Happy Birthday Music Maestro A. R. Rahman!

Comments [ 4 ] By Gurprit K. | 06 January 2014 | 10:05pm

January 6th marked the birthday of the famous Indian composer, singer, song-writer and music producer - Mr. A. R. Rahman! The musical maestro started his career with Tamil Films, but has established himself in the Indian industry and even made a name for himself in the international sphere.

Born in the year 1966 as R.S. Dileep Kumar in Chennai, he is the son of R.K. Shekhar, a music composer, and Kareema, who raised the rockstar after his father's death at the age of 9. At the same age, he started his career by playing a tune on the piano which was later developed into a song for the Malayalam film Penpada by his father. At the young age of 11, he started playing musical instruments in the orchestra of M.K. Arjunan, a Malayalam composer.

At 23, along with his family he converted to Islam, his mother's faith, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman i.e. AR Rahman.

In 1992, he was approached by Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil movie Roja. He then composed various soundtracks for Tamil and Malayalam movies until 1995, when he debuted in the Indian Film Industry with Rangeela (1995) followed by many other hits such as Dil Se and Doli Saja Ke Rakhna in 1998, Taal (1999), Lagaan (2001) and the list goes on.

Recently, in 2011, he composed music for Imtiaz Ali's Ranbir Kapoor starrer Rockstar, which became a phenomenal success and earned Rahman immense praise for his work. The following year, he made his first and last collaboration with director Yash Chopra by scoring for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. By the end of 2012, he composed music for Mani Ratnam's Kaal which got tremendous applause from both public and critics.

In 1994, he debuted as a singer with "Urvasi Urvasi" from a Tamil Movie, Kadhalan, with Suresh Peters as the co-singer. His first solo was "Columbus Columbus" from Jeans in 1998 while "Mangta Hai Kya" from Rangeela (1995) was his first Hindi song. He gained yet more fame with his work for a few English movies such as Bombil and Beatrice and Elizabeth: the Golden Age in 2007, Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, Couples Retreat (2008), 127 Hours in 2010 and most recently People Like Us (2012).

Rahman, having immense talent in the musical sphere, has also composed many albums and music videos. "Maa Tujhe Salaam", "Jay Ho!", "Satyameva Jayathe", "Infinite Love" are just a few of his popular music videos. And some of his unforgettable albums include "Disco Disco" (1987), "Vande Mataram" (1997), "Gurus of Peace" (1998), "Connections" (2011) and "Gems" (2011).

He is popularly named as "The Mozart of Madras" and has won over 103 Awards including two Oscars, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, a Satellite Award, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South with the addition of many nominations and honors till date.

Apart from his work for films, Rahman is also involved in various charitable causes such as Save the Children. In terms of his personal life, Rahman is happily married to Saira Banu and has three children: Khatija, Rahima and Ameen.

There are innumerable songs that Rahman has to his credit, but below we present you with a few of the most memorable songs where Rahman is a playback singer as well!

Playlist:

1. "Urvasi Urvasi" - Kodhalan
2. "Mangta Hai Kya" - Rangeela
3. "Chale Chalo" - Lagaan
4. "Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" - Swades
5. "Roobaroo" - Rang De Basanti
6. "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" - Jodhaa Akbar
7. "Tu Mera Dost Hai" - Yuvvraaj
8. "Kun Faya Kun" - Rockstar
8. "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire
10."I Love my Africa" - Maryan
11."Aise na Dekho" - Raanjhanaa
12."Dil Se Re" - Dil Se
13."Tere Bina" - Guru

From the entire team of BollyCurry, here's wishing AR Rahman a very happy birthday and all the success in the future!

Writer: Alina S.
Editor(s): Siona M. and Gunia M.
Graphics: Virina R.

Copyright BollyCurry

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