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A.R. Rahman

Personal Profile

A.R. Rahman
  • Birth Name:
    A. S. Dileep Kumar
  • Common Name:
    A. R. Rehman
  • Nickname:
    The Mozart of Madras, Isai Puyal
  • Date of Birth:
    June 19, 1966
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Gemini
  • Place of Birth:
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Height:
    5' 6"
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    Indian
  • Religion:
    Islam
  • Education:
    Western classical music
    Oxford University
  • Hobbies:
    Watching Movies,Leasing Music

Family

A.R. Rahman
  • Father:
    R. K. Shekhar
  • Mother:
    Kasturi Sekhar
  • Sister:
    A. R. Reihana
  • Uncle:
    G. V. Prakash Kumar
  • Spouse:
    Saira Banu
  • Son:
    Khadijah
    Aameen
  • Daughter:
    Rahima
  • Relation:
    G. V. Prakash Kumar

Career

A.R. Rahman

Favourites

A.R. Rahman
  • Food:
    Palak Paneer
  • Actor:
    All great actors in India
  • Actress:
    All great actress in India
  • Movies:
    Thiruda Thiruda, Kadalan, Rangeela, Dil se, Lagaan, Slumdog Millionaire and Gajini
  • Color:
    Black , Yellow, Green

Awards

A.R. Rahman
2002 - Best Music Direction - Lagaan
2003 - Best Music Direction - Saathiya
1993 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Roja
1994 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Gentleman
1995 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Kadhalan
1996 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Bombay
1997 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Kadhal Desam
1998 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Minsaara Kanavu
1999 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Jeans
2000 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Mudhalvan
2001 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Alaipayuthey
2002 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Kannathil Muthamittal
2006 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Sillunu Oru Kadhal
2007 - Filmfare Best Music Direction - Sivaji
1995 - Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent
1996 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Rangeela
1999 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Dil Se
2000 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Taal
2002 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Lagaan
2003 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Saathiya
2003 - Filmfare Best Background Score - The Legend of Bhagat Singh
2005 - Filmfare Best Background Score - Swades
2007 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Rang de Basanti
2008 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Guru
2008 - Filmfare Best Background Score - Guru
2007 - GIFA Award for Best Music - Rang De Basanti
2007 - GIFA Award for Best Background Music - Rang De Basanti
2000 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Taal
2002 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Lagaan
2003 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Saathiya
2007 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Rang De Basantiv 2008 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Guru
2008 - IIFA Best Background Music - Guru
2008 - Outstanding contribution by an Indian in International Cinema
1999 - International Viewer's Choice Awards (MTV India) - Dil Se Re - Dil Se
2003 - MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist India
2003 - Best Music Composer (Film Category) - Saathiya - Saathiya
1993 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Roja
1997 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Minsaara Kanavu
2002 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Lagaan
2003 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Kannathil Muthamittal
2004 - Best Music Direction (Critics Award) - Yuva
2004 - Best Music Arrangement (Critics Award) - Yeh Rishta - Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities
2008 - Best Score - Slumdog Millionaire
2008 - Best Original Soundtrack - Slumdog Millionaire

Trivia

A.R. Rahman
  • In 2008, he opened his KM Music Conservatory partnered with Audio Media Education facility to tutor and train aspiring musicians in vocals, instruments, music technology and sound design.
  • He produced the single "We Can Make It Better" by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota.
  • He has shown support to charities including Save the Children, India, and worked with Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam for his song "Indian Ocean" .
  • In 2004, he was appointed as the Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by WHO.
  • He is involved in various charitable causes.
  • He made an album Vande Mataram (1997) on India's 50th anniversary of independence to commercial success.
  • He has been involved in several projects aside from film.
  • 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.
  • His compositions have been reused in scores within India and have made appearances in Inside Man, Lord of War and The Accidental Husband.
  • He 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.

Quotes

A.R. Rahman
  • I hate the word [Bollywood]. I think it's derivative and it doesn't represent the entire film community in India. There's the eastern film industry, four industries in the south - they all make extraordinary films. It's like saying the whole of the West is Hollywood.
  • "I'm a deeply spiritual person. Sufism is about love - love for a fellow human, love for all round humanity, and ultimately love for God. For me, it's where music and religion meet - at dargahs, you will find qawwalis. That's my inspiration."
  • "I wasn't too happy with the I-don't-want-to-listen-to-it attitude of our youngsters towards film music.
  • "I have rubbed many a producer the wrong way by disturbing the schedule, but it has paid off." "I wasn't too happy with the I-don't-want-to-listen-to-it attitude of our youngsters towards film music. Why can't we get our guys to listen to our own music rather than to Michael Jackson? I didn't want us to lose the market to the West. The music had to be cool and rooted, and yet had to branch out. It was like the wild imagination of a child... but it worked... it did travel beyond Madras and att
View all Quotes: A.R. Rahman

Biography

A.R. Rahman
Last Updated: Monday, May 04, 2009

Allah Rakha Rahman was born A.S. Dileep Kumar on January 6, 1966, in Madras (now Chennai), India, to a musically affluent family. Dileep started learning the piano at the age of 4, and at the age of 9, his father passed away. Since the pressure of supporting his family fell on him, he joined Ilayaraja's troupe as a keyboard player at the age of 11. He dropped out of school as a result of this and traveled all around the world with various orchestras.

He accompanied the great tabla maestro Zakir Hussain on a few world tours and also won a scholarship at the Trinity College of Music at Oxford University, where he studied Western classical music and obtained a degree in music. Due to some personal crisis, Dileep Kumar embraced Islam and came to be known as A.R. Rahman. In 1987, he moved to advertising, where he composed more than 300 jingles over 5 years. In 1989, he started a small studio called Panchathan Record Inn, which later developed into one of the most well-equipped and advanced sound recording studios in India.

At an advertising awards function, Rahman met one of India's most famous directors, Mani Ratnam. Rahman played him a few of his music samples. Mani loved them so much that he asked Rahman to compose the music for his next film, Roja (1992). The rest, as they say, is history. He went on to compose several great hits for Tamil-language films before composing the score and songs for his first Hindi-language film, Rangeela (1995). The enormous success of his first Hindi venture was followed by the chart-topping soundtrack albums of films such as Bumbai (1995) , Dil Se.. (1998), Taal (1999), Zubeidaa (2001), and Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), which was nominated for best foreign-language film at the 2002 Academy Awards.

More recently, he worked with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Shekhar Kapur (director of Elizabeth (1998)) on a musical called "Bombay Dreams." At 36 years old, A.R. Rahman has revolutionized Indian film music and one can only expect this musical genius to reach greater heights.

Filmography

A.R. Rahman

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