Allah-Rakha Rahman or famously known as AR Rahman was born on 6th January 1967 in Madras, Tamil Nadu. He is considered as the most talented composer and playback singer India as ever had. Even after reaching great heights internationally, he keeps in touch with the South Film Industry which gave him his first opportunity. January 6th 2016 marks his 49th Birthday.
So here presenting you 17 Interesting and Unknown Facts about the Music Maestro – A.R. Rahman..!!
1. AR Rahman’s Original Name is A.S Dileep Kumar
2. He is a Composer, Music Producer, Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Philanthropist
3. In 1980 he made his TV Debut for Doordarshan in a children’s programme “Wonder Balloon” . He got popular by this show, as he used play 4 keyboards at the age of just 13.
4. Rahman left his School at the age of 15 because of poor attendance. He didn’t complete his schooling
5. AR Rahman wanted to become a Computer Engineer.
6. He is also known for other names – ARR, Isai Puyal ( Musical Strom), Mozart of Madras
7. He shares his Birthday with his son Ameen
8. A street in Markham, Ontario, Canada, has been named in honour of AR Rahman in November 2013
9. He provided scores for Hollywood films like 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Lord of War, Million Dollar Arm etc
10. In 2007, Rahman entered Limca Book of Records as “Indian of the Year for Contribution to Popular Music”
11. While everyone dreams of winning at least 1 Filmfare, Rahman has won 15 Filmfare Awards & 14 Filmfare South Awards till 2014.
12. Out of a total 138 Award nominations, ARR has won 125.!! Legendary Stuff.
He has also won 2 Grammy Awards, 2 Academy Awards, 1 BAFTA Award, 4 National Film Awards, a Golden Globe.
13. He is the first Asian to win 2 Oscars (Academy Awards) in the same year.
14. Signature Tune of Airtel, composed by ARR is the world’s most downloaded mobile music tone with over 150 million downloads
15. In 2005, Rahman’s soundtrack for Roja was listed in TIME’s “10 Best Soundtracks” of all time. In 2009 he was listed in TIME’s “World’s Most Influential People”
16. He has won 5 Honorary Doctorates, including from the prestigious Berklee College of Music
17. Rahman received Padma Shri & Padma Bhushan Awards from the Government of India.
Following are his other honours:
Join us in wishing the Music Maestro a Very Happy Birthday. Share your wishes in the comments section below.