Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
'''Allah Rakha Rahman''' (]: ஏ.ஆர்.ரகுமான்; born January 6, 1967 in ], ], ] as '''A. S. Dileep Kumar''') is an Indian ], ], ] and ]. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won two ], four ], a ] and a ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4179888.cms|title=It's a bridge for Indian cinema: A R Rahman|work=]|dateformat=mdy|accessdate=February 26 2008}}</ref>
'''Allah Rakha Rahman''' (]: ஏ.ஆர்.ரகுமான்; born January 6, 1967 in ], ], ] as '''A. S. Dileep Kumar''') is an Indian ], ], ] and ]. His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won thirteen ], four ], a ], a ] and two ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4179888.cms|title=It's a bridge for Indian cinema: A R Rahman|work=]|dateformat=mdy|accessdate=February 26 2008}}</ref>
Working in ], ] and ], by 2003, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, has sold more than 100 million records of his ] and ] worldwide,<ref name="selling">{{cite web | title=Indian film composer for Rings| work=]| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3211258.stm| year=2003|dateformat=mdy | accessdate=November 15 2008}}</ref> and sold over 200 million cassettes<ref name="release">{{cite web | author=Das Gupta, Surajeet|coauthors=Sen, Soumik|title=Composing a winning score| work=]| url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2002/sep/21bizsp.htm| dateformat=mdy | accessdate=November 15 2008}}</ref> making him one of the world's ].
Working in ], ] and ], by 2003, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, has sold more than 100 million records of his ] and ] worldwide,<ref name="selling">{{cite web | title=Indian film composer for Rings| work=]| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3211258.stm| year=2003|dateformat=mdy | accessdate=November 15 2008}}</ref> and sold over 200 million cassettes<ref name="release">{{cite web | author=Das Gupta, Surajeet|coauthors=Sen, Soumik|title=Composing a winning score| work=]| url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2002/sep/21bizsp.htm| dateformat=mdy | accessdate=November 15 2008}}</ref> making him one of the world's ].
Time Magazine has referred to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm).
Early life and influences
A. R. Rahman was born in a musically affluent Tamil family. His father R. K. Shekhar, was a Chennai based composer and conductor for Malayalam films. Rahman lost his father at a young age and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. He was raised by his mother Kareema (Kashturi), who was from a Muslim family. During these formative years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots", with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja. Rahman is the founder of the Chennai-based rock group, "Nemesis Avenue". He played the keyboard and piano, the synthesizer, the harmonium and the guitar. His curiosity in the synthesizer, in particular increased because, he says, it was the “ideal combination of music and technology". He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj. At the age of 11, he joined, as a keyboardist, the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja, one of many composers to whom musical instruments belonging to Rahman's father were rented. Rahman later played in the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan and Ramesh Naidu, accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music.
Career
Film scoring and soundtracks
In 1992, Rahman began his own music recording and mixing studio attached to the backyard of his house called the Panchathan Record Inn, which was developed into India's most advanced recording studio. He initially composed music jingles for advertisements, Indian Television channels and music scores in documentaries, among other projects. In 1992, he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for Ratnam's Tamil film Roja. The debut led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, the first time ever by a first-time film composer. Rahman has since then gone on to win the award three more times (for his scores for Minsaara Kanavu (Electric Dreams, Tamil) in 1997, Lagaan (Tax, Hindi) in 2002, Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek, Tamil) in 2003, the most ever by any composer.
Rahman attached and opened a developed extension studio to his Panchathan Record Inn in 2005 called AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai — considered to be the most developed, equipped and high tech studio in Asia. In 2006, Rahman launched his own music label, KM Music. Its first release was his score to the film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. Rahman scored the Mandarin language picture Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003 after researching and utilizing Chinese and Japanese classical music, and co-scored the Shekhar Kapoor helmed Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007. His compositions have been reused in scores within India and have made appearances in Inside Man, Lord of War and The Accidental Husband. In 2008, he scored the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, for which he won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards, becoming the first Indian citizen to do so.
Rahman has been involved in several projects aside from film. He made an album Vande Mataram (1997) on India's 50th anniversary of independence to commercial success. He followed it up with an album for the Bharat Bala–directed video Jana Gana Mana, a conglomeration of performances by many leading exponents/artists of Indian classical music. Rahman has written jingles for ads and composed several orchestrations for athletic events, T.V. and internet media publications, documentaries and short films.
