A R Rahman - A Walk Through His Life So Far...

8/3/2019 A R Rahman - A Walk Through His Life So Far...

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A R Rahman lives in his joint family. The family consists of himself, hiswife Saira Banu, his 3 sisters (Raihana, Talath and Israth), his mother

(Kareema Begum), his two daughters (Kadhija and Raheema) and ason ( Khwaja Mohammad Roo mi Rahman ).His sisters Raihana, Talath

and Israth are professionally trained musicians. They often sing for

him, and appear on stage performances as well.

Sister Raihanas son, GV Prakash is a born talent, and hes into music.He has sung songs for Rahman and now is an emerging music director.

Rahmans mother and wife do play the most important part in hismusic - they are his critics.

Rahman got married at the age of 27. And unlike in the Indian movies,

it wasnt love at first sight.

Rahman had told his mother what his bride needed to have: some

education, some beauty and loads of humility! His mother frequentedthe same Sufi temple as Saira and her family. His mother first noticed

her there.She cried Eureka when she saw this young girl praying in that Sufi

temple. The girls parents also were looking for a bridegroom for their

elder daughter, 21-year-old Saira. Her father is a Madras-basedbusinessman, who belongs to Kutch , Gujarat originally.

Saira is sister-in-law of the Tamil actor whos also called Rahman, andbeing a Rahman fan herself, she couldnt let him down.Rahman

remembers, My first meeting with Saira was rather amusing. Backthen, she only spoke Kutchi. I asked her whether she was interested inmarrying me. Id also told her what kind of life was going to be offered

to her. She was very quiet then, but now I know she is anything butquiet! I had to smile throughout our three-hour meeting and, by the

end of it, it was almost a pain.

Rahmans mother chose genuinely friendly Saira Banu to be his wife.

Theirs was an arranged marriage. Saira and Rahman got married onWednesday, March the 12th, 1995 in Chennai. It was a gala event.

About his personal life, Rahman once said Im very passionate aboutmusic and have very little place in my life for anything else. But

whatever time I have after my recordings, I try and spend with myfamily, especially with my younger daughter. She listens to most of my

songs and even has her favorites. Its so wonderful to see your childgrowing up. I dont want to miss out these little pleasures in life.

Saira and Rahman are blessed with two daughters and one son.


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When asked How much time do you spend with your family? he

answers, I have realized that I must spend more time with my familyif I want them to listen to me. He takes his children on small trips and

picnics. His elder daughter Kadhija doesnt like the autograph hunters

running after him, so she restricts him from coming to her school. Hisyounger daughter Raheema has interest in music. His son is too

young, who shares the birthday with his father. He was born on 6thJan 2002 and Rahman on 6th Jan 1966

ARR GURUS

Many people contributed to making Rahman what he is today.Thoughhe completed his schooling from the prestigious Padma Seshadri Bal

Bhavan in Chennai, and then shifted to the Madras Christian College ,

Chennai.there are many others who contributed to his success - asgurus and teachers.

Music Teachers

Dileeps initiation in music happened in the early years. He obviously

took the first music lessons from his father, RK Sekhar.

According to a story behind his music baptism, once a music director

and colleague of Sekhar, Sudarshanam Master found the four year oldplaying a tune on the harmonium. Master covered the keys with a

cloth. It made no difference. Dileep replayed the tune effortlessly. Thisimpressed the music director who suggested that he be trained inmusic.

Dileep started taking his first music lessons on a piano and a pedal

organ when only four. He also began to formally learn Indian classical

music, carnatic from Dakshinamoorthy and N. Gopalakrishnan andHindustani from Krishnan Nair. He took classes in film music from

Nithyanandham and Western Classical from Jacob John. All thislearning experience enabled him to earn a scholarship to the famed

Trinity College of Music at Oxford University London, from where heobtained a degree in Western Classical Music.

Once back in India , he continued to be a part of various music troupescalled Roots, Magic, Memosis, Aristocrats, and Nemesis Avenue etc .

He also learnt the Sufi Qawwali style from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, in1997, when he visited Lahore and met the great Pakistani Sufi

singer.There is one more in the list - his favorite singer Hariharan -


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who teaches him Ghazals in relation to Hindustani classical music. Inlate 1998, he formally learnt the Hindustani Khayaal Gayaki from

siblings Ghulam Kader Murtaza Khan and Ghulam Kader Mustafa Khan.

In 1998, while composing for Subhash Ghais Taal, he thought

learning Hindi and Urdu would help him compose music for the NorthIndian style, and got in touch with Anand Bakshi, the famous lyricist.

