Biography
Sister Raihana’s son, GV Prakash is a born talent, and he’s into music. He has sung songs for Rahman and now is an emerging music director. Rahman’s mother and wife do play the most important part in his music – they are his critics. Rahman got married at the age of 27. And unlike in the Indian movies, it wasn’t 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 frequented the 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 girl’s parents also were looking for a bridegroom for their elder daughter, 21-year-old Saira. Her father is a Madras-based businessman, who belongs to Kutch , Gujarat originally. Rahman’s mother chose genuinely friendly Saira Banu to be his wife. Theirs was an arranged marriage. Saira and Rahman got married on Wednesday, March the 12th, 1995 in Chennai. It was a gala event. About his personal life, Rahman once said “I’m very passionate about music and have very little place in my life for anything else. But whatever time I have after my recordings, I try and spend with my family, especially with my younger daughter. She listens to most of my songs and even has her favorites. It’s so wonderful to see your child growing up. I don’t want to miss out these little pleasures in life.” Saira and Rahman are blessed with two daughters and one son. Music Teachers Dileep’s 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 old playing a tune on the harmonium. Master covered the keys with a cloth. It made no difference. Dileep replayed the tune effortlessly. This impressed the music director who suggested that he be trained in music. 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 and Hindustani from Krishnan Nair. He took classes in film music from Nithyanandham and Western Classical from Jacob John. All this learning experience enabled him to earn a scholarship to the famed Trinity College of Music at Oxford University London, from where he obtained a degree in Western Classical Music. In 1998, while composing for Subhash Ghai’s ‘Taal’, he thought learning Hindi and Urdu would help him compose music for the North Indian 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 before Rahman 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 and his 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 and Mohammad Yusuf Bhai, who now continue to be his spiritual guide, mentor, adviser, and guru. For Rahman, learning is divine process. He says: “You’ve 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.” Because of these hardships, sometime afterwards he stopped believing in the God. He believed that there was no God. There was a feeling of restlessness within him. But later when he stabilized himself, he found that 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 happened around 1988, when one of his sisters fell seriously ill, with similar inexplicable conditions as their father. Numerous attempts to cure her failed. Her condition progressively worsened. The family tried everything 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 Qadir Jeelani Sahib or Pir Qadri. The meeting with Pir was, for Dileep, an inner awakening and cleansing. He started feeling, that it is not about being Hindu or being Muslim or anything, but there is this one feeling and that is God – The Almighty. 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. The initials A and R later became ‘Allah Rakha’ on the suggestion of renowned 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 an inferiority complex. As AR Rahman I feel like I have been born again.” One day, at an awards function for excellence in the field of advertising, Manirathnam chanced upon Dileep, who received the award for the best ad jingle, which he had composed for the popular Leo Coffee ad. At the celebrations party that followed the awards presentation ceremony, Manirathnam was introduced to the young composer by his cousin Sharada Trilok of Trish Productions. Rahman had produced some 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 his studio. Without a second thought he signed on the composer to score the music 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’ in ‘Roja’. Rahman’s D-Day arrived when ‘Roja’ was released on Saturday, August 15th, 1992 . It was awaited with curiosity since it was Manirathnam’s first film without Ilaiyaraja. Skeptics doubted the ability of a 25-year old debutant. The entire film world and filmgoers were in for a pleasant surprise. Rahman delivered the goods and how? To call the 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 however, wisely chose to stay selective and took on only projects that interested him. He also made it a point to work entirely on 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 including ‘Pudhiya Mugam’, ‘Gentleman’, ‘Kizhakku Cheemaiyilae’, ‘Duet’, ‘Kadhalan’, ‘Bombay’, ‘May Madham’, ‘Indian’, ‘Muthu’, ‘Kadhal Desam’, ‘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 more than 50 million albums over a period of 3 years. The success continued with films like ‘Dil Se…’ with Manirathnam, and ‘ Taal ‘ with Subhash Ghai. 