A. R. Rahman

A. R. Rahman

Allah Rakha Rahman (Tamil: ஏ.ஆர்.ரஹ்மான்); born on January 6, 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a composer, best known for composing film scores and soundtracks.

Early life

Rahman is the only son of R. K. Sekhar Naidu, who was a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam films. His father died when Rahman was nine years old, and his family used to rent out musical equipment to make ends meet, something they found very difficult. During those hard times, a Sufi (Muslim) saint cured Rahman's sister of an unexplainable illness. This led Dileep to convert to Islam, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman.

At the age of 11, Rahman joined the troupe of Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja as a keyboardist. He later played on the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu, and accompanied Zakir Hussain and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan on world tours. The experience allowed him to obtain a scholarship to Trinity College at Oxford University, where he received a degree in Western classical music.

Career

In 1991, Rahman began his own studio (attached to his house), called the Panchathan Record Inn. He initially composed music for use in advertisements, the title music of Indian Television channels and music in documentaries, among other projects. Rahman was, at first, hesitant about composing music for the Indian film industry primarily 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 he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam, who offered Rahman the job as composer for his upcoming Tamil language film Roja, at a price of Rs. 25,000. Rahman accepted, and the movie's superhit debut made him a household name in Tamil Nadu virtually overnight and led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for best music director at the Indian National Film Awards, the first time ever by a debutant. Rahman has since then gone on to win the award 3 more times (for Minsaara Kanavu (Electric Dreams, Tamil) in 1997, Lagaan (Tax, Hindi) in 2002 and Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek, Tamil) in 2003), the most ever by any composer.

When Rahman arrived on the Indian music scene with his first film Roja, he brought about a transformation of film music. Roja was a massive hit, and Rahman followed it up with a number of other extremely popular films, including Bombay, Rangeela, Dil Se and Taal. Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, marked Rahman's debut in Hindi films. The huge sales of these albums prompted movie producers to take film music more seriously. Rahman's playback singing in several of his albums was also widely admired.

File:Arr-weber.jpg

Lord Lloyd-Webber with A. R. Rahman

Rahman's work is also unique in the fact that his collaborations with a few film directors have always resulted in hugely successful albums. In particular, he has worked with Mani Ratnam on eight movies (until 2004) (see list of movies by Mani Ratnam featuring A R Rahman), all of which have been musical superhits. Also notable is his collaboration with the director S. Shankar (Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys and Sivaji).

He made an album Vande Mataram (1996) on India's national song, singing the title song on the album. He followed it up with an album called Jana gana mana, a huge conglomeration of performances by all the leading exponents/artists of Indian classical music.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, a well known composer of musicals, was impressed with Rahman's unique style and therefore hired him to compose his maiden stage production Bombay Dreams (2002). This play was well received in England and opened him up to new vistas in Hollywood. Furthermore, Rahman, along with the Finnish folk music band Värttinä, composed the music for The Lord of the Rings theatre production, which opened in Toronto on March 23 2006.

The following article was written in TIME magazine about Rahman's achievements. His first movie album Roja was listed in TIME magazine's "Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time".

In addition to influencing western audiences, Rahman also impressed eastern audiences with his music so much that he was tapped by Chinese director He Ping to compose the score and soundtrack for the Chinese film Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003. The music of this film was very much appreciated in Asia and in India.

On May 23rd 2006, a two-disc album soundtrack, titled Introducing A.R. Rahman, was released by Times Square Records, featuring 25 songs he composed from Tamil film soundtracks spanning 1993-2001. The compillation soundtrack was well received. In addition to this, Rahman performed at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre in July of 2006, with Indian singers Sukhwinder Singh, Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam, as well as American performing groups Raagapella and Global Rhythms, to a sell out crowd.

His latest work includes Bose - The Forgotten Hero, Swades, Mangal Pandey - The Rising, Rang De Basanti, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal and Guru. He is currently working on Shankar's next venture Sivaji: The Boss, and on one of Shyam Benegal's next ventures, Chamki Chameli, which is set for release in 2007.

Rahman is a recipient of the Padma Shri and is known around the world as the "Mozart from Madras".

Awards and nominations

For a full list of awards and nominations, see List of A. R. Rahman awards and accolades.