Spiritual Teachers

When his sister was ill, he came across Pir Quadri. This was well beforeRahman was born.and Dileep was still alive. Pir advised him

frequently and taught him the purpose of life.

For Dileep, the meeting with Pir was an inner awakening and

cleansing. Pir taught him a different perspective of life. Soon he andhis family accepted Islam. Thus Dileep became Abdul Rahman.

It was Pir Quadri, who gave him the first lessons of Islam. After the

demise of Pir Quadri, he came in contact with Mehboob Aalam andMohammad Yusuf Bhai, who now continue to be his spiritual guide,

mentor, adviser, and guru.

For Rahman, learning is divine process. He says: Youve to learn from

the inside out. No one can teach you, none can make you spiritual.There is only teacher, and that is your soul.

THE RELIGION

After his father passed away, the burden of earning the bread andbutter for his family fell on Dileeps shoulders at the very young age of

11, and because of that, he had been struggling extremely hard for

some years.His family went through a rough patch following hisfathers death, which literally shook their world. He even had to work

in amateur Kannada plays at the age of 13, to earn money for hisfamily.

Because of these hardships, sometime afterwards he stopped believingin the God. He believed that there was no God. There was a feeling of

restlessness within him. But later when he stabilized himself, he foundthat the concept of God in Islam was very appealing to him.

He learnt that there can be no life without a force governing, without

God. And then he found what he was looking for - in Islam. It all


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happened around 1988, when one of his sisters fell seriously ill, withsimilar inexplicable conditions as their father. Numerous attempts to

cure her failed. Her condition progressively worsened. The family triedeverything from medicine to religious methods like havanas and

prayers in the church.

The family had given up all hope; when they came in contact with a

Muslim Pir called as Pir Karimulla Shah Qadri or Sheik Abdul QadirJeelani Sahib or Pir Qadri.

The family had earlier gone to the Pir when Dileeps father had similar

troubles, but were too late to save him. With Pirs prayers andblessings, Dileeps sister made a miraculous recovery. Pir Quadri

advised the family frequently. It was Pir who taught them the purposeof life, and also led Dileep and his family members to accept

Islam.Rattled by the bad experiences earlier in the case of his father

and now his sister, and influenced by the teachings of the Pir and thesuccor that they found in him, the entire family converted to Islam. So

great was the influence of the Pir on the family, that Dileep startedusing the place which he had blessed first as his music room, and

later, when he started becoming successful, a studio. When the familyshifted to their current house, they resolved to stick to the devotion.

So he and his family - excluding one of his sisters - converted to

Islam. But it was not an instantaneous decision - it took them whole10 years to come to that decision.

The meeting with Pir was, for Dileep, an inner awakening and

cleansing. He started feeling, that it is not about being Hindu or beingMuslim or anything, but there is this one feeling and that is God - TheAlmighty.

Both his father and mother were strong believers in Astrology. His

mother took him along once to an astrologer called Ulaganathan, in

Chennai, to get the horoscope for her second daughter Bala.She asked the astrologer to suggest an Islamic name for Dileep. The

astrologer immediately suggested Abdul Rahman and also asked himto shorten it to AR Rahman. When his mother asked the astrologer

why the other initial R, the astrologer replied Give him a name withthose two initials and mark my words, he will grow up to be a greatman. His mother did accordingly.This happened around when the

production of the cassettes of Roja was going on. The producers haddecided to credit the composer as Dileep on the inlay cards of

cassettes of the film. Dileeps mother immediately approached directorManirathnam, and placed this unusual condition - to credit Dileep with

a Muslim name. The new name of the 25-year old composer was: A R


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Rahman! And the rest, as they say, is history!

The initials A and R later became Allah Rakha on the suggestion ofrenowned Hindi music composer Naushad Ali. Thus A Sekhar Dileep

Kumar became Allah Rakha Rahman. This was around 1988.

He says, Family problems and the need for peace of mind made us

change the faith. Sufism has given me peace. As Dileep I had aninferiority complex. As AR Rahman I feel like I have been born again.

Rahman adds: I am whatever because of my parents prayers toGod. I am whatever I am - because the prayers I pray conscientiously,

sincerely and with full faith. I will be whatever I am - only because ofHim, I know it. He has given me everything. He can take everything

away and I accept His decision without any questions, without a

murmur. He is everything to me. I am just an infinitesimal creation ofHis. He has created me for a specific mission. I will be committing a

sin if I dont fulfill that mission. Thats my only belief. Thats the onlything that matters to me. I dont care for all the other temptations of

the world. I am born for music. I live for music. I will live for music tillthe very end. My life and death are in His hands. I will live only till He

wants me to live. I will die only when He wants me to die. Its all Gods

will Insha Allah.!Religion is a very personal affair for this soberyoung man from Chennai. He prays five times a day, carrying his

prayer mat with him on his tours, and retiring to the prayer room hehas had built next to his studio during recording. He says, Its like a

meditation. Each time I pray, I die, my soul departs, and then I amlike born again.

