2. Early Life
Ar Rahman was born A. S. Dileep Kumar on January 6th, 1967 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to a Hindu family. His father was R. K. Shekhar who was a film composer and conductor for Tamil and Malayalam films while his mother Kareema Begum was a housewife. Ar Rahman started learning piano at the age of four and later went on to study Western classical music under Master Dhanraj. He also studied Carnatic music under Professor T. Raghav and Mridangam under Palghat Mani Iyer.
At the age of 11, Ar Rahman began playing the keyboard and soon after he joined the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja, an Indian film composer and singer-songwriter, as a keyboard player at the age of 11. During this time, he also began composing jingles for advertisements which eventually led him to compose music for television shows such as Kalki, Vikatan and Anu’s Academy Award winning documentary on India’s freedom struggle titled Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001).
3. Career
In 1992, Ar Rahman made his debut as a film composer with Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Roja which won him several awards including the National Film Award for Best Music Direction and Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil that year. He then went on to compose music for several other films such as Kadhalan (1994), Bombay (1995), Minsaara Kanavu (1997) and Taal (1999).
In 2007, Ar Rahman composed the score for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire which earned him two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“Jai Ho”). In 2009 he composed the score for Boyle’s 127 Hours which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score that year as well as two Grammy Awards nominations in 2011 – one for Album of the Year (“Vande Mataram”) and one for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album (“Slumdog Millionaire”).
4 Biography
Ar Rahman has released over 50 studio albums since his debut in 1992 including Vande Mataram (1997), Jana Gana Mana (2000), Sivaji: The Boss (2007), Enthiran (2010) and 2 States (2014). He has also collaborated with several international artists such as Michael Jackson, Pussycat Dolls, Akon, Wyclef Jean, Will Smith and more recently Coldplay on their album A Head Full of Dreams (2015). Apart from composing music he is also an active philanthropist who has established several charitable foundations including KM Music Conservatory which provides free education in classical music to underprivileged children in India; AR Rahman Foundation which helps people affected by natural disasters; AR Rahman Foundation USA which provides scholarships to needy students; The AR Rahman Scholarship Fund which provides scholarships to deserving students from economically weak backgrounds; The AR Rahman Charitable Trust which helps those suffering from poverty or natural calamities; The AR Rehman Jai Ho Trust which supports orphaned children; The AR Rehman Hope Foundation which provides aid to cancer patients; The AR Rehman Jai Ho Foundation which supports animal welfare initiatives; The AR Rehman Education Initiative which helps provide educational opportunities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds; And finally the AR Rehman Institute of Musicology & Technology whose mission is to promote music education through research projects related to technology-driven solutions in areas such as composition tools, recording techniques etc.,
5 Height & Weight
Ar Rahman stands at 5 feet 4 inches tall with a weight of 75 kilograms or 165 pounds. His zodiac sign is Capricorn while his shoe size is 8 US/41 EU/7 UK/25 CM/9 JP respectively.
6 Date Of Birth
Ar Rahman was born on January 6th 1967 making him 53 years old currently