In the last six years, Rahman has performed three successful world tours of his concerts to audiences in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Dubai, UK, Canada, the US (Hollywood Bowl and 3d tour) and India. He has been collaborating with Karen David for her upcoming studio album. A two-disc soundtrack, Introducing A. R. Rahman (2006) featuring 25 pieces he composed from his Tamil film scores was released in May 2006. His non-film album, Connections was launched on 12 December, 2008.
Music style and impact
Skilled in Carnatic music, Western classical, Hindustani music and the Qawwali style of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahman has been noted to write film songs that amalgamate elements of these music systems and other genres, layering instruments from differing music idioms in an improvisatory manner. Symphonic orchestral themes have accompanied his scores, where he has employed leitmotif. In the 1980s, Rahman recorded and played arrangements on mono, synonymous with the era of predecessors such as K. V. Mahadevan and Vishwanathan–Ramamoorthy, but later his methodology changed. Rahman worked and experimented on fusing traditional instruments with new electronic sounds and technology.
His interest and outlook in music stems from his love of experimentation. Rahman's compositions, in the vein of past and contemporary Chennai film composers, bring out auteuristic uses of counterpoint, orchestration and the human voice, evolving Indian pop music with unique timbres, forms and instrumentation. By virtue of these qualities, broad ranging lyrics and his syncretic style, his themes appeal to several sections of Indian society.
His first soundtrack for Roja was listed in TIME's "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time in 2005. Film critic Richard Corliss felt the "astonishing debut work parades Rahman's gift for alchemizing outside influences until they are totally Tamil, totally Rahman." Rahman's initial global reach is attributed to the South Asian diaspora. Described as one of the most innovative composers to ever work in the industry, his unique style and immense success transformed film music in the 1990s prompting several film producers to take film music more seriously. The music producer Ron Fair considers Rahman to be "one of the world's great living composers in any medium".
"I had come to the music of A. R. Rahman through the
emotional and haunting score of Bombay and the wit
and celebration of Lagaan. But the more of AR's
music I encountered the more I was to be amazed at the
sheer diversity of styles: from swinging brass bands
to triumphant anthems; from joyous pop to West-End
musicals. Whatever the style, A. R.
Rahman's music always possesses a profound sense of
humanity and spirit, qualities that inspire me the
He is married to Saira Banu and has three children, Khadijah, Rahima, and Aameen. Rahman is the uncle of composer G. V. Prakash Kumar, who is the son of Rahman's elder sister, A. R. Reihana. Rahman is a practising SufiMuslim. He had become an athiest as a result of childhood struggles, he eventually converted in to Islam in 1989, the religion of his mother's family.
He is very devoted to his mother. During the Oscar Award, he paid her a tribute saying:
"There is a Hindi dialogue 'mere pass ma hai' which means even if I have got nothing I have my mother here.
Social service
Rahman is involved in various charitable causes. In 2004, he was appointed as the Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by WHO. He has shown support to charities including Save the Children, India, and worked with Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam for his song "Indian Ocean" . The song featured a-ha keyboard player Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer, Neil Primrose. The proceeds of the song went towards helping orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He produced the single "We Can Make It Better" by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota. In 2008, Rahman opened his KM Music Conservatory partnered with Audio Media Education facility to tutor and train aspiring musicians in vocals, instruments, music technology and sound design. The conservatory – with preeminent musicians on its panel and a newly founded symphony orchestra – is located near his studio in Kodambakkam, Chennai, offering courses at Beginners, Foundation and Diploma level. Rahman composed the theme music for a short film for The Banyan in 2006, in aid of destitute women in Chennai. In 2008, Rahman, along with percussionist Sivamani created a song titled "Jiya Se Jiya", inspired by the Free Hugs Campaign and promoted it through a video shot in various cities in India.