THE ENTRY

Dileep was quite happy in his world of advertisements. He had no

intention of joining the film industry as a music composer.Around1991, ace Tamil movie director Manirathnam was on the lookout for a

new music composer for his films. His long-standing, fruitfulassociation with the doyen of Tamil film music Ilaiyaraja had come to

an end when the latter reportedly made some disdainful commentsduring the making of Manirathnams Dhalapathi.

One day, at an awards function for excellence in the field ofadvertising, Manirathnam chanced upon Dileep, who received the

award for the best ad jingle, which he had composed for the popularLeo Coffee ad.


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At the celebrations party that followed the awards presentationceremony, Manirathnam was introduced to the young composer by his

cousin Sharada Trilok of Trish Productions. Rahman had producedsome outstanding work for Trish Productions.

She (Sharada Trilok) had words of praise for the young composer.Manirathnam got curious and requested him for a sample of his wares.

The composer readily complied and invited the director over to hisstudio.

Manirathnam turned up at the studio only after 3 months, where the24-year-old lad played out a tune that he had been pushed into

composing by his school friend G. Bharat Bala alias Bala when theyboth had been greatly disturbed by the socio-political tensions in South

India over the Cauvery river waters issue.Listening to the tune that

was played, Manirathnam was hooked instantly. Dileep effortlesslyqualified in Manirathnams eyes as deserving, and thus, when the

appropriate opportunity came along, he decided to give him a break.

Without a second thought he signed on the composer to score themusic for his next venture, produced by the veteran Tamil director K

Balachander for his respected Kavithalayaa banner. The film was

Roja. That tune took the avatar of the song Thamizha Thamizha inRoja.

Rahmans D-Day arrived when Roja was released on Saturday,

August 15th, 1992 . It was awaited with curiosity since it wasManirathnams first film without Ilaiyaraja. Skeptics doubted the abilityof a 25-year old debutant. The entire film world and filmgoers were in

for a pleasant surprise. Rahman delivered the goods and how? To callthe music just a Super Hit would be an understatement. The music of

the film became a phenomenal success and revolutionized modern day

Indian film music.

Rahman became a household name in Tamil Nadu overnight. Rojawon every conceivable award in music that year. Rahman even got the

Rajat Kamal for best Music Director at the National Film Awards, thefirst time ever by a debutante. Every producer was trying to impressupon Rahman to work for his/her projects. Because of all this, Rahman

decided to leave the jingles world and concentrate on filmmusic.Throughout India , Rahmans other work were also received

wholeheartedly by music lovers. However, it was a Ram Gopal VarmasRangeela - Rahmans first original Hindi score - which truly

established him as one of the prominent music composers of


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Bollywood. In North India too, Rahman became a star overnight, andas is the tradition in Bollywood, suddenly all kinds of producers were

seen queuing outside his house.

Rahman however, wisely chose to stay selective and took on only

projects that interested him. He also made it a point to work entirelyon his own terms and conditions. He still works only from Chennai

where he lives; has his own studio in his house from where he works;likes to work only at nights.

Since Roja, he has created music for mega blockbuster films includingPudhiya Mugam, Gentleman, Kizhakku Cheemaiyilae, Duet,

Kadhalan, Bombay, May Madham, Indian, Muthu, KadhalDesam, Love Birds, Sapney, Jeans, Dil Se.., Kadhalar Dhinam,

Sangamam, En Swasa Katrae and many others.

His 1995 soundtrack for Bombay crossed 5 million units and

Rahman had arrived as the King of Indian Music with sales of morethan 50 million albums over a period of 3 years. The success continued

with films like Dil Se with Manirathnam, and Taal with SubhashGhai. After working in many movies of the typical popular genre,

several offbeat reputed directors and producers like Govind Nihalani,

Shyam Benegal, Deepa Mehta have worked with Rahman in movieslike Thakshak, Zubeidaa, Fire, and 1947 Earth.

AS A SINGER

Playback Singer

When the final re-recording of the song Chinna Chinna Aasai of Rojawas being done in Rahmans studio, director Manirathnam was

present. When he heard a boatman humming Yelelo Yelelo.. in the

second interlude of the song, he asked for the person who sang it.Rahman told him that it was his voice. Manirathnam noticed that the

voice had the zeal and passion, which was very different.