Partial discography

Films

YEAR	Tamil	Telugu	Hindi	Malayalam	Marathi	English	Mandarin
1992				Yodha
1992	Roja	Roja	Roja (1994)	Roja	Roja
1992	Ashokan (1993)	Yoddha (1995)	Dharam Yodha (1993)	Yodha
1993	Uzhavan
1993	Thiruda Thiruda	Donga Donga	Chor Chor (1996)
1993	Pudhiya Mugam	Padmavyuham	Vishwa Vidhatha (1997)
1993	Gentleman	Gentleman	The Gentleman
1994	Vandicholai Chinnaraasu	Bobili Paparayudu
1994	Super Police	Super Police	Khel Khiladi Ka (1996)
1994	Pudhiya Mannargal
1994	Pavithra
1994	May Madham	Hridayaanjali (1999)
1994	Kizhakku Cheemayile	Palnati Pourusham
1994	Karuththamma	Vanitha/Osey Krishnamma
1994	Kadhalan	Premikudu (1995)	Humse Hai Muqabla
1994	Duet	Duet	Tu Hi Mera Dil
1995	Indira	Indira	Priyanka
1995	Bombay	Bombay (1995)	Bombay (1995)
1994	Manitha Manitha	Gang Master
1995	Rangeela	Rangeli	Rangeela
1995	Muthu	Muthu (1995)	Muthu Maharaja (2001)
1996	Love Birds	Love Birds (1997)	Love Birds (1997)
1996	Indian	Bharateeyudu	Hindustani
1996	Kadhal Desam	Prema Desam	Duniya Dilwalon Kiii
1996			Fire			Fire
1996	Mr Romeo	Mr Romeo	Mr Romeo (1997)
1996	Anthimantharai
1997	Minsaara Kanavu	Merupu Kalalu	Sapnay
1997	Iruvar	Iddaru
1997	Ottam	50-50	Daud: Fun On The Run
1997	Ratchagan	Rakshakudu
1997	Mona Lisa		Kabhi Na Kabhi
1997			Vishwa Vidhaata
1998	Jeans	Jeans	Jeans
1998	Uyire	Prematho..	Dil Se..
1998			1947/Earth
1998			Doli Saja Ke Rakhna
1999	En Swasa Kaatre	Premante Pranamistha
1999	Jodi	Jodi
1999	Padayappa	Narasimha
1999	Taalam		Taal
1999			Thakshak
1999	Kadhalar Dhinam	Premikula Roju	Dil Hi Dil Mein
1999			Pukar
1999	Sangamam
1999	Taj Mahal
1999	Mudhalvan	Oke Okkadu	Nayak (2001)
2000	Alai Payuthey	Sakhi	Saathiya (2002)
2000			Fiza (1 out of 8 tracks)
2000	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Priyuralu Pilichindi
2000	Rhythm	Rhythm
2000	Thenali	Thenali
2000			Zubeidaa
2001			One 2 Ka 4
2001			Love You Hamesha
2001	Star
2001			Lagaan
2001	Parthale Paravasam	Paravasam
2001	Alli Arjuna
2002	Kannathil Muthamittal	Amrutha
2002			The Legend of Bhagat Singh
2002	Baba	Baba
2002	Kadhal Virus
2003	Udhaya
2003	Parasuram	Police Kartavyam
2003	Boys	Boys
2003							Warriors of Heaven and Earth
2003	Enakku 20 Unakku 18	Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu
2003	Kangalal Kaidhu Sei
2003			Tehzeeb
2004			Lakeer
2004			Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities
2004	Aayitha Ezhuthu	Yuva	Yuva
2004	New	Naani
2004			Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (3 out of 8 Tracks)
2004	Desam		Swades
2004			Kisna - The Warrior Poet (6 out of 16 tracks)
2005			Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
2005			The Rising - Ballad of Mangal Pandey
2005	Anbe Aaruyire
2005			Water
2006			Rang De Basanti
2006	Sillunu Oru Kaadhal	Nuvvu Nenu Prema
2006	Varalaru - The Story of the Godfather
2007	Guru	Gurukanth	Guru
2007			Akbar-Jodha
2006						Provoked
2007	Sivaji: The Boss	Sivaji: The Boss
2007			London Dreams
2007	Sakkarakatti
2007			Lajjo
2007			Exclusion
2007	Azhagiya Tamil Magan
2008						Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Note: "Year" indicates the year the earliest version of any multi-language movie was released. Movies with the year next to the title dictates that the film was either dubbed or released later than the original version of the movie.

