NDTVMusic.com
Monday, November 24, 2008  (New Delhi)

A. R. Rahman was born to R. K. Shekhar, a composer and conductor for Malayalam-language films in Kerala cinema, who died when Rahman was nine years old.

Due to the financial crunch after the father's death, A. R. Rahman's family family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. The family converted to Islam from Shaivite Hinduism in the late 1970s.

During his early years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as Roots with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony and Raja.

Rahman also founded the Madras based rock group, Nemesis Avenue. He played the keyboard and piano, the synthesizer, the harmonium and the guitar. Out of all the instruments, Rahman developed a particular inclination towards the syntyesizer. He called it the ideal combination of music and technology".

He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj. At the age of 11, Rahman joined Ilaiyaraaja's troupe - one of many composers to whom musical instruments belonging to Rahman's father were rented to.

Rahman later played in the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu, accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship to Trinity College of Music in London, where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music.

It was in the year 1991, that ace Tamil movie director mani Ratnam was on the lookout for a new composer to give music for his films. One day, at an awards function for excellence in the field of advertising, Mani Ratnam happened to meet a young man who received the award for the best ad jingle which he had composed for the popular Leo Coffee ad. It so happened that Mani Ratnam chose Rahman for the film Roja.

The music of Roja opened a whole new chapter in the history of Indian film music. And from this day, there was no looking back for the 25-year old A. R. Rahman.

After Roja came the successful scores for Chennai-based Tamil language films including Ratnam's political Bombay, the urbanite Kadhalan, Bharathiraaja's Karuththamma, Indira, and the romantic comedies Minsaara Kanavu and Love Birds.

Rahman's Soundtracks gained him recognition in the Tamil Nadu film industry and across the world for his stylistic versatality in his pieces including in classical, Traditional/folk, jazz, reggae and soft rock music.

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.

In the 2000s, Rahman created hit scores for Rajiv Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain, Alaipayuthey, Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades, Rang de Basanti and the recent soundtrack of Yuvvraaj.

‘Jai Ho’ to A.R. Rahman

February 24th, 2009

The world is roaring at his feet. He was India’s past; he is truly India’s present and will for sure be India’s future too. The 81st Academy Awards will forever remain and will be cherished not just by the ace musician, but will be celebrated by every Indian living across the nation. Yes, A.R. Rahman is certainly the man of the moment, a name which is famous even on the slum children’s mouth.

Indian music maestro, A.R. Rahman has proudly won two Oscars awards for Best Original song for ‘Jai Ho’ and best background score. Rahman win comes as the crowning glory and he truly deserves the honor, not just for this movie, but for the fabulous music he has been making for over a decade. Our heartiest congratulation goes to the musical genius A.R. Rahman. Let us take a sneak peak at his filmi(musical) career graph.

Born in Madras (now Chennai) on 6th January, 1966, Rahman complete name is Allah Rakha Rahman. Rahman played many instruments and later joined people like Zakir Hussain, M.S. Vishwanathan, and Ramesh Naidu on world tours. He soon obtained a degree in Trinity college, Oxford where he graduated with a degree in western classical music.

Rahman’s tasted the fruit of success in 1992 by providing music score and sound track to Mani Ratnam’s Roja. He was awarded with Rajat Kamal and best music director for national film awards.

Rahman worked wonders in many tamil and telugu movies. Some of his noted and renowned work in hindi cinema which created a vibe for more than a decade are Roja(1992), Bombay(1995), Rangeela(1995), Fire(1996), Daud(1997), Dil Se, Earth(1998), Taal(1998), Zubeidaa, Nayak(2000), Lagaan(2001), Sathiya(2002), Lakeer, Meenaxi(2003), Yuva, Kisna, Swades(2004), Rang De Basanti, Guru(2006), Jodhaa Akbar, Jaane tu ya Jaane na, Yuvraaj, Ghajini(2008), Slumdog Millionaire, Delhi 6(2009). Rahman is working on many more projects which are yet to create history.

This is just a brief on the great renowned singer. He is truly a masterpiece in his department. Rahman is certainly someone who has redefined the meaning of music and things related to music.

