More Accolades For Music Maestro A R Rahman

AR Rahman scored a double triumph at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, scooping two early honors for his music from Oscar-winning film

 'Slumdog Millionaire.' The composer won his first Grammy in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category, before his Jai Ho won in the best motion picture song category moments later. ''This is insane, God is great again,'' Rahman said as he accepted his second award on Sunday night.

His rivals in soundtrack category included Steve Jordan for 'Cadillac Records,' Quentin Tarantino for 'Inglourious Basterds', and producers of 'Twilight' and 'True Blood'. In best song category, Rahman beat Bruce Springsteen for his song 'The Wrestler,' from Oscarnominated movie of the same name. Jai Ho's success has clearly opened up new vistas in the 36-year-old musicians career. His office is now regularly flooded with calls from producers and directors wanting to sign him up. “Slumdog Millionaire worked because it is a song of hope,'' he said. Back home he is working on Mani Ratnam's 'Ravan' starring Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan and the big budget sci-fi film, 'Enthiran' starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya. He is also committed to Ashok Amritraj's 'Street Dancing.' Other things are happening globally, he said after winning the Padma Bhushan.

Awards now seem to have a way of chasing the young musician. These include four national awards, including one on his debut. Career highlights also include composing for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Bombay Dreams' and scoring for the stage production of 'Lord of the Rings'. He also composed the music for 'Warriors of Heaven and Earth', a Chinese film, while his songs in the Tamil film 'Muthu' took his compositions to Japan. His theme music for 'Bombay' was recommended as 'One of the 100 albums to listen before you die' by Time magazine.

Rahman also worked on “We Are The World”, the charity single for quake-stricken Haiti.

Hailed by Time magazine as the 'Mozart of Madras', Rahman, according to a BBC estimate, has sold more than 150 million copies of his work comprising of music from more than 100 film soundtracks and albums across over half a dozen languages, including landmark scores such as 'Roja', 'Bombay', Dil Se', 'Taal', 'Lagaan', 'Vandemataram' and more recently, 'Jodhaa Akbar', 'Delhi 6' and 'Slumdog Millionaire.' Rahman pursued music as a career at a very young age and after assisting leading musicians in India went on to compose jingles and scores for popular Indian television features. He also obtained a degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music, London and set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record-Inn at Chennai.

In 1991, noted film maker Mani Ratnam offered Rahman a movie called 'Roja' which was a run-away success and brought nationwide fame and acclaim to the composer. The movie also won Rahman the Indian National Award for the best music composer, the first time ever by a debutant. Since then, Rahman has gone on to win the National Award three more times, the most ever by any music composer.

In 1997, to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence, Sony Music signed up Rahman as its first artiste in South Asia. The result was 'Vande Mataram', an album that instantly made Indians relate to it and succeeded in rekindling the spirit of patriotism.

In 2001, Andrew Lloyd Webber, the well known composer of musicals like 'Phantom of the Opera' & 'Jesus Christ Superstar' invited Rahman to compose for his musical, 'Bombay Dreams', the first time he would produce a musical he did not compose for. 'Bombay Dreams' opened to packed houses at London's West End and had an unprecedented run for 2 years and later premiered at New York's Broadway. Rahman also composed the score for the stage production of 'The Lord of the Rings', one of the most expensive productions mounted on stage.

Rahman has been bestowed with the 'Padma Shri', one of India's highest national civilian honours, recognizing his contribution to music. He has also been conferred with honorary doctorates from the Aligarh Muslim University and the Middlesex University.

Rahman has expanded his focus to newer horizons like setting up the A R Rahman Foundation to help poor and underprivileged children. He released his first English single, 'Pray For Me Brother' in 2007, with proceeds from the sales going to the foundation. He also serves as the UN Ambassador for the 2015 Millenium Development Goals. Rahman has also announced initiatives to establish a tradition in western classical music in India and recently embarked on an ambitious venture to set up the KM Music Conservatory and the KM Music Symphony Orchestra based out of Chennai, India. 

[ By R. PadmanaBhan ]