A R Rahman Online Website Beta

NOEL JAMES, MANAGER

Over two decades ago, Noel James was playing the piano as a lounge musician at a hotel in Chennai when a certain jingles composer walked in. “Rahman heard me play and asked if I was interested in working with him.” James agreed. That was the beginning of a partnership that has lasted to this day. James has since grown to become Rahman’s manager and chief public relations officer. He occasionally assists the composer in stage shows and handles much of his coordination — with musicians, clients, talent and even the media. The road to Rahman, it could be said, goes through James.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, James got hooked to music at an early age. After graduating from Loyola College, Chennai, he got a degree in violin from the prestigious Trinity College of Music, London. “I played in a band called Jumping Jewels, handling the vocals and guitar. That was before I went solo,” he says. He worked part-time with Rahman initially but became a permanent member of the team, singing the jingles and helping him with production.

Being Rahman’s manager has meant that James does not get much time for his own music—except when he plays at church. He has no regrets though. “God sends messiahs to earth, whether it is Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed. It has been quite a while since He sent someone. I believe A.R. Rahman is such a messiah who works through his music,” says James, for whom familiarity has only brought more appreciation towards Rahman, the musician and the man.

Times were tough and her prodigiously talented son, then known as A.S. Dileep Kumar, was barely 11 when he started performing in public. “It got to the point where I had to go take him out of school every day to take him to performances,” she recalls, speaking in Tamil, translated rapidly by Dileep Kumar a.k.a. Allah Rakha Rahman’s imperious 12-year-old daughter.

“He was in Class X. He told me I should either let him study or let him perform. We had to survive. He had to drop out of school,’’ recalls Kareema. “I will always regret it.”

What kept her going was what gives 43-year-old Rahman strength even today. Prayer and work. Influenced by a Sufi mystic, Karimullah Shah Qadri, in whom Kareema found solace as she battled her husband’s illness, she converted the family to Islam in 1987. That faith drives her son today, with everything from the door to his recording studio to his mobile number bearing the holy numbers 786.