After the huge success of Roja, when Manirathnam signed on thecomposer for their second combination Bombay , he insisted thatRahman sing at least one song. Thus was born Rahman the playback

singer.

He sang Andha Arabic Kadaloram aka Humma Humma song in it.Same story repeated for director Shankar, who also had liked the

Yelelo part in Roja song. Shankar too insisted that Rahman should


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sing at least one song for his film. Rahman did that job for their nextcombination, Kadhalan. The song was Oorvasi Oorvasi, which

instantly became a huge hit throughout the world.

Rahman had lent his voice to his compositions earlier too but they had

been part of the chorus or bit pieces like Oleywo Oleywola in MukkalaMuqabala in Kadhalan or background pieces in the film, and of

course, the interludes like Yelelo in Roja. But Humma Humma in Bombay was Rahmans first complete and full-fledged song. With

Humma Humma, Rahman came to be regarded as much a playback

singer as a composer. His song Musthafa Musthafa from KadhalDesam was another hit that made Sony take notice of Rahman and

ask him to sing the songs for its non-film album Vande Mataram.

Rahman says, I have always been forced to sing. It is extra tiring to

sing and get the words right. I sing only when forced to, becausesinging is very different line of work. You need a lot of Riyaaz and

other things to be a good singer.While he continued lending his voiceto several un-credited songs, his solos such as Dil Se Re from Dil

Se.. have made his fans crave for more songs from him. It hasbecome an amusing and common sight at various award functions to

see the compeers trying to cajole Rahman into singing on stage and

Rahman coming up with hilarious excuses to avoid the same.

Later it became quite a regular thing to have Rahmans voice in hisown songs. For most of those Rahman was not credited in the film or

the audio release. Mainly he has sung songs in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi,English and Urdu. With his soft soothing and to a certain extentguttural vocals, he has created magic. It is noticed that when there is

lots of passion or pain or patriotism in his songs, the singer is Rahmanhimself!

A PATRIOTIC MUSIC MAKER

It was 1996. Rahman was looking to come out of the monotony thathad set in after working on films, 4 years continuously without a

break. When he had started out as a composer in 1992, he hadntthought of limiting himself to India alone but he also wanted to find afoothold in the international market.While working on movies, he had

to do things according to the producers wishes. This limited thecreativity of the composer, and it was even harmful for the composers

independence growth.

Rahman has always liked doing film music, but at the same time he


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felt composing for films would be very restrictive, and that he shouldget out of the rut of film music. For long he had thought films were

enough but now he was waiting for the right occasion to do a non-filmprivate album.

In the same year, Rahman was in Mumbai attending the Screenawards ceremony. In Mumbai, when he was in his hotel room, he

called up his childhood friend G Bharat alias Bharat Bala. Bala wasRahmans school friend, and had produced more than 100 jingles for

which Rahman had composed music five years earlier. Bala met him

and discussed music. Suddenly an idea struck and they decided tocome up with an album with the theme of commemorating 50 years of

the Indian Independence in 1997.

Ever since composing music for the patriotic movie called Roja,

Rahman had had been thinking of working on music that would evokepatriotic instincts in Indian minds. The idea eventually took off.

At the same time, in 1996, the International music giant Sony Music

wanted to enter in the Indian market in a big way. The first person tobe signed up by Sony Music from the Indian sub-continent was

Rahman. Vijay Singh, the managing director of Sony - India ,

approached Rahman who in turn suggested this idea. The plan wasimmediately accepted and the project got started.Rahman composed,

arranged and sang all the songs on the album. Musically speaking, itwas hard job for the composer, because it had to be done in such a

way that it should appeal to the young generation.

Eventually, it started off as three songs on the three colours of the

Indian flag. Maa Tujhe Salaam was for Saffron, Revival - VandeMataram was for White, and Gurus of Peace for Green. Later it ended

up with some more songs. Interestingly enough, Rahman got the

chance to work with the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, on the songGurus Of Peace. Bala had asked Rahman to approach Nusrat saab.

They got kids from London , and the Peace song was recordedovernight in Lahore .

With Vande Mataram, Rahman became the first Indian artiste ofpopular music to go international when it was released simultaneously

in 28 countries across the world under the prestigious Columbia Labelof Sony Music on August 15th, 1997 . The album was a mega success

and sold over 1.5 million copies in India alone, and did extremely wellinternationally too, becoming the largest selling Indian non-film album

internationally.