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 movies like ‘Thakshak’, ‘Zubeidaa’, ‘Fire’, and ‘1947 Earth’. After the huge success of ‘Roja’, when Manirathnam signed on the composer for their second combination ‘ Bombay ‘, he insisted that Rahman 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 sing at least one song for his film. Rahman did that job for their next combination, ‘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 ‘Mukkala Muqabala’ in ‘Kadhalan’ or background pieces in the film, and of course, the interludes like ‘Yelelo’ in ‘Roja’. But ‘Humma Humma’ in ‘ Bombay ‘ was Rahman’s 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 ‘Kadhal Desam’ was another hit that made Sony take notice of Rahman and ask him to sing the songs for it’s non-film album ‘Vande Mataram’. Later it became quite a regular thing to have Rahman’s voice in his own 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 extent guttural 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 Rahman himself! Rahman has always liked doing film music, but at the same time he felt composing for films would be very restrictive, and that he should get 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-film private album. In the same year, Rahman was in Mumbai attending the Screen awards ceremony. In Mumbai, when he was in his hotel room, he called up his childhood friend G Bharat alias Bharat Bala. Bala was Rahman’s 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 to come 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 evoke patriotic instincts in Indian minds. The idea eventually took off. Eventually, it started off as three songs on the three colours of the Indian flag. ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ was for Saffron, ‘Revival – Vande Mataram’ 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 song ‘Gurus Of Peace’. Bala had asked Rahman to approach Nusrat saab. They got kids from London , and the Peace song was recorded overnight in Lahore . With ‘Vande Mataram’, Rahman became the first Indian artiste of popular music to go international when it was released simultaneously in 28 countries across the world under the prestigious Columbia Label of 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 well internationally too, becoming the largest selling Indian non-film album internationally. From being the No.1 music director, Rahman also became a top pop star, though he didn’t appreciate ‘Vande Mataram’ being branded as a pop album. In five years of his film career, by doing a non-filmy song like ‘Vande Mataram’, Rahman reached out to the Indian heart, irrespective of religious differences. The team worked very hard on the music and concept, 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. Some spread canards in early 1998 that Rahman was funding Muslim fundamentalists in Tamil Nadu. Later in the year he began receiving threatening calls from the fundamentalist groups for singing ‘Vande Mataram’ and was accorded armed protection by the Government. He received threats from the Hindus and from the Muslim fundamentalists too, 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 the ‘Vande Mataram’ music video and dissuading him from doing a follow up. no way be inferior.” This was the first time ever that Rahman displayed his patriotism in front of the people. He expressed his views regarding all issues saying, “God, religion and patriotism are very personal things. Now it has become politics. I think it all should be left to an individual. ‘Vande Mataram’ is about a mother and the message is peace be upon you. Mother is the country and when you say peace be upon you, it should go beyond politics. When one makes something, 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 generation could 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 a part 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 don’t understand this. We have taken the essence of the song, and it doesn’t 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, which gives you life.” The ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was released on January 26th 2000 to mark the 50 th -year of the Indian Republic . Rahman – a genuine patriotic- later took many films that had hardcore patriotism or feel of patriotism. Like ‘The Legend Of Bhagat Singh’, ‘1947 Earth’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Swades’, ‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – The Forgotten Hero’, ‘Mudhalvan’, ‘Nayak the real hero’ etc… Rahman is well known for experimenting in the music. He introduced several new, relatively unknown and professionally untrained voices into the mainstream playback. He has shown an extraordinary flair for experimenting with untrained voices. Singers, who have worked with him, have repeatedly said that Rahman’s open approach during recording sessions has spurred them on to giving their best. Suresh Peters, Nabron Ghosh, Shahul Hameed, GV Prakash, Noel James, 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, Shoma Banarjee, Dominique, Minmini, Shubha, Febi, Hema Sardesai are just few of the singers who have thrived after the advent of Rahman. He experiments not only with his singer’s voices, but also with different kinds of sounds in music. His songs expose very different kinds of sound, which makes one easily identify his songs among other music director’s songs. His experiments with untried and unusual sounds 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. This album was appreciated worldwide by even non-Tamilians. Speaking about his inspirations, Rahman states, “Personally, I would say 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 human being, and therefore, a better composer out of you. Life teaches you what real pain and happiness are, and these things help in creating better compositions. It works like this: if the film demands happy music the composer only has to tap into the wellspring of happy experiences from his own life to create the right ambience for that tune. 