Who is A.R. Rahman? What are they Achievements, Education, Interests, childhood, Family?
Allah Rakha Rahman is Oscar, Padma Bhushan and Germany Award Winner Indian film composer, record producer, musician and singer. This genius with his exceptional talent has reached heights of success that people of his age can only dream of. Even then this small man remains humble and credits all his inspirations and success to Allah.
Rahman made his debut in 1992 with Mani Ratnam’s Tamil movie, Roja (Rose), which was subsequently dubbed into many languages including Hindi. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri, which is one of India’s highest civilian national honors.
The musical maestro of Indian Cinema was born on January 6, 1966 in Madras, to a musically affluent family. He was born as A.S. Dileep Kumar to parents K.A. Rahman later when the family converted to Islam. Rahman started learning piano at the tender age of four. He lost his father during his childhood. As a result, the pressure of supporting the family fell on young Rahman.
Met M.S. Vishwanathan and Ramesh Naidu
At the age of 11, he joined IIIaiyaraja’s troupe as a keyboardist. He also played on the orchestra of M.S. Vishwanathan and Ramesh Naidu and accompanied Zakir Hussian and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan on world tours.
The experience allowed him to obtain a scholarship at Trinity College of Music at Oxford University, where he received a degree in Western Classical Music. After his return from the foreign tours, he continued to be a part of various musical groups. Rahman also joined local rock bands like Roots, Magic and Nemesis Avenue, where he performed with his future colleagues like Ranjit Barot and Sivamani.
Get a Chance to Compose to the First Time
In 1987, he got a chance to compose a jingle to promote Allwyn’s new trendy range of watches. His work was appreciated and he got many more offers. He has done jingles for popular ads like Parry’s, Leo Coffee, Boost, Titan, Premier Pressure Cooker, Asian Paints, etc. Rahman went to on compose more than 300 jingles and received awards and recognition for his work and he continued in advertising for five years.
Truth behind Panchathan Record, Roja, Mani Ratnam, Rangeela and Many More
In 1989, he started a small studio of his own, called Panchathan Record Inn, attached to his house, where he began experimenting in sound engineering, design and production. At first he was, hesitant about composing music for the Indian film industry; primilary because most film makers at the time used songs as “fillers”-a means by which the audience was given a break from the movie’s plot.
In 1991, director Mani Ratnam, approached him and offered job as composer of music for his upcoming film Roja, at a price of 25000/-. Rahman got the national award for the best music director that year.
From then, there was no looking back for him. He got offers from a lot of directors of south and the Hindi film industry. Rangeela and later Mumbai established his popularity in the north too. Rahman’s music wave arrived with big bang in the tinsel world with sales of more than 40 billon albums over a period of 3 years. He has also dabbled in playback singing with songs like ‘Hamma Hamma’ in Mumbai’. Dil se Re’ in Dil se etc.
Vande Matram by Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire’, BAFTA Award and Many More
Rahman has also done compositions for patriotic albums like ‘Vande Matram’ a tribute to the mother land released simultaneously in 28 countries across the world. He received the Padamshree form the government of India in 2000. He has received many honorary awards for his contributions to global music.
In 2009, for his score of many Oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Rahman won the Critics Choice’ Award for Best Original score, the BAFTA Award the Best Film Music and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music, Score and Best Original Music, Score and Best Original Song for ‘Jai Ho’. He is the first Indian to win two Oscars in one year.
Padma Bhushan, Infinite Love, Lifetime Achievement Award
He received the Padma Bhushan Award in 2010; Rahman won Lifetime Achievement Award in Dubai International Film Festival in December 2011. He is the first musician to win this award. In summer 2012, Rahman composed a Punjabi Song for the London Olympics opening ceremony, organized by Danny Boyle. On 20 December 2012, he released the single “Infinite Love” in both English and Hindi commemorating the last day of the Mayan calendar to spread hope, peace and love.
Went to Miami for the Performance, Raanjhanna and Maryan, Imtiyaz Ali’s
On May 2012, he was conferred Honorary Decorate from the Miami University, Ohio. He also received a Christmas card the US President’s Family and an invitation for the dinner at White house.
In 2013, Rahman had two releases: Raanjhanna and Maryan. Both were successful, with the former nominated for a number of awards and the latter the iTunes India Tamil Album of 2013. In 2014, his first release for the year was the Imtiyaz Ali’s road movie Highway which garnered positive reviews.
His next were the scores for the two back to back Hollywood films, Million Dollar Arm and The Hundred Foot Journey, both of which got into the contended list the original score category nomination at the Oscars.