A. R. Rahman went from backyard studio to two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire
At nine, Dileep Kumar lost his father, and his family survived by renting out the dead man's music gear. The boy played keyboards for other composers, skipped classes and eventually quit school. Renamed A. R. Rahman, he later won two Academy Awards in one night for Slumdog Millionaire.
Born in Madras on 6 January 1967, Rahman grew up around film music; his father, R. K. Shekhar, composed and conducted for Malayalam cinema. Piano lessons started at four, and by 11 he was playing in the orchestra of M. K. Arjunan, a friend of his father. He went on to accompany Zakir Hussain and L. Shankar on world tours and won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music. The synthesiser fascinated him most, since it fused music with technology.
Jingles paid the bills first. In 1987, still called Dileep, he wrote advertising music for Allwyn watches, and a famous Titan Watches spot borrowed a theme from Mozart's Symphony No. 25. After his sister fell gravely ill in 1984, the family was drawn to a Sufi order, and in 1989, at 23, he converted to Islam with them. An astrologer offered the name Abdul Rahman, and his mother added Allah Rakha after it came to her in a dream.
In 1992 he built Panchathan Record Inn in his backyard, which grew into one of Asia's most sophisticated studios. That year director Mani Ratnam hired him for Roja, whose score earned a National Film Award. Hits followed with Bombay, whose soundtrack sold 15 million copies, and the Bollywood debut Rangeela; Muthu even found fans in Japan. His music blends Carnatic and Tamil folk with Western classical, jazz, reggae and rock.
Slumdog Millionaire brought Oscars for score and for the song Jai Ho at the 81st Academy Awards, followed by two Grammys in 2010. India gave him the Padma Bhushan that year, and fans call him the Mozart of Madras.
Source: A. R. Rahman