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. Perhaps that is why he prefers to compose at night. He prays, and then composes. He says music comes to him directly from God. He believes that God has helped him a lot in stabilizing himself, and has given him everything. Never one to boast or brag about his accomplishments, he credits all his inspiration and success to God. “Music is God’s gift and every note should be blessed. Otherwise 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 pure soul in it to reach people.” He states. The man has given immense pleasure to millions of music lovers worldwide with his compositions, music that brings a cheer to one’s face and helps in forgetting one’s troubles. It is probably these very divine qualities that made him the great man he is today and the same will hopefully help him touch greater heights tomorrow. On a trip to India , acclaimed prodigy David Byrne met Rahman. So impressed was he with Rahman and his work, that he went on to record some sessions with Rahman for his own project, on which he was 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 music festival ‘Voice of Asia’ competition held annually at Almaty, Kazhakstan. The jury comprises of top musicians of the world. He was also invited to be the judge for channel [V]’s nation-wide talent hunt program 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 München (referred as Munich in English) city of Germany with Michael Jackson called ‘MJ and friends’. Bharat Bala and Hindujas arranged the meeting between Rahman and Michael 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 the Sanskrit part. Lyricist AR Parthasarathy from India penned the Sanskrit part. Melodious strains of ‘Sathyameva Jayathey’ by Rahman provided the closing to the concert by pop king MJ. 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 to work with and supposedly even suggested the name of Celine Dion. But Rahman settled, very appropriately, for the Pakistani Sufi music star Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Dominic Miller. Explaining his choice, he said, “I don’t want to collaborate with just a name. I must feel something for the person and relate with his work. I’ve seen several famous names collaborating on songs and albums, but they remain just two names. There’s no chemistry. It’s like oil and water. They can’t come together.” This perspective of Rahman has shown magic. The people he chooses – don’t know where he finds them – do their life’s best with Rahman. To date he has worked with almost every Indian legend. Just to name a few of them: KJ Yesudas, SP Balasubrahmaniam, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, sivamani, Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, L. Shankar, Kadri Gopalnath, Vikku Vinayakram, Ustad Sultan Khan among many others. Internationally, he has been associated with Nusrath Fateh Ali Khan, Yak Bondy, Jolin Tsai, Michael Jackson, Apache Indian, Dominic Miller, Andrew Lloyd Webber for one or more works. The directors with whom Rahman has worked are: Hindi: Ramgopal Varma, Deepa Mehta, Priyadarshan, Farookh Siddiqui, Subhash Ghai, Govind Nihalani, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Khaled Mohammed, Shyam Benegal, Shashilal Nair, Shekhar Kapoor, Kailash Surendranath, Ashutosh Gowariker, Shaad Ali, Ahmed Khan, MF Hussain, 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. - Music is a gift from God and every note should be blessed. Otherwise 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 pure soul in it to reach people. Whom do you consider your closest rival? How does it feel to be on top? “I am like a boat without an oar. I let life take its own course. I know only 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 for itself” “Rather than making money I believe in making people happy, all other things are secondary.” Money isn’t important, creative satisfaction is. “Swades” is right from my heart. It is simple and sweet music. How would you describe A.R.Rahman in your own words? “Awards come with the blessings from God and it encourages you. At the same time it is not the end and it’s a promise and you feel ashamed and ask yourself “What have I done to get this?”ARR GURUS
THE RELIGION
THE ENTRY
AS A SINGER
When the final re-recording of the song ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai’ of ‘Roja’ was being done in Rahman’s 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.A PATRIOTIC MUSIC MAKER
HIS EXPERIMENT WITH UNTRAINED VOICES
HIS INSPIRATIONS
Since Ilaiyaraja had worked for Rahman’s father in the past, he regarded Rahman as his own son.
HIS COLLOBORATIONS
ARR QUOTATIONS
“The man who’s inside me and constantly trying to distract me from doing good work.”
“I don’t really think I’m at the top. Basically, I came into this field not to intrude on anybody else’s success.”
“A.R.Rahman is a failure and slowly he is trying to reach something.”
SINCERE THANKS TO GOPAL SREENIVASAN & AMITH CHANDRAN FOR THE ENTIRE WRITE UP
Respected sir,
Lord of the music,
Mr. Ar. Rahmanji,
I m a great fan of u since i listened Roja music……after that gentlemen, chor chor/thiruda-thiruda/donga-donga, kadalan/premikudu/humse hai Muqabla, love birds, Bombay, Dil-se, Rangeela, Lagaan, till Jodha akbar….. i have seen all three language films…… i was dream to meet you once in my life….its really a dream come true if you think ……….. i m presently staying in Secunderabad , Andhrapradesh…… My cell no is 9885725661 and my mail id is anilkumaralgundagi@gmail.com and my website is http://www.greatattitude4u.com
Kindly reply me ….
