A R Rehman

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.

In a career spanning over a decade, Rahman has sold more than one hundred million records world-wide,[1] and sold over two hundred million cassettes,[2] making him arguably the world's all time top-selling recording artist.

Biography

[edit] Early life and influences
A. R. Rahman is the only son of R. K. Sekhar, 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. Amidst adverse difficulties, Rahman's sister, Reihana became afflicted with an unexplainable illness, which miraculously was cured after a visit by a Sufi saint. This led Dileep to convert to Islam, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman.

During these early years, Rahman served as a keyboardist and an arranger in bands with friends, embracing numerous music genres. He played the keyboard and piano, in addition to 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.”[3] He began training in Carnatic music. At the age of 11, he joined the troupe of Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja as a keyboardist.[3] 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 graduated with a degree in Western classical music.[4]

Summary of Career
Film scoring and soundtracks

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(yes). In 1992, 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 super hit 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, in its original and dubbed versions, and Rahman followed it up with a number of other extremely popular films, including Bombay, Kadhalan, Indira, Minsaara Kanavu, Muthu and Love Birds. His soundtracks gained him recognition and notice in the Tamil film industry and across the country for his versatality in classical, folk, jazz, reggae, soft rock and other styles. Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, marked Rahman's debut in Hindi films. Many popular albums for films including Dil Se and Taal followed. 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.

Rahman's work is also unique in the fact that his collaborations with some film directors have always resulted in hugely successful albums. In particular, he has worked with Mani Ratnam on ten films until 2006, all of which have been musical superhits. Also notable is his collaboration with the director S. Shankar - in Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys and Sivaji.

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".[5] 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.[6] The music of this film was very much appreciated in Asia.

His latest work includes Water, Rang De Basanti, Sillunu Oru Kaadhal and Guru. He has recently finished working on Shankar's next venture Sivaji: The Boss with superstar Rajnikanth in the lead and the audio has received a superb response. Rahman has scored the movie Provoked and is also working on Shyam Benegal's next venture, Chamki Chameli, which is set for release in late 2007 as well as Jodhaa Akbar.

Rahman is a recipient of the Padma Sri, one of the highest civilian awards in India, and has been described as the "Mozart from Madras".[7].

Other works

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. Furthermore, Rahman, along with the Finish folk music band Värttinä, composed the music for The Lord of the Rings theatre production, which first opened in Toronto on March 23, 2006, a new production of which begins previewing in London at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from May 9, 2007.

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 compilation soundtrack was well received. Rahman has performed in concerts and tours worldwide. He 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.

Music style

Rahman's interest in the works of Classical and Romantic period composers, Carnatic composers, early film composers and predecessors K. V. Mahadevan and Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy of the Tamil film industry and others continued through his late teens. He further explored and trained in Carnatic music, Western classical, Hindustani music and the Qawalli style of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, in addition to numerous other styles. His interest and outlook in music is said to stem from his love to experiment.[4][8] As a result, his scores have alternated from songs and themes composed covering a variety of genres, with unconventionally-grouped instruments, and different vocal styles being used and combined together in some of his film soundtracks, to more traditional orchestral themes with leitmotif techniques composed in others. Rahman's works often feature a mix of minimalist songs and evocative, thematic pieces, building on his differing chord progressions and rhythms. He has written scores and songs with new and varied melodic and percussive sounds from instruments of different music systems. This unique blend he pioneered would come to be known as his avant-garde sound.

Philanthropy

The 'A R Rahman Foundation', founded by the great musician, Padmashree. AR Rahman, represents a movement to eradicate poverty through facilitation of education to poor & needy children. As part of the initiative, it will set up & partner with institutes across the nation.

The vision of the AR Rahman Foundation is to eradicate poverty globally. As a first step towards achieving this vision, the Foundation will set up and partner with educational institutions across India. These institutions will provide basic & primary education to underprivileged children who do not have the means to access & fund their education thereby equipping them with knowledge and skill sets to build a career for themselves.

Rahman has also worked with Cat stevens / Yusuf Islam for his song "Indian Ocean" .The song featured A-ha keyboard player,Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer, Neil Primrose.The proceeds of the song went to help orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the Tsunami.

Personal life

Rahman (born Dileep Kumar) is the second of four children born to R.K. Shekhar and Kareema Begum (Kasthuri). He has three sisters, Rehana (Kanchana), Fatima Talat (Bala) and Israth. He has three children - Khatija, Rahima and Amin. Rahman is an alumni of PSBB Lake Area School, Nungambakkam, Chennai.