^ Rangan, Baradwaj (14 June 2008). "A R Rahman - The Rolling Stone Interview". Retrieved November 16, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Rahmanrs" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
Ganti, T., Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema, p. 112
^ Eur, Andy Gregory, The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002: A. R. Rahman, p. 419 - 420
^ Iyer, Vijay. "A. R. Rahman". lotr.com. Retrieved November 15 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
Kasbekar, Asha (2006). Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts and Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. p. 215. ISBN9781851096367. Songs play as important a part in South Indian films and some South Indian music directors such as A. R. Rehman and Ilyaraja have an enthusiastic national and even international following
Chaudhuri, S., "Cinema of South India and Sri Lanka", Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia, p. 149, Now the South is believed to excel the North in many respects, including its colour labs, state of the art digital technology and sound processing facilities (which have improved the dubbing of Tamil and other South Indian languages into Hindi since the 1970s
Ramaswamy, V., Historical Dictionary of the Tamils, p. 199
Chaudhuri, S., "Cinema of South India and Sri Lanka", Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia, p. 149, Southern filmmakers like Mani Ratnam, Ram Gopal Varma and Priyadarshan have altered the profile of Indian 'national' cinema. So too have southern specialists... cinematographers Santosh Sivan, P. C. Sriram and music composer A. R. Rahman who formed a highly successful team with Ratnam and have all attained star status in their own right
Nambiar, Smitha. "A. R. Rahman - The Melody King". Indiainfo.com. Retrieved November 16 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
Stafford, Roy, Understanding Audiences and the Film Industry, London: British Film Institute, p. 27, ISBN9781844571413
Arnold, Alison (2000). "Film music in the late Twentieth century". The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Taylor & Francis. p. 540. ISBN9780824049461. The recent success of the Tamil film music director A. R. Rehman in achieving widespread popularity in the world of Hindi film music is now possibly opening doors to new South-North relationships and collaborations
Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. p. 6.
Ganti, T., Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema, p. 112, Rehman became a major star with his hit music in Roja followed by hit scores for Mani Ratnam's and Shankar's films in Tamil.
Omkar, Ashanti (March 2008), "Interview with A. R. Rahman", The Score Magazine, vol. 1, no. 1, Chennai{{citation}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
Maria Verghis, Shana (August 11, 2006), "A R Rahman Interview", The Pioneer, New Delhi {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
"Cinemaya 1998", Cinemaya, no. 39–41, New Delhi, p. 9, 1998, ISSN0970-8782, OCLC19234070, However, the song was lifted by a whole range of well-known music directors from
Bombay so much so that the original composition in Tamil by AR Rahman...{{citation}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 82 (help)
Allen, John, Refashioning pop music in Asia, p. 67 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
"A. R. Rahman: Summary Biography". A. R. Rahman: A Biography. 2002. Retrieved February 15 2007. Particularly impressed with Vande Mataram, Jeremy Spencer, formerly of Fleetwood Mac stated that Rahman was the only Indian composer he knew about and liked{{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Viswanathan, T.; Harper Allen, Matthew, Music in South India, p. 139
Rahman's work has evolved music "passed the relatively static makeup of Western ensembles such as jazz bands and symphony orchestras and the rigid formula of American pop songs." Todd Titon, Jeff, "India/South India", Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples, p. 202 - 205 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Ganti, T., Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema, p. 112, Rehman is an innovative and phenomenally successful contemporary Tamil and Hindi composer whose style transformed film music in the 1990s...he is considered a genius in the Bombay film industry, and in terms of how much control and autonomy he is allowed over his compositions and working style, he holds tremendous power over film producers and directors
Allen, John (2004). Refashioning pop music in Asia. US: Routledge. ISBN9780700714018. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Arnold, Alison (2000). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Taylor & Francis. ISBN9780824049461.
Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). "Cinema of South India and Sri Lanka". Contemporary World Cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN074861799X.
Eur, Andy Gregory (2002). "A. R. Rahman". The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Routledge. ISBN9781857431612.
Ganti, Tejaswini (2004). Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema. Routledge. ISBN0415288541.
Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Michigan: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN0810853795.
Terska Ciecko, Anne (2006). Contemporary Asian Cinema: Popular culture in a Global Frame. Berg: Berg Publishers. ISBN1845202376.
Todd Titon, Jeff (2005). "India/South India". Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. US: Thomson Shirmer. ISBN9780534627577. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. ISBN9780415396806.
Vishwanathan, T. (2004). Music in South India: The Karṇāṭak Concert Tradition and Beyond : Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. US: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780195145915. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
