Mumbai: Oscar winning music composer-singer A.R. Rahman on Monday denied that he has received any offer from the Indian Olympic Associationto become the Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympics but backed superstar Salman Khan for the post. “I heard it from the press. It was all over the place; it was on Google news spread. I didn’t get any email yet. Maybe my management knows, I don’t know,” Rahman said while asked at the trailer launch of film “Pele: Birth of a Legend” about being approached to become a Goodwill Ambassador.
Salman’s appointment has created a controversy with some current and former sportspersons such as athlete Milkha Singh, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and cricketer Gautam Gambhir raising objections and stating that a sportsperson would be a better choice than an actor for the post. About Salman’s appointment, Rahman said: “I think he is a very popular face, why not?”
Along with “Pele: Birth of a Legend”, Rahman has scored music for another sports-based film – the biopic on Sachin Tendulkar.