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With Vande Mataram Rahman left all his contemporaries far behindand moved into a new dimension. The song has become a cult with the

whole nation. Also, the World got to see the other side of Rahman the actor posing in front of the camera. The album came out with a

video-audio version. This was first time Rahman himself appeared in

front of camera. It was a surprise to see him in a music video with anew hairdo, singing and acting. Earlier, he had preferred to keep a low

profile. It was a different experience for Rahman too.Initially, he wasnervous and refused to go before the camera. Bala told him that it

would be like writing a letter and not signing it if Rahman wont do

that. Rahman had to go ahead. The songs of the album were in Hindi,Sanskrit, Urdu, English and Tamil.

From being the No.1 music director, Rahman also became a top pop

star, though he didnt appreciate Vande Mataram being branded as a

pop album.

In five years of his film career, by doing a non-filmy song like VandeMataram, Rahman reached out to the Indian heart, irrespective of

religious differences. The team worked very hard on the music andconcept, and their efforts paid off. They got a great response, and

phenomenal success. Rahman was happy because he got to do

something that was different.

All this success has not been without its fallouts for Rahman. Somespread canards in early 1998 that Rahman was funding Muslim

fundamentalists in Tamil Nadu. Later in the year he began receivingthreatening calls from the fundamentalist groups for singing VandeMataram and was accorded armed protection by the Government. He

received threats from the Hindus and from the Muslim fundamentaliststoo, from the Hindus for defiling a Hindu song and from the Muslims

for singing an anti-Islamic song. Many absurd stories were heard

about Pakistani terrorists threatening Rahman for appearing on theVande Mataram music video and dissuading him from doing a follow

up.But, Rahman -a true patriot - dismissed all these controversies saying

that his religion with patriotism is very important to him.He said,Being religious without being patriotic takes you nowhere. Patriotismfor country should

no way be inferior. This was the first time ever that Rahman

displayed his patriotism in front of the people. He expressed his viewsregarding all issues saying, God, religion and patriotism are very

personal things. Now it has become politics. I think it all should be left


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to an individual. Vande Mataram is about a mother and the messageis peace be upon you. Mother is the country and when you say peace

be upon you, it should go beyond politics. When one makessomething, there is always the good and the bad. You have to choose

what to take. With Vande Mataram, we wanted to give something to

the youth. We felt there was nothing, no song that this MTV generationcould relate to, something they could identify with.

No Hindu, Muslim or Christian can impose the Vande Mataram, it

should be a natural thing. It should neither be imposed nor rejected. It

should be left to the individual.

He added: We get our basic recognition from this country and it is apart of you, whether you are Hindu or Muslim or anything else. He

said, Vande Mataram only means Mother, I salute you. Perhaps

because the words are in Sanskrit, people dont understand this. Wehave taken the essence of the song, and it doesnt disturb any religion.

After all, the Koran says, at the feet of the mother lies the Jannat.And the Prophet says, Whichever country you are in, you have to

respect the laws of the land, because it is the land above all, whichgives you life.

Incidentally, a devout Muslim called Mehboob composed the lyrics of

the popular version. Despite all these controversies, the song was ontop of the charts for almost a year, and bagged many awards. Three

years after the successful Vande Mataram Bharat Bala and Rahmanworked together in another historic album called Jana Gana Mana.

This was a project in which several top artistes of the nation cametogether to sing or play the National Anthem Jana Gana Mana.Theproject had started as Desh Ka Salaam which was telecast in Indian

TV channels and on the web on August 15, 1999 , in which severalgreats of Indian music, from the classical to the contemporary, came

together to give a soulful and modern rendition of the National

Anthem.

The Jana Gana Mana was released on January 26th 2000 to mark the50 th -year of the Indian Republic . Rahman - a genuine patriotic- later

took many films that had hardcore patriotism or feel of patriotism. LikeThe Legend Of Bhagat Singh, 1947 Earth, Lagaan, Swades, NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose - The Forgotten Hero, Mudhalvan, Nayak the

real hero etc


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HIS EXPERIMENT WITH UNTRAINED VOICES

One very interesting aspect of Rahman is his preference for untrained

voices. Rahman says a defect in the singing adds a human

touch.Rahman uses many different voices in a film, irrespective ofwhether they suit the character or not just for variety. He thinks

otherwise things would get monotonous. He says, There was a timewhen the album of an Indian film would have only two voices. Today

different singers sing for the same character. The times have changed.

The attention span of the average listener has decreased and hisgeographical purview has broadened. The listeners no longer think in

terms of perfect or imperfect. They want different voices, standards bedamned.

Rahman is well known for experimenting in the music. He introducedseveral new, relatively unknown and professionally untrained voices

into the mainstream playback. He has shown an extraordinary flair forexperimenting with untrained voices. Singers, who have worked with

him, have repeatedly said that Rahmans open approach duringrecording sessions has spurred them on to giving their best.