Anilkumar algundagi
Shri AR Rahman
Respected Sir,
I am herewith introducing Smt.Lalgudi S.Alamelu who was the disciple of Shri.Lalgudi Gopala Iyer father of Shri.Lalgudi Jayaraman.Shri Alamelu learned violin the full time adapting to those Gurukulam days from age 5 along with Shri Jayaraman.
She dedicated her life to teaching profession in Madurai and she accompanied great musicians like DK JAYARAMAN, T.N.SESHAGOPALAN and many special music events like SHETHRANJALI. Today she is settled in chennai and she teaches many students mainly referred by Shri JAYARAMAN.
Her experience will be of great help to your new venture KM and she will render her service if required.
I am the daughter of her and I will be very glad to meet you along with my mother. My address is –
No5, Melony Road, Flat no 8, Vasanth Apartments, T.Nagar, Chennai-17 my telephone no is 42694000,42694001 and 42694002. Cell 9840222890.
Regards,
MEENAKSHI
11-04-2008
i DONT HAVE ANY WORDS TO TELL ABOUT THIS GENIUS PHENOMENON OF MUSIC
Sir,
I am in no position to measure your genius, yet all I can say is Thanks a lot for whatever you have given to the Indian Music, to the world – as a musician and as a human being.
I know you believe in the philosophy of Redemption from Darkness to Light.. so I pray that God always makes you happy and shows you light everywhere you go.
God bless you Sir and may A.R.Rahman get whatever he defines as “satisfaction” .
I like you @ your music.I am from Bangladesh.Wish you good luck.Buy
Isaipuyal A.R.Rahman the musical legend.I Love His Music.
Long Live A.R.Rahman
Proud to Be An A.R.Rahman Fan
hi sir,
i intro myself…am srini frm thiruvannamalai. am die hard fan to u..am not learn any music and vocals..bt i love music
i learn any one intrument in my life end..so i need gud advice , please help me..my kid age i interest to learn music bt my family back ground vry poor.past 22 yrs i listen music, i dream music..
nw am in chennai..working in pvt concern. i love music so please help me sir.
waitng for ur reply
srinivasan
97504 22447
Hi farzad, can u provide me the link for downloading A.R.R’s JANA GANA MANA videos performed by various LEGENDS to me.
reply to my mail id also, ranjith150787@gmail.com
To me ARR is a realized soul, because only when some one is one with god can such pure music flow. He is like Meera, someone who is become one with eternal peice. Music is a way of devotion, that is the reason why all religions have musical notes to pray – be it bajans, choros or qawali’s.
He is a saint/realized soul and I am sure more and more great music is going to flow from him. I am happy to be born along in an era when ARR lived and breathed.
HI AZHAGIYA TAMILMAGAN,
U ARE THE ONE AND ONLY SOUL TOUCHING COMPOSER……
IAM A SLAVE FOR UR MUSIC , VOICE , DOWN-TO-EARTH CHARACTER ,
SMILE , SOFT NATURE , DRESSING STYLE ,……..
Its a great work dude, i’m great fan of ARRahman its really satisfied me
Hi,
Truly, all the religions are saying the same thing in different manner. Good Music goes beyond all religions,languages. In one way we can reach god easily through music.
Please don’t mingle religious politics with good music. Once Mr.Illayaraja was on toppest music director(ofcourse he ), he was very proud, & sometimes speaking hard. I hope ARR won’t do like that and i wish him to be a down to earth personality always. And if he often start helping the poors he become the divine personality.
In the want of Good Music,
Shankar.
well sir i have no words.i feel i am half dead.when i came to know about your biography a tear from my eyes dropped,that time i came to know that people have struggled so much in thier life.well a music entry from great music maestro illayaraja.the new born artiste..feel very proud of you a.r.rahman.i swear that in my future i will build a temple for u who consider u as a music god..u really rock.wen i hear u r music it just makes me go somewer my mind reaches the beats u have composed..ur truly my inspiration.my aim in life is to bcom a music director like u.really love ur compositions sir ..u rock….
good work by the publisher and iam sure the biography would be a boost to all music enthusiasts
AFTER MOZART ARR IS THE BEST……………………..