We hope he brings us many more Oscars in near future. Jai Ho

A R Rahman accepts the Oscar for Best Original Score for his music for Slumdog Millionaire during the 81st Academy Awards.

Lata Mangeshkar congratulated Rahman wishing the music maestro an Oscar every year.

On winning the award, A R Rahman dedicated it to his mother.

R Rahman accepts the Oscar for best original song Jai Ho from the motion picture Slumdog Millionaire from presenters Alicia Keys and Zac Efron during the 81st Academy Awards.

A R Rahman, left, accepts the Oscar for best original song Jai Ho from the motion picture Slumdog Millionaire from Alicia Keys.

Rahman also gave a live performance of Oscar winning track Jai Ho at the Oscars

Hollywood's bigwigs let out a collective twitter of nervous laughter when A R Rahman took the stage for his Golden Globe win. It was probably because they couldn't wrap their tongue around his name, mispronouncing it no less than three times but the humble maestro, gracious as always, acknowledged his surprise and gratitude at receiving the award by thanking the Slumdog Millionaire team and India's billion strong.

Rahman has had a predictably busy year working on Ghajini and Yuvvraaj's soundtracks among others and completed the masterly record in very little time. The movie, accused of packaging romanticised poverty to First World audiences that are equally guilty of lapping it up, is rich in its eclectic score. Glocal vibes have him collaborating with M.i.A., Gulzar, Ila Arun, Alka Yagnik, Suzzanne D'Mello, known for her Western approach to singing and rap artist Blaaze. Compelling is the story and the soundtrack that screenwriter Simon Beaufoy wants to make a musical of it.

The movie about a boy from the slums who wins a fortune on India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? launched many faces but it brought Rahman the international recognition he so deserved. The musician's first success came with Mani Ratnam's Roja which even made Time magazine's list of 100 best movie compilations in the world. Tunes stand out for their longevity. In an industry that's sometimes stifled by the demands of playback music, Rahman's syncopations have managed to go off the beaten track and garnered both critical and popular acclaim.

It isn't hard to believe that two of the artiste's most appreciated soundtracks in recent times come from underdog movies Guru and Slumdog Millionaire. Young Rahman had a musically rich upbringing, but after his composer father R K Shekhar's premature death, the family had to rent out instruments to make ends meet and the maverick ventured into music making himself.

"It's a very strange thing... actually going back to my childhood story. I experienced most of the disappointments in my life at that time. So whatever happens now, suspect that hope, always suspect that happiness. And even that moment of happiness doesn't exist because am waiting for how it's going to fool me and give me a kick again."

The impossibly mild mannered and soft-spoken composer had a hard time escaping the shadows of his keyboard at first. "I have to deliver my music to the public. Slowly, changed myself and started singing and began to extend myself as much as could. To the limits that could go. But I'm still not comfortable."

And it's a good thing he did too. His visceral rendition of Vande Mataram earned him the wrath of a few old schoolers but brought out a previously dormant patriotic zeal in the younger generation.

The Mozart of Madras' repertoire includes recent epic Jodhaa Akbar, coming-of-age flicks like Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na and work on international productions like Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Lord of the Rings musical. His win doesn't mean he's kicking back though. He's already in Chennai working late into the night on a Rajnikanth production.

"I'm very restless during the day because there are so many things happening. It's very distracting. I work from three pm to early morning. When have mixing to do, start as late as seven in the evening. Then sleep till noon. But this is only when I'm in Chennai; not when abroad; there, work times are more regular."

That Rahman has stood the litmus test is evidenced by the fact that his tunes linger on long after the movies they were associated with fade to the recesses of the mind. Strongly inclined towards philanthropy, the genius established the A R Rahman Foundation and continues to work with it to rid the world of poverty. At the time this article was written, he had earned a BAFTA nomination and three oscar nominations and a win seems only imminent. The accolades are paving a new path for him. It doesn't much matter then that a former alien-chasing FBI agent called him Reh-moon at the gg's, his melodies win over The X-Files any day of the week.

Text courtesy: Verve (www.verveonline.com/) | Photograph: Phil McCarten/REUTERS