A.R. Rahman (Abdul Rahman), the musical maestro of Indian Cinema was born on 6 January 1966 in Madras, to a musically affluent family. Born Dileep Kumar, he came to be known as A.R. Rahman later when the family converted to Islam. Dileep started learning piano at the tender age of four.
Dileep joined Illaiyaraja’s troupe as a keyboard player at the age of 11 and had to drop out of school. He also played on the orchestra of M.S.Vishwanathan and Ramesh Naidu and accompanied Zakir Hussain and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan on world tours. All this experience enabled him to earn a scholarship to the famed Trinity College of Music at Oxford University from where he obtained a degree in Western Classical Music. In 1987, he got a chance to compose a jingle to promote Allwyn’s new Trendy range of watches. His work was appreciated and he got many more offers.
In 1989, he started a small studio of his own, called Panchathan Record Inn, attached to his house. The turning point in his life was when he composed music for the film Roja, a superhit by Mani Ratnam.
Apart from making music for films, Rahman has also done compositions for patriotic albums like ‘Vande Mataram’. He has also worked and performed with internationally reputed artistes for his album ‘Bombay Dreams’. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his talent, the Padmashree from the Government of India in 2000 being one of them.
Rahman’s Personal Quote: "Music is a gift from God and every note should be blessed. If not, music becomes mere noise. Before composing I pray and beg God to give me something. I believe every song should have a pure soul in it to reach people."