I DON’T HAVE ANY WORDS TO TELL ABOUT THIS GENIUS LEGEND
If thr was anyone who got me to listen to indian music it was Rahman,he is deifnately Allah Rakha…….. Long Live A.r.r…
AR Rehman,
‘Talla’ as I call this greatest composer India have ever gifted to the world.His songs were gave me the energy and passion as a teenager.
His songs were the motivation and inspiration when I was struggling during the grey patch of my life.Still his songs are my are my fighting sprits against course of life.
Reading this Biography I now realize why his songs are so special.Because they are inspired by his oun life.
Talla you are great…..
Thanks for gifting us the music which has touched and inspired so many lifes throughout the world.
you made good biography of rehman sir.
hi farzad.. can u plz tell me frm where to download A.R.Rahman’s song which he made for Taj Mahal..
“Each time I pray, I die, my soul departs, and then I am like born again” – These words are really Excellent.. What a great soul.. ! Im impressed by these words a lot!!
Though Im also like other persons, who like AR’s compositions.. No doubt his compositions are excellent!!
I never stopped long time at any of his interviews or biography…
Some how today when I was browsing something got into this biography and got many good things from AR’s life.. Really a good biography about a true person.. Gods Own Son!! or A person pictured his life in the frame of god?
Long time back, I was moved with a phrase in an interview with ‘The Hindu’ – The phrase (Dont remember exactly) – “What god wills it so .. it may happen to me..” Its true and awakening to many other souls who are in the same path..
Brother, Let me pray for your good life .. peace and happiness ever.. all through your long blessed life and for your sweet family members too.. Happy new year 2009 and year ahead..
May god be with you and guide you always and bless you!!
-Sri
Thanks for being a trendsetter and a living example
Will pray for all your compositions and let your deeds turn meaningful
hello Mr.Akshaye,
This is not a place to shit whatever you want. This board is created for A.R.Rahman fans not for any religious or communal dispute.
Rahmaniacs aren’t filthy maniacs like you…
I hope this comment will be erased.
“Master Peice”
hello
first of all i m more than happy 2 discover this site
good work
the boigraphy ……… good research
but not to sound harsh i had like to make a point
he (arr) was a hindu by birth there family converted to hinduisn n he was named alla rakha rahman
i think this should find a place here
assalamu alaikum
AR Rahman sir,
i am one of your fans. congratulations for golden global award. i will pray to allah for oscar award. This site is very useful to know about you sir. your bibliography said your hard work, effort everything. i will start any work in the blessings of god. All the best for many more success…. assalamu alaikum..
Hai its nice,i am one of your fans. congratulations for golden OSCAR award
Hi Sir,
First of all, i would like to congratulate for winning 2 oscar awards.
May god bless you.
Congratulations for Oscar awards !!!
I have no words…. to wish you, all the best.
What is there to right… when he is under the blessings of the Creator Himself… Allah Rakkha… as the Indian Express exclaimed (after he won the Oscars). Rahman has quoted Rabia Basri… (his favourite prayer… )… and his son is named after Khwaja… and Rumi (Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi., of Konya., Turkey… the writer of Masnavi-e-Manavi..). When he has read Sheikh Abdulqadar Jeelani of Baghdad… and Rabia Basri… and Maulana Rumi.. where is the room for a commoner like me.
You are in great company., AR. God bless you. I depart now.
oh
you are a genius music director in world
CONGARJULATION AR
FOR OSCAR AWARD
ENTE HRIDHAYAM NIRANJA AASHAMSAKAL
IKKA
APRIL14 th
nu kanam……..
shanu vattiyoorkavu(trivandrum)
mob:09895470560…
ASSALAMALAIKUM
RAHMAN ji iam ur old friend navaz khan (cine musician & music director) pls i want to meet at ur home to wish u , my mobile no.9940178271 & 9382127434
iam a piano student of mr.jacob john (musee musical chennai)
i love ur music & ur prayer
thank you
Kavi Akbardeen
***
Writer and freelance journalist, poet,
Song writer, script writer and motivation speaker.
(Malaysia)
Dear brother,
I came to your house and gave personally to you ten Islamic sons with the help your PA Noel.You read the songs and said all are wonder full and you would,Insha Allah,make an album wih the songs. I went back o Malaysia. After that I came to your house three times to see you. You were not available.
Dear brother, you have done a meritorious service to cine field.What have you done to Islamic World?Will our brothers not ask you? So kindly make an album with my Islamic messages in your melody and send them to our brother and sisters.Will you please give me your response as soon as possiblr?
