TODAY, Allah Rakha Rahman turns 45 who born on 6th January, 1966, is an Indian film composer, record producer, musician and singer. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards, eleven Filmfare Awards South, four National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe.
Rahman obtained a degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music in London, and set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record Inn at Chennai, arguably one of Asia’s most sophisticated and high-tech studios.Later by working in India's various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2004, Rahman, in a career spanning nearly two decades, 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 world's all-time top selling recording artists. He was described as "India's most prominent movie songwriter" by Time magazine in 2005.
His works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres, new technology and traditional orchestral arrangements. Time magazine has referred to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm).In 2009, Time magazine placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People.
EARLY LIFE:-
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 the age of 9 and his family rented out his father's musical equipment as a source of income. He was raised by his mother Kareema (previously called Kashturi). 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 Rahman's 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.
He was introduced to Qadiri Islam when his father was dying and his younger sister fell severely sick. He describes the process as taking five years; he along with other members of his family converted to Islam in 1989 when he was 23 years old. He changed his name to Rahman.
CAREER:-
Though his film career started in 1992, Rahman at the age of 9, in 1975, had accidentally played a tune on piano during his father's recording for a film, which R.K.Shekhar later developed into a complete song "Vellithen Kinnam Pol", for the Malayalam film "Penpada". This track credited to his father, was sung by Jayachandran and penned by Bharanikkavu Sivakumar.
Film scoring and soundtracks
His notable film career began in 1992, when he began the Panchathan Record Inn, a music recording and mixing studio attached to the backyard of his house. Over time it would become the most advanced recording studio in India.He initially composed scores for documentaries, jingles for advertisements and Indian Television channels and other projects. In 1992, he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for Ratnam's Tamil film Roja.The debut led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, an unprecedented win for a first-time film composer. Rahman has since been awarded the Silver Lotus three more times 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.
Roja's score met with high sales and acclaim in both its original and dubbed versions, bringing about a marked change in film music at the time. Rahman followed this with successful scores for Tamil–language films of the Chennai film industry including Ratnam's politically charged Bombay, the urbanite Kadhalan, Bharathiraaja's 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 around the world for his stylistic versatility incorporating Western classical, Carnatic and Tamil traditional/folk music traditions, jazz, reggae and rock music.The Bombay Theme—from Ratnam's Bombay—would later reappear in Deepa Mehta's Fire and various compilations and media. Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, marked Rahman's 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 inspire the track "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the former, as well as the composition "Zikr" from his score for 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 Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain, Alaipayuthey, Ashutosh Gowariker's 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, Vairamuthu and Vaali. He has consistently produced commercially successful soundtracks when collaborating with particular film directors such as Mani Ratnam who he has worked with since Roja, and the director S. Shankar in the films Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys, Sivaji and Enthiran.
In 2005, Rahman extended his Panchathan Record Inn studio by establishing AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai, thereby creating the most cutting-edge 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 project Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007. His compositions have been sampled for other scores within India,and appeared in such films as 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 chartand reached #4 on the Billboard 200 chart.The song "Jai Ho" reached #2 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singlesand #15 on the US Billboard Hot 100
PERSONAL LIFE:-
He is married to Saira Banu and has three children, Khatija, Rahima, and Ameen. Rahman made his son Ameen sing the track "NaNa" from Couples Retreat and his daughter Khatija the track "Pudhiya Manidha" from Enthiran.Rahman is the uncle of composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, who is the son of Rahman's elder sister, A. R. Reihana. She debuted in film singing on the track "Vidai Kodu Engal Naadae" from Kannathil Muthamittal. He is the brother-in-law of Malayalam film actor Rahman.
He had become an atheist as a result of childhood struggles, and eventually in 1989 converted to Islam, the religion of his mother's family. In an interview with Time magazine, he said that he embraced Islam through Sufism.He is very devoted to his mother. During the 81st Academy Awards ceremony, 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."
Despite being a former atheist, Rahman began his own catchphrase, "Ella pughazhum iraivanukke", a sentence in Tamil which literally means "All praises dedicated to God". The phrase was further popularized after Rahman uttered it during his speech at the 81st Academy Awards ceremony.
AWARDS:-
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.Later the year Rahman was conferred the honorary doctorate from Anna University in Chennai.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, India's third highest civilian honor, in 2010.Rahman has been nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film 127 Hours
