Allah Rakha Rehman, popularly known as A. R. Rehman, is an Indian music composer and a playback singer. He was born on January 06, 1966 in Chennai to R. K. Shekhar and Kasturi (alias Kareema Begum). His original name was A. S. Dileep Kumar. He came to be known as A. R. Rehman after the family converted to Islam religion. His father was a well known music composer for films in Malayalam language. He was nine years old when his father passed away. The burden of the family fell on him at a very young age.
His musical career started after he joined the troupe of South Indian music composer Ilaiyaraaja as a keyboard player at the age of 11. He graduated from the Trinity College at Oxford University, with a degree in Western classical music. He used to work under South Indian music directors like M. S. Vishwanathan and Ramesh Naidu and had also accompanied Zakir Hussain, a well-known Indian classical tabla player and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, an Indian violinist on world tours. He was also a part of local rock bands like Roots, Magic and Nemesis Avenue.
Rehman started his career as a jingle composer. He composed jingles for ads of brands like Parry’s, Leo Coffee, Boost, Titan, Premier Pressure Cooker, Asian Paints, Airtel etc. He became famous and was recognized for his work of jingle composition. He continued as a jingle composer and has served in advertising for five years.
Rehman started a small studio of his own called Panchathan Record Inn attached to his house in 1989. He got his first break from the popular director Mani Ratnam in a Tamil language film Roja (1992). He won his first Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards in 1993.
Rehman made his debut in Bollywood with the film Rangeela (1995) directed by Ram Gopal Verma. Later he composed outstanding music for Tamil film Kadhalan (1994) which was dubbed in Hindi as Hum Se Hai Muqabula (1994) and Bombay (1995). He established himself as a music director and became famous with the music of Hindi film Dil Se (1998).
Rehman has composed the music and has sung for various Hindi films such as Daud (1997), Sapnay (1997), Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998), Jeans (1998), Taal (1999), Zubeidaa (2000), Pukar (2000), One 2 Ka 4 (2001), Nayak (2001), Lagaan (2001), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Saathiya (2002), Tehzeeb (2003), Yuva (2004), Lakeer (2004), Meenaxi (2004), Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (2004), Swades (2004), Kisna (2004), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005), Mangal Pandey – The Rising (2005), Water (2005), Rang De Basanti (2006), Guru (2007) etc.
Rehman has also composed the music and has sung for various Tamil and Telugu films such as Muthu (1995), Kadhal Desam (1996), Love Birds (1996), Iruvar (1997), Jeans (1998), Mudhalvan (1999), Thenali (2000), Rhythm (2000), Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Alaipayuthey (2000), Alli Arjuna (2001), Parthale Paravasam (2001), Baba (2002), Boys (2003), Kangalal Kaithu Sei (2004), Enakku 20 Unakku 18 (2004), Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), Anbe Aaruyire (2005), Varalaru (2006), Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006), Sivaji (2007), Azhagiya Tamil Magan (2007) etc.
Rehman also composed the score and soundtrack for the Chinese film Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003. He has composed the music for patriotic albums such as Vande Mataram (1996) and Jana Gana Mana as a tribute to the motherland. He has worked and performed with various international artists such as Apache Indian, David Byrne and Michael Jackson. He has worked with international composer Andrew Webber Lloyd for his album 'Bombay Dreams' in 2002. He has composed the music for The Lord of the Rings theatre production with a Finnish folk music band called Varttina. He also composed the “Raga Dance” for British classical and pop musician Vanessa Mae in her album Choreography (2004).
Rehman is also well known for his philanthropic activities. He has set up the A. R. Rehman Foundation whose goal is to eradicate poverty globally. He was appointed as the Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004. He composed a song ‘Indian Ocean” and the proceeds of the song were donated to help orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Rehman is married to Saira and has 3 children - Khatija, Rahima and Amin. He has three sisters – Rehana, Fatima Talat and Israth. His nephew G. V. Prