A.R. Rahman, whose full name is Allah Rakha Rahman, was born on January 6, 1966, in Madras, India (now Chennai). His large body of work on stage and screen has earned him the moniker “the Mozart of Madras.”
Rahman began learning the piano at the age of four, and his father, R.K. Sekhar, was a well-known Tamil musician who wrote scores for the Malayalam film industry. The child was interested in electronics and computers, and thanks to his father’s fortunate acquisition of a synthesizer, he was able to follow his passion while also developing a love for music. Rahman started playing the piano professionally at age 11 to support his family when Sekhar passed away when he was just nine years old. He dropped out of school but was given the scholarship to study at Trinity College, Oxford, where, thanks to his work experience, he obtained a degree in Western classical music.
Following the recovery of a sister from a critical illness, his family converted to Islam in 1988, and he adopted the name, Allah Rakha Rahman. He eventually decided to use his skills in the production of commercial jingles after growing weary of performing in bands. He produced more than 300 jingles, and he would later claim that the experience helped him develop discipline because creating jingles required quickly conveying a strong message or emotion. Rahman met Bollywood film director Mani Ratnam in 1991 at a ceremony where he was receiving an award for his work on a coffee advertisement. Ratnam convinced Rahman to start writing music for movies. Roja (1992), their first endeavor, became Rahman’s debut successful movie soundtrack. One of the more than 100 film scores that followed was the score for the 2001 Bollywood film Lagaan, which was the first to garner an Academy Award nomination. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his Rahman CDs.
Rahman was approached by British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber about writing a stage musical after hearing some of Rahman’s soundtracks. Bombay Dreams, a colorful parody of Bollywood movies that Rahman wrote the music for alongside lyricist Don Black, debuted in London’s West End in 2002 without much notice. But because of the show’s successful ticket sales and the popularity of Rahman among London’s sizable Indian community, the Broadway version of the production debuted in 2004. The Lord of the Rings musical, Rahman’s subsequent stage production, debuted in Toronto in 2006. The production’s $25 million budget allowed Rahman to collaborate with the Finnish folk group Värttinä on a musical score that perfectly encapsulated the otherworldliness of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. Although the play (which debuted in 2007 in both Toronto and London) received negative reviews, it was a mediocre hit with viewers.
Here are some best tracks of A. R. Rahman:
Kun Faya Kun
O Paalanhaare
Luka Chuppi
Singappenney
Param Sundari
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