Suresh Peters, Nabron Ghosh, Shahul Hameed, GV Prakash, NoelJames, Yugendran, Blaaze, Aslam Musthafa, Sukhwindara Singh,

Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Soorjo Bhattacharya, Devan, Harini,Anupama, Sunitha Sarathy, Madhushree, Sujatha Trivedi, Reena

Bharadwaj, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Richa Sharma, Poonam Bhatia, ShomaBanarjee, Dominique, Minmini, Shubha, Febi, Hema Sardesai are justfew of the singers who have thrived after the advent of Rahman.

Singers like Hariharan, Asha Bhonsle, Sujatha, Unnimenon have had

successful comebacks in the industry after working with Rahman.

Unnikrishnan, Bombay Jayshree and Nithyashree Mahadevan who aresuccessful Carnatic classical vocalists also have been introduced into

film playback by Rahman.Another attention-grabbing characteristic ofRahman is his wide use of singers from different languages. He used

singers like Udit Narayan, Sukhwindara Singh, Madhushree and manyother North Indian singers in Tamil; and in addition to this, he alsoused Tamil singers in Hindi. This was done on experimental basis, and

greatly appreciated by his fans too.

He experiments not only with his singers voices, but also withdifferent kinds of sounds in music. His songs expose very different

kinds of sound, which makes one easily identify his songs among other


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music directors songs. His experiments with untried and unusualsounds are noticed since his very first venture, Roja. The music of his

film Kadhalan was totally experimental, which had very exceptional,outstanding and brilliant compositions like Mukkala Muqabala,

Oorvasi Oorvasi, Gopala Gopala, Ennavalae Ennavalae, and Pettai

Rap. All these songs had something fresh and innovative in them. Thisalbum was appreciated worldwide by even non-Tamilians.

Speaking about experiments with sounds, Rahman tells,

Experimenting with different sounds in music is a real joy. Yes, people

accept experiments, but musicians should know the limits ofexperimenting too. Even experimenting has its boundaries. People

cannot take in experimentation in every other composition. So as amusician, I think that it is good enough to wait until people are ready

to digest new kind of compositions, and when they are, then take the

compositions out from bag.

HIS INSPIRATIONS

Rahmans life story is somewhat similar to a Bollywood movie. It isclear that not every person can face lifes tragedies like him. He says it

is mainly because of music, that he is alive today. Since childhood he

has been into music. It was his mother, who inspired him by tellingstories of his father. Thus when composing for the first time, his first

inspiration was his father.As a child he had noticed many musiciansaround drink and smoke to get inspired. But for the child, it was

Ilaiyaraja, who proved one can make good music without indulging inbad habits. Ilaiyaraja is a very religious person, who made good musicwithout taking alcohol or smoking.

Since Ilaiyaraja had worked for Rahmans father in the past, heregarded Rahman as his own son.

Speaking about his inspirations, Rahman states, Personally, I wouldsay that a sense of spirituality helps a great deal. And it is important

that you study life as well. Both these things will make a better humanbeing, and therefore, a better composer out of you. Life teaches you

what real pain and happiness are, and these things help in creatingbetter compositions. It works like this: if the film demands happymusic the composer only has to tap into the wellspring of happy

experiences from his own life to create the right ambience for thattune. I think this is more important than learning all the technical

gymnastics of music.

When he composes music, his mind needs to be in vacuum state.


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Perhaps that is why he prefers to compose at night. He prays, andthen composes. He says music comes to him directly from God. He

believes that God has helped him a lot in stabilizing himself, and hasgiven him everything. Never one to boast or brag about his

accomplishments, he credits all his inspiration and success to God.

Explaining why he does so, Rahman says, The problem is, you can

create only as long as you have the gift, only as long as the Almightywishes. After that, even if you stand upside down.you are not likely to

compose. If God wills it may happen to me too. I can take that. I

believe that every individual, even an atom, can move only with thewill of God. I dont want to take the credit for doing all this. If I do,

then I would fall flat. And talking about myself, the destiny has beenthe biggest influence in my existence. Without the will of God, how

would I have reached where I am today? Thats why I believe I am like

a boat in a river without a sail and a firm destination. The skillfulprodigy credits all his inspiration and success to the Almighty.The man

behind the music is still much of an enigma. If a music artiste wantsto blossom into a full-fledged person, its not enough if he knows only

classical music; nor is it enough if hes well-versed only in Raagas andtechniques. Instead, he should be a knowledgeable person interested

in life and philosophy. In his personal life there should be, at least in

some corner of his heart, a tinge of lingering sorrow, he says.

