might sing for the film.
So Thaman did not invent a legend. He retold one, with more certainty than Rahman’s own version.
The Other Plot Twist: Britney Spears
The same interview contained a less discussed nugget. Thaman said that for Shankar’s Game Changer, starring Ram Charan, “we tried to get artistes like Britney Spears involved… planning to launch an international single in English,” per Gulf News. The film’s delays killed the plan. Game Changer released in January 2025 with Thaman’s soundtrack and no Britney.
The Actual News: Hanumankind
Buried under the nostalgia is the only forward looking bit, and it is Bengaluru flavoured. Thaman confirmed he is in talks with Hanumankind, the Bengaluru rapper behind the global hit “Big Dawgs.”
“I spoke with him already. So much talk is going on. I can’t say which film, but we are just waiting for the opportunity,” Thaman said, according to Gulf News.
That is a talk, not a signed project, and no film has been named. But it tracks with how Telugu cinema has been using music: Thaman’s own They Call Him OG soundtrack mixed Telugu, English and Japanese lyrics and worked with Japanese musicians, per its soundtrack record. That score just won him the SIIMA 2026 Best Music Director award for Telugu, as SIIMA’s own page noted. A Hanumankind collab would be the logical next swing at a global audience.
For anyone who missed the Hanumankind story: the Bengaluru rapper broke out globally with “Big Dawgs,” which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and later performed at Coachella 2025, per Rolling Stone India. His debut mixtape Monsoon Season came out in July 2025 on Capitol Records and Def Jam India. He is exactly the kind of artist a big Telugu film would want for a crossover single, and exactly the kind who can afford to be picky about it.
Why It Matters
Big film soundtracks in the South have been chasing international crossover for more than a decade, from Rahman’s Hollywood years to RRR’s “Naatu Naatu” Oscar. Thaman’s stories show how often those attempts almost happened and did not, killed by timing, delays or tragedy. They also show that the ambition has not gone anywhere. The new chase is not about getting a Western legend on a Telugu song. It is about getting an Indian rapper who is already global onto one.
Bengaluru Baath Take
We will never hear the Rahman x Jackson Enthiran song, and honestly, that might be why it sounds perfect in our heads. Thaman telling it with extra certainty makes for great headlines but shaky history, so treat the “signed deal” part with a pinch of salt until someone with the paperwork speaks. The genuinely exciting line is the one about Hanumankind. A Bengaluru rapper on a Thaman mass number? Put that in the “please let this happen” folder.
More On Bengaluru Baath
- Three Decades In, AR Rahman Finally Played The NCPA, And He Went Full Sufi
- AR Rahman Rewired Indian Film Music And Never Fully Got The Credit For How
Sources
- Gulf News: Michael Jackson was set to sing for Rajinikanth’s Enthiran, Thaman reveals
- Inshorts: AR Rahman, Michael Jackson planned song for Rajinikanth, says S Thaman
- Tupaki: Michael Jackson almost had a song for Rajinikanth’s Robo
- 123Telugu: Thaman reveals Michael Jackson nearly had a special song on Robo
- Outlook: AR Rahman shares details on Michael Jackson and Enthiran
- SIIMA: 2026 winners
- Rolling Stone India: Hanumankind announces Monsoon Season mixtape
