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A.R. RAHMAN BIOGRAPHY

A.R. RAHMAN BIOGRAPHY

A.R. RAHMAN

BIRTH: January 6, 1967,

Madras, Tamil Nadu, India

A . R . Rahman is an indian singer, songwriter and music producer. He is called the “Mozart of Madras” by his South Indian fans. He is known for synthesizing Indian classical music with electronic. Alla Rakha Rahman was born as A.S. Dileep Kumar on 6th January, 1967 in Chennai, India. His father, R.K. Sekhar, was a Tamil musician who composed for the Malayalam Film Industry. He started to learn the keyboard at the age of four. He used to assist his father in the studio. Rahman was nine years old when his father passed away.

He was brought up by his mother, Kareema Begum (born as Kasturi). His mother used to rent out musical instruments to earn a living. Rahman played many instruments, but he was particularly fascinated with the synthesizer. At the age of eleven, Rahman started playing for the orchestra of Malayalam composer, M.K. Arjunan. He trained under Master Dhanraj. He obtained a scholarship to study in the Trinity College of Music, London due to his musical experience. He obtained a diploma in Western classical music from a school in Madras. Rahman started with creating jingles for advertisements.

He has written more than three hundred jingles. His jingle for the advertisement of Titan watches became quite popular. Director Mani Ratnam approached him to compose the soundtrack for his Tamil film, Roja, in 1992. This was Rahman’s first hit soundtrack. He was awarded the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) by the National Film Awards for Roja. Rahman also started Panchattan Record Inn studio in his backyard. It would later become the most advanced recording studio in India. Other hit soundtracks by Rahman include Bombay, Kadhalan, Indira, Minsarra Kanavu, Swades, Rang De Basanti and Guru.

His debut in Bollywood was in a film by Ram Gopal Varma named Rangeela in 2005 In 2003, he composed the score and sound- track for the Chinese film Warriors of Heaven and Earth. Andrew Lloyd Webber, a British composer, hired Rahman to compose music for his stage production, Maiden Dreams, in 2002. In 2006, Rahman composed the score for the musical version of The Lord of the Rings. He composed the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006). The music score for Shekhar Kapoor’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) was co-written by him and Craig Armstrong. Rahman also composed the music score in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

He received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for this composition. In 2010, he also won a Grammy Award in the category ‘Best Soundtrack’ and ‘Best Song! The song, “Jai Ho”, reached number fifteen in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Rahman has also composed scores for films such as 127 Hours (2010), Rockstar (2011), Raanjhanaa (2013), Highway (2014) and Beyond the Clouds (2017). In 2017, Rahman debuted as a director and writer for the movie, Le Musk. A.R. Rahman has received many awards and honors.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, by the Indian government in 2010. He has received six National Film and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. Rahman has also been honored with Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu. He has been awarded fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South. In 2006, Stanford University awarded him for his global contribution to music. Rahman received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2014 He was part of the Time’s list of the ‘100 Most Influential people in 2009.

He is also referred to as “Isai Puyal” (“the musical storm” in English) by his South Indian fans. In 2013, a street was named in his honor at Markham, Ontario, Canada. The government of Seychelles made Rahman the Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles in 2015. Rahman was appointed as the ambassador of Stop TB Partnership in 2004. He supports Save the Children India. He also composed “Indian Ocean” along with Yusuf Islam in 2005. The sales of the songs were donated to people affected in the 2004 tsunami. Rahman started KM Musiq Ltd. in 2008 to train young musicians. The theme music of the 2008 film The Banyan was composed by him, to aid poor women in Chennai. Rahman, along with Sivamani, composed the song “Jiya Se Jiya” in support of the Free Hugs Campaign in 2008. Rahman married Saira Banu in 1995. They have three children.

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