Music Director AR. Rahman
 AR. Rahman |
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Biography - AR. Rahman
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Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian Tamil film composer, record producer, musician and singer. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards, four National Film Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, two Grammy Awards, and two Academy Awards. Working in Indias various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2004, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, had sold more than 150 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide, and sold over 200 million cassettes, making him one of the worlds all-time top selling recording artists. Time magazine has referred to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Music Storm). In 2009, the magazine placed Rahman in the Time 100 list of Worlds Most Influential People. A. R. Rahman was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to a musically affluent Mudaliar Tamil family. His father R. K. Shekhar, was a Chennai based composer and conductor for Malayalam films. Rahman lost his father at a young age and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. He was raised by his mother Kareema (Kashturi). He was introduced to Sufism when his younger sister fell severely sick and as per the advise of a family friend, the family would pray at a mosque and vow conversion to Islam if she got well. The prayers were answered and accordingly, he along with other members of his family then converted to Islam in the year 1989 at the age of 23 and changed his name to Rahman. During these formative years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots", with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja. Rahman is the founder of the Chennai-based rock group, "Nemesis Avenue". He played the keyboard and piano, the synthesizer, the harmonium and the guitar. His curiosity in the synthesizer, in particular increased because, he says, it was the "ideal combination of music and technology". He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj. At the age of 11, he joined, as a keyboardist, the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja, one of many composers to whom musical instruments belonging to Rahmans father were rented. Rahman later played in the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan Ramesh Naidu and Raj Koti, accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music. In 1992, Rahman began his own music recording and mixing studio attached to the backyard of his house called the Panchathan Record Inn, which was developed into Indias most advanced recording studio. He initially composed music jingles for advertisements, Indian Television channels and music scores in documentaries, among other projects. In 1992, he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for Ratnams Tamil film Roja. The debut led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, the first time ever by a first-time film composer. Rahman has since then gone on to win the award three more times (for his scores for Minsaara Kanavu (Electric Dreams, Tamil) in 1997, Lagaan (Tax, Hindi) in 2002, Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek, Tamil) in 2003, the most ever by any composer. Rojas score met with high sales and acclaim, in its original and dubbed versions, bringing about a marked change in film music at the time, and Rahman followed this with successful scores for Tamil–language films of the Chennai film industry including Ratnams politically charged Bombay, the urbanite Kadhalan, Bharathiraajas Karuththamma, the saxophonic Duet, Indira, and the romantic comedies Mr. Romeo and Love Birds, which gained him considerable notice. His fanbase in Japan increased with Muthu s success there. His soundtracks gained him recognition in the Tamil Nadu film industry and across the world for his stylistic versatility in his pieces including in Western classical, Carnatic, Tamil traditional/folk, jazz, reggae and rock music. The Bombay Theme—from Ratnams Bombay—would later reappear in Deepa Mehtas Fire and various compilations and media. Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, marked Rahmans debut for Hindi-language films made in the Mumbai film industry. Many successful scores for films including Dil Se and the percussive Taal followed. Sufi mysticism would form the basis of Chaiyya Chaiyya from the former and the composition "Zikr" from his score of the film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero for which he created large orchestral and choral arrangements. Musical cues in scores for Sangamam and Iruvar employed Carnatic vocals and instruments such as the veena with leads of rock guitar and jazz. In the 2000s Rahman created hit scores for Rajiv Menons Kandukondain Kandukondain, Alaipayuthey, Ashutosh Gowarikers Swades and Rang De Basanti. He composed songs with Hindustani motifs for Water (2005). Rahman has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Anand Bakshi,P.K.Mishra, Mehboob, Vairamuthu and Vaali. His collaborations with some film directors have always resulted in successful soundtracks, particularly with the director Mani Ratnam who he has worked with since Roja, all of which have been hits, and the director S. Shankar in the films Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys and Sivaji. Rahman attached and opened a developed extension studio to his Panchathan Record Inn in 2005 called AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai — considered to be the most developed, equipped and high tech studio in Asia. In 2006, Rahman launched his own music label, KM Music. Its first release was his score to the film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. Rahman scored the Mandarin language picture Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003 after researching and utilizing Chinese and Japanese classical music, and co-scored the Shekhar Kapoor helmed Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007. His compositions have been reused in scores within India and have made appearances in Inside Man, Lord of War, Divine Intervention and The Accidental Husband. In 2008, he scored the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for which he won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards, becoming the first Indian citizen to do so. In the United States, the soundtrack topped the Dance/Electronic Albums chart and reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart. The song "Jai Ho" reached #2 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles and #15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for contributions to music. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his first West-End production. A four-time National Film Award winner and conferred the Padma Shri from the Government of India, Rahman has also received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fourteen Filmfare Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards South for his music and scores. In 2006, he received an honorary award from Stanford University for contributions to global music. In 2009, for his score of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman won the Critics Choice Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Oscars. Middlesex University and Aligarh Muslim University have announced that they plan to bestow honorary doctorates on Rahman. He has also won two Grammy Awards, for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for a Visual Media. Rahman was awarded the Padma Bhushan, Indias third highest civilian honor, in 2010. He is married to Saira Banu and has three children, Khadijah, Rahima, and Aameen. Rahman is the uncle of composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, who is the son of Rahmans elder sister, A. R. Reihana. He had become an atheist as a result of childhood struggles, he eventually converted to Islam in 1989, the religion of his mothers family. He is very devoted to his mother. During the Oscar Award, he paid her a tribute saying: "There is a Hindi dialogue mere pass ma hai which means even if I have got nothing I have my mother here." |
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AR. Rahman Fan Reviews (10)
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Venkatesan , walajapet says
My best music Director Mr.A.R.Rahman Published on 2011-05-19 23:28:36 |
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boopal.k , t.code says
He is icon of in indian music Published on 2011-06-10 21:00:54 |
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krishan , srilanka says
superb Published on 2011-07-17 17:27:20 |
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krishna1 , tanjur says
i love arr n my music god ummmmmmmmmmmmmaaa Published on 2011-07-31 01:07:14 |
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vel , chennai says
AR. Rahman is best Published on 2011-09-21 04:55:29 |
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SKannan , Chennai says
Mr.AR rahman is my best music director.i like his quality of music. Published on 2011-09-27 22:27:43 |
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sathish , thathavalli,tirupattur,vlre, says
Mr.AR rahman is my best music director.i like his quality of music all movies.... Published on 2011-11-10 21:30:27 |
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S.Bhasko Manickkam , chennai North says
I love music So I Love AR Rahman. Published on 2012-02-02 03:27:32 |
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phanindran , says
he is the god of music....he is one of the gifts given by indian soil Published on 2012-02-08 08:58:07 |
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Nagesh , Pune says
He is really great music director. Published on 2012-02-25 07:30:28 |
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AR. Rahman Biography, AR. Rahman Personal Profile, AR. Rahman Biodata, AR. Rahman Childhood, AR. Rahman Awards