• The films Nayak: The Real Hero (2001, Hindi) and Saathiya (2002, Hindi) were remakes of the films Mudhalvan (1999, Tamil) and Alai Payuthey (2000, Tamil), respectively. The soundtracks were reused with changes and additional songs.

• A. R. Rahman has also composed the score for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth/Tian di ying xiong (2003, Mandarin)

• He has contributed one song to Fiza (1999, Hindi).

• The soundtracks of the films Roja (1992) and Gentleman (1993), were also released as instrumental versions.

The following films had soundtracks reused from previous albums:

• Vishwa Vidhaata (1997, Hindi) from Pudhiya Mugam (1993, Tamil)
• Love You Hamesha (2001, Hindi) from May Madham (1994, Tamil)
• Lakeer (2004, Hindi) from Rhythm (2000, Tamil - 3 songs), with 3 new songs added
• Jodi (1999, Tamil) from Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1999, Hindi), with 3 new songs added
• Star (2001, Tamil) from Thakshak (1999, Hindi - 3 songs) and 1947/Earth (1998, Hindi - 1 song), with 1 new song added
• Thakshak (1999, Hindi) from En Swaasa Kaatre (1999, Tamil) 1 song (Jumbalaka), with changes in vocals and instrumentation
• Pukar (1999, Hindi) from En Swaasa Kaatre (1999, Tamil) 1 song ('Kay Sera Sera' from 'Nayagara'), with changes in vocals and instrumentation
• Song "Dekho Na" from movie Swades (2004, Hindi) reused from the song "Baba Kichchu Tha" from movie Baba (2002, Tamil) with different vocals and instrumentation

The soundtrack of Nicolas Cage's Lord Of War (2005), features the instrumental piece "Bombay Theme" from the Tamil film Bombay, directed by Mani Ratnam.

The soundtrack of Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006), features the song Chaiyya Chaiyya from the Hindi film Dil Se, directed by Mani Ratnam.

Non-film

• Return of the Thief of Baghdad (Yet to be released) (2003)
• Deen Isai Maalai (1989) as AS Dilip Kumar
• Andhi Maalai (1990}
• Set Me Free (1991)
• Vande Mataram (1997)
• Jana Gana Mana (2000)
• Bombay Dreams (2002) (Musical)
• Ignited Minds (2003) (Unreleased but performed in live concert)
• Raga's Dance (2004) (for Vanessa Mae's album called Choreography)
• Pray for me, Brother (2005) (UN Theme song for poverty alleviation mission) (Unreleased but performed in live concerts)
• Banyan Theme (2006) (Theme song for stage musical Netru, Indru, Naalai in aid of The Banyan, unreleased)
• The Lord of the Rings theatre production (2006) (Stage Production)
• Jana Gana Mana (2006) [1]
• WorldSpace Signature Tune (2006) [2]
• Airtel Tune (2006)

Personal life

Rahman (born Dileep Kumar) is the second among four children of R.K. Shekhar and Kareema Begum (Kasthuri). He has three sisters, Rehana (Kanchana), Talat (Bala) and Israth. He has three children - Khatija, Rahima and Roomi.

Trivia

• He is thought to have sold 100 million records world-wide, and sold over 200 million cassettes.
• Rights for his album Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) are reported to have been sold for a sum of Rs.22 million.
• Referred to in the Daily Telegraph as the "Asian Mozart".

See also

• Best selling music artists — World's top-selling music artists chart.
• Music by A. R. Rahman

External links

• Official site
• A.R. Rahman
• A.R. Rahman at IMDb
• arr4music : future offerings of A.R.Rahman
• Time article on A R Rahman
• A.R. Rahman: A Complete Biography
• A.R. Rahman: A Complete Discography
• The Official A.R. Rahman Fans Group
• Comprehensive Photo Album
• Rahman Times : An One Stop website for ARR Fans
• Rahmania — A Fan Station
• SL2UK: A.R. Rahman
• Nilacharal: A.R. Rahman Profile
• MSN Entertainment: A.R. Rahman Artist Information
• The Legend, The Music by Raaja