Happy Birthday A.R. Rahman!

image There needs no introduction when it comes to music legend A.R. Rahman, as he has already been accepted as a global icon. The man who took Indian music to global arena by winning double Oscars is celebrating his birthday!

Galatta.com joins thousands of Rahman fans across the globe to wish him a happy birthday and a great year ahead.

Kadhal Mazhai (AR Rahman Love Hits)

The Flashback: The Mozart of Madras was born in 1966 as A.S. Dileep Kumar to R.K. Shekhar, a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam films. At age 11, he joined music director Ilaiyaraaja’s troupe as a keyboard player. Simultaneously, he also played in several music directors’ troupes and toured the world with great concert performers such as Zakir Hussain, L.Vaidyanathan and Ramesh Naidu. Learning from all these varied and valuable experiences, Rahman graduated from Trinity College of Music, London in Western classical music.

In 1991, he opened his recording studio in Chennai and began composing music for jingles and documentary films.

AR Rahman A Music Storm – Mozart Of Madras

The Big Break: It was ace director Mani Ratnam who introduced Rahman in his blockbuster film Roja. It is said that Mani Ratnam was very much impressed when Rahman played ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai’ during the auditions and immediately signed him. And the rest was history! He was awarded the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards for the film, the first time ever for a new film composer and since then, he never looked back. The film was also listed in TIME’s Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time.

AR Rahman A Music Storm – RahMania

The Bollywood Connection: Rahman took the Bollywood industry by wave through his debut flick Rangeela. And later later Subash Ghai’s Taal cemented the place for ever. Some of his finest compositions in Hindi includes Lagaan, Pukar, Yuva, Guru, Dil Se, Jodhaa Akbar, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Yuvraaj, Delhi-6, Ghajini and the recently released Rockstar.

AR Rahman A Music Storm – Sounds Of Music

The Oscar rage: When Rahman composed ‘Jai Ho’ for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, little did we expect that the song will create international records. But it did. For his score of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Oscars for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song. He recently teamed up with Danny Boyle again for 127 Hours, which was again nominated for the Golden Globe awards and the Oscars.

Hits Of AR Rahman (Part 2)

Hits Of AR Rahman (Part 1)

As Modest As Always: Beyond and above his musical talent, it is Rahman’s great modesty that warms the hearts of listeners and fans worldwide. Almost every time he receives an award or accolade, we have seen him attributing it to the Almighty. ‘Ella Pughazhum Iraivanukke’ is Rahman’s most popular and most-liked prelude to his public speeches. He did this at the Oscars too. Rahman’s specialty lies in his experimentation. His is a well-knit combination of technology and art. The songs he compose illustrate the distinctly rich aspects of music, yet carry many contemporary motifs. He also launched the KM Music Conservatory to train Indians in world class music. Rahman’s vision is to compose and present world-class orchestras in Chennai.

Known for keeping his personal life away from the media glare, Rahman is married to Saira and has three children: Khatija, Rahima and Amin.

AR Rahman A Music Storm – ARR Remixed

Awards (India): Four National awards, 14 Filmfare awards, 13 Filmfare South awards, 4 Bollywood Music awards, 10 IIFA, 8 Star Screen awards, 5 TN  State awards, 6 Zee Cine awards, 3 Shantaram awards, Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution to music and so on…

AR Rahman A Music Storm – Rahman Sings For Rahman

Forthcoming Projects: Rahman will be doing four Tamil films in 2012; Rajinikanth’s first animated flick Kochadaiyaan, Bharatbala’s next venture, Gautham Menon’s Yohan: Adhyayam Ondru and Mani Ratnam’s next film, which is an intense love story.

Rahman will also team up with Hollywood director Steven Spielberg’s upcoming production venture Welcome to People. He will also do a promotional song for an upcoming Malayalam film Lavendar and Godfather in Kannada.

In Bollywood, he will compose music for Yash Chopra’s comeback film with SRK, Shekar Kapur’s Paani and Monkeys of Bollywood.

Happy birthday Rahman sir!

AR Rahman A Music Storm – Rahman Classic Love Songs

Isai Maalai (A.R.Rahman Hits Of the Year)

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