Music is Gods gift and every note should be blessed. Otherwise musicbecomes noise if it is not blessed. I am influenced by Sufism, which is

also connected with music. Before composing I pray and beg to God togive me something. I believe every song should have a pure soul in itto reach people. He states.

At the age of 39, when many others are just starting out, Rahman has

garnered achievements that many others cannot in a lifetime. He

started out as a film music composer in 1992, and in this short span of13 years, has changed the very face of film music in India and with

touching heights that no music director ever had previously. He hasbuilt up a repertoire of scintillating scores that anybody would kill for.

He has become a national icon. He is also arguably the most wellknown Indian composer of popular music internationally. He hassuccessfully taken popular Indian music international. He has fans not

just among expatriate Indians but also among natives of places likeBrazil , Sweden and Australia . He took Tamil music global and

established the universal appeal of his music, whatever the languagethe lyrics are in. He set the standards by which music came to be

rated in India . The benchmarks set by him were what others aimed to


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achieve. The soundtracks of his unsuccessful scores sold more thanthe successful soundtracks of the other composers. Every director of

repute yearns to work with him and every actor hopes to dance to histunes, literally.For Rahman, who eats music, thinks music, breathes

music and lives music, the bottom-line is that his music should reach

out to the soul of humankind. A very low profile in public life, creditsall his success to the Almighty, and apart from the Almighty, to his

mother- who encouraged him to take up music when his interest lay inelectronics.

His maxim is that only total dedication and concentration to onesprofession can help in producing good work. Rahman is certain that

this dedication must increase with fame. All this success has notuprooted him from his roots. Amidst all this heady success, Rahman

still remains unchanged. He is as humble, modest, shy, silent, low

profile, unassuming, self-effacing, devout and down-to-earth as hewas at the beginning of his career.A man of few words he believes in

letting his work do all the talking. He prefers to save his energies forhis work instead of fighting out numerous controversies. His

personality is summed up in his favorite prayer which goes thus OGod, if I worship thee for fear of hell, burn me in hell, and if I worship

thee in hope of Paradise , exclude me from Paradise , but if I worship

thee for thy own sake, grudge me not thy everlasting beauty.

The man has given immense pleasure to millions of music loversworldwide with his compositions, music that brings a cheer to ones

face and helps in forgetting ones troubles. It is probably these verydivine qualities that made him the great man he is today and the samewill hopefully help him touch greater heights tomorrow.

Rahman is still at his prime and yet has already worked with

internationally reputed artistes.Rahman has collaborated with artists

such as L. Shankar, Zakir Hussain, David Byrne, Talvin Singh andApache Indian - both in recording and on tour.

On a trip to India , acclaimed prodigy David Byrne met Rahman. So

impressed was he with Rahman and his work, that he went on torecord some sessions with Rahman for his own project, on which hewas working that time, but sadly, this project has not seen the light of

the day yet.

Rahman was an invited member of the jury of the prestigious musicfestival Voice of Asia competition held annually at Almaty,

Kazhakstan. The jury comprises of top musicians of the world. He was


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also invited to be the judge for channel [V]s nation-wide talent huntprogram called Samsung Super Singer. There he assisted Adnan

Sami.

In October 1999, Rahman performed a song Ekam Satyam in a

charity oriented live concert in Mnchen (referred as Munich inEnglish) city of Germany with Michael Jackson called MJ and friends.

Bharat Bala and Hindujas arranged the meeting between Rahman andMichael Jackson. Rahman and his troupe performed with Michael

Jackson in the concert. The song was partially in English and partially

in Sanskrit. Jackson sang the English part and Rahman sang theSanskrit part. Lyricist AR Parthasarathy from India penned the

Sanskrit part. Melodious strains of Sathyameva Jayathey by Rahmanprovided the closing to the concert by pop king MJ.

Music Artists

Rahman has collaborated with almost all big names, though he doesntlike to it to be mentioned.

His first chance of collaborating with an international artist was offered

by Sony Music in 1996, when he was working on Vande Mataram.

Sony had asked him to choose from any of its international stars towork with and supposedly even suggested the name of Celine Dion.

But Rahman settled, very appropriately, for the Pakistani Sufi musicstar Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Dominic Miller.

Explaining his choice, he said, I dont want to collaborate with just aname. I must feel something for the person and relate with his work.

Ive seen several famous names collaborating on songs and albums,but they remain just two names. Theres no chemistry. Its like oil and

water. They cant come together.

This perspective of Rahman has shown magic. The people he chooses -

dont know where he finds them - do their lifes best with Rahman. Todate he has worked with almost every Indian legend.