Thanking you
Wassalam
Kavi Akbardeen
18-3-2009
hi rahman your music
congratulation mr,ar rahman for oscar award.
may god bless you all the time.
well,im your huge fan.
im also a musician.
i love your music and there are no words to describe your tunes.
its really amazing.
plz do email me at latha.charu@rocketmail.com.
“jai ho” “jai ho” to the legend ar rahman.
tq
Hi Guys,
Rahman itself illayaraja is guru.But ARR guru passage not mentioned illayaraja
actually both AR RAHMAN AND ILLAYARAJA are two legends of tamilnadu dont compare them
i like both AR RAHMAN AND ILLAYARAJA THEY R BEST ALWAYS
Comparisons are merely present only in India, especially in Bollywood and Kollywood where you don’t get to see even a single media channel ending it’s day without pulling one’s legs by raising one’s name above them.
Now it has turned to be a hot topic in South India, especially the Tamil Film Industry where many have been debating the issue of who’s greater between ‘Ilayaraja’ and his protégé ‘A.R. Rahman’. None are least or greater than anyone. If you ask us, it would be the apt reply. Perhaps, we’re sure there isn’t any big reason other than this.
A.R. Rahman was bit distressed addressing the throngs gathered for his felicitation on Sunday Evening where his mentor Ilayaraja and M.S. Viswanathan were present. Speaking on the occasion, he said, ‘I was bit disappointed watching media channels especially certain websites that were continually passing abusive comments by comparing Ilayaraja sir with him. He’s the great master of all times and I’m nothing when compared to him… Elder Musicians like him laid the foundation and I’ve represented them for these awards’.
Hi Guys
It was real pleasure reading this article about a great person and his great music
i have request to
one person name was used ie Pir Quadri
“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 Qadir Jeelani Sahib or Pir Qadri.”
Pir Quadri is different from Shaik Abdul Khader Jilani
Shaik Abdul Khader Jilani was Sufi Shaik ie hundreds of years back
so please change that line in this article as
“The family had given up all hope; when they came in contact with a Muslim Pir called as Pir Karimulla Shah Qadri or Pir Qadri.”
i was eager to know the biography of A R Rahman.what given here is very useful.Rahman is a real human being.great!!!
congratulations Rahman ji for ur OSCAR!
ARR…..;You are rocking. Keep doing experimenting with music and We pray to the Almighty to give you power and strength to rule the world of MUSIC.
CongratulationZ
Mr. A.R Rahman
the King Of World Music
CongratulationZ
Mr. A.R Rahman
the King Of World Music
plz do mail me vpmuhsin88@gmail.com
Love you Rahman and also your Music
I want to see you Rahman
Take care dear
God will always be there with you
And My heart pray for you till it stops pumping
And My soul will be around you forever
Love you dear
with lots of love and care
NishaSweetlyn
ASSALAMALAIKUM
iam shameer frome malappuram mamburam
oh
you are a genius music director in world
CONGARJULATION AR
FOR OSCAR AWARD
welcome calicut condact 9995261444
RAHMAN……..
I WANT TO BE A MUSIC DIRECTOR
WHAT SHALL I DO
CAN YOU HELP ME???
hi sir
i want to ask that
“what is your full name”
Dear Mr a r rehmansir
i have been great fan , lover of your music. i remember i listen to your tunes first time “thiruda thiruda” even though i am not at all known to that language
i remembered all the wordings and that was just because of your magic.
i wished that time that this muisic director must do something for Hindi films also. and within few months i came to know @ ROJA.
since i am like buying only your cds and only yourcds. i stopped listening to english music. i just can not explain how much i try n find out @your new songs and their detailings. sometimes my friends laugh at me but it doesnt matter to me . i love you sir.
I WISH TO VISIT YOUR STUDIO AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU RECORDING YOUR MUSIC.
FOR ME YOU ARE GOD OF MUSIC
I WILL SURELY WATCH YOU IN PUNE
sir,
I have honor to state that recently i have finished M.Phil degree from
Punjab University, and my research topic was “Sangeetkaar A R Rahman ka jeewan parichay tatha sangeetik yoogdan”( music director A R rahman’s life introduction and his contribution to music). It was so much insight and informative !00 pages research work that I have done I belive that it is very inspiring and knowledgeable for youngsters who are looking forward to be a musician . Hence I have decided to pursue further research work in same topic for PhD and I have enrolled from Music Department Punjab University Chandigarh Prof. Saroj Ghosh is guide for my PhD research work.