Just to name a few of them: KJ Yesudas, SP Balasubrahmaniam, LataMangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, sivamani, Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, Zakir

Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, L. Shankar, Kadri Gopalnath, VikkuVinayakram, Ustad Sultan Khan among many others.

Internationally, he has been associated with Nusrath Fateh Ali Khan,


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Yak Bondy, Jolin Tsai, Michael Jackson, Apache Indian, Dominic Miller,Andrew Lloyd Webber for one or more works.

Directors

Many talented directors from the film industry - both well settled andnew comers - have worked with Rahman. Many directors restrict

themselves to work with Rahman only. Also, as observed, manydirectors convince their producers to work only with Rahman.

The directors with whom Rahman has worked are:

Hindi: Ramgopal Varma, Deepa Mehta, Priyadarshan, FarookhSiddiqui, Subhash Ghai, Govind Nihalani, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Khaled

Mohammed, Shyam Benegal, Shashilal Nair, Shekhar Kapoor, Kailash

Surendranath, Ashutosh Gowariker, Shaad Ali, Ahmed Khan, MFHussain, Atul Agnihotri.

Tamil and Telugu: Manirathnam, Shankar, Suhasini Manirathnam, P

Vasu, K Balachander, Sangeeth Sivan, Kadhir, K Muralimohan Rao,Rajeev Menon, KS Ravikumar, Bharatiraaja, Suresh Menon, Balu, K

Subhash, Vikraman, Manoj Kumar, B Gopal, Pravinkanth, Suresh

Krishna, Vasanth, Saran, Azhagam Perumal, Arjun, AM Jyoti Krishna,SJ Surya.

Chinese: He Ping.

ARR QUOTATIONS

Music is language itself. It should not have any barriers of caste,

creed, language or anything. Music is one, only cultures are different.Music is the language of languages. It is the ultimate mother of

languages- Film music in India is like pop music in the West. Moviesare the channels for this music. But music stays on long after the

films. - If a music artiste wants to blossom into a full-fledged person,its not enough if he knows only classical music; nor is it enough if heswell-versed only in Raagas and techniques. Instead, he should be a

knowledgeable person interested in life and philosophy. In his personallife there should be, at least in some corner of his heart, a tinge of

lingering sorrow.

- Music is a gift from God and every note should be blessed. Otherwise


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music becomes noise if it is not blessed. I am influenced by Sufism,which is also connected with music. Before composing I pray and beg

to God to give me something. I believe every song should have a puresoul in it to reach people.

His Prayer to GodO God, if I worship thee for fear of hell, burn me in

hell, and if I worship thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me fromParadise, but if I worship thee for thy own sake, grudge me not thy

everlasting beauty.

Whom do you consider your closest rival?

The man whos inside me and constantly trying to distract mefrom doing good work.

How does it feel to be on top?

I dont really think Im at the top. Basically, I came into this field not

to intrude on anybody elses success.

I am like a boat without an oar. I let life take its own course. I knowonly my work and God, I pray a lot. You get dejected if you plan

something and it does not happen.

I like music that is able to stir my soul. My music is a spiritual

exercise Criticism is fine - at the end of the day, my music speaks foritself

You cant have everything in life: What one thinks is possible mightnot always be so. I try to do my best but, finally, everything lies in

Gods hands. I consider my skills as a musician to be a blessing fromGod. Even today, before I perform, I am unsure of whether I will beable to move my audience. I leave everything to Him He pulls the

strings in my life."I dont have time to cherish the joys and repent thefailures in life . I go on with my work not caring about the response i

have got of my previous works

Rather than making money I believe in making people happy, all

other things are secondary. Money isnt important, creativesatisfaction is.

Swades is right from my heart. It is simple and sweet music.How would you describe A.R.Rahman in your own words?

A.R.Rahman is a failure and slowly he is trying to reach something.In my case, dust has become gold."I feel at home with my food and

my people.

Awards come with the blessings from God and it encourages you. At


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the same time it is not the end and its a promise and you feelashamed and ask yourself What have I done to get this?

If a musician wants to blossom into a full-fledged person, its notenough if he knows only classical music; nor it is enough if hes well-

versed only in raagas and techniques. Instead, he should be a

knowledgeable person interested in life and philosophy. In his personallife there should be, atleast in some corner of his heart, a tinge of

lingering sorrow. A.R.RahmanThe search is more important thanthe destination You are what your deepest desire is. As you desire,

so is your intention. As your intention, so is your will. As is your will so

is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiiny. The Upanishads

A R Rahman - A Walk Through His Life So Far...

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