It is my prayer that after finished my PhD work I surely would like to publish the thesis for
the benefit of young generation musicians and those who found of music
Therefor, it is my humble request to support me to begin my PhD research work and also help for further information regarding this research studies. I shell be very grateful to your kind consideration.
Thank You.
sir,
I have honor to state that recently i have finished M.Phil degree from
Punjab University, and my research topic was “Sangeetkaar A R Rahman ka jeewan parichay
tatha sangeetik yoogdan”( music director A R rahman’s life introduction and his contribution to music). It was so much insight and informative !00 pages research work that I have done I belive that it is very inspiring and knowledgeable for youngsters who are looking forward to be a musician . Hence I have decided to pursue further research work in same topic for PhD and I have enrolled from Music Department Punjab University Chandigarh m
Prof. Saroj Ghosh is guide for my PhD research work.
It is my prayer that after finished my PhD work I surely would like to publish the thesis for
the benefit of young generation musicians and those who found of music
Therefor, it is my humble request to support me to begin my PhD research work and also help for further information regarding this research studies. I shell be very grateful to your kind consideration.
Thank You.
tijenderkumar@yahoo.com
Dear Rahman,
I’m your fan.Really god grace to get you from Tamilnadu.You are finding the easiest to way to reach god.that way is music…Our illaiyaraja reached to god definitely…Make this world peaceful and grow our youth with powerful by your songs…..Really I love a lot of your song that is “Vellai Pookal Ulagam Engum Malarave……..Vidiyum Boomi Amaithikaga Vidiyave…..Mannail Mannil Manjal Velicham Vizhugave….Malare Sompal Murithu Ezhugaveeeeee…”.Never End……….Go Ahead….Thamizha….
its so great 2see this site
Hai RAHMAN BAI,
YOUR SONGS VERY VERY BESTS, I AM NOUFAL IN KERALA
WISH YOU ALL THE BEST,,,,,,,,,
sir music is my life. i am very joy in music. please says me how to apply in your school.
WOW…really nice songs…
@ Shashank : Please log into http://www.kmmc.in
Hai , Salam Rahaman ji.
ur music is the one which is greatest in the Universe.
I dont like that, another one is ur no: 1 fan. Coz , I think dats me.
Wish u god bless
sir iam a big fan of your compositions espically of your orchestra work,sir iam a keyboard player iam learning it form one trinity affilated school i want to become a good musician and not good as you because i know becoming as you is an imposible task
your music rocks.
you are my bethoven you aremy mozart
sir iam a big fan of your compositions espically of your orchestra work,sir iam a keyboard player iam learning it form one trinity affilated school i want to become a good musician and not good as you because i know becoming as you is an imposible task
your music rocks.
you are my bethoven you are my mozart
Hi Sir,
Like others even i am a boy/man with wishes,in my life always face a new colour, while facing one of them i was at a place where i saw you walking. the fortune was i felt something is good today, The unexpected smile of you motivated me to move & move in my life, I decided to work at the same place where i saw you after falling again and again i am here today working with a passion in me one day i will be working under you not as a musician but atleast as a sweeper its not an attitude but a strong belief. I dont expect anything in life even, i was going through your pictures found this blog just wanted to paint my feelings, hope if you go through it that will be biggest thing.
Thank You
I cnat……….
Its me here till now for your composition.
I having your music as a treatment on me like medicen.
i cant thank toooo
ur
KHEPU
AR RAHMAN SIR
RESPECTED SIR,
I WANT TO HAVE SPIRITUAL TRAINING FROM YOU AS I WANT TO BE A FRIEND OF ALLAH.WITHOUT TEACHER IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO HAVE ANY SPIRITUAL EDUCATION. PLEASE REPLY
MY EMAIL-ID =zahanaraparvin@yahoo.in
Please provide update on 2010 year admission details like date, fee details and age limit if any. Any further relevant details will also be much appreciated. Please reply soon.
wow!!…..tis z supr…….nw i got much more informations about our arr sir,,…………………..
n im wishing him a vry vry happy bday……
dei sakthivel!!!!!!! perya puliti maari sollathe…….nee eenathan sonnalum, A.R.RAHMAN sir-e adicchikka mudiyathudaa!!!!!!
ur the best and will be the best!!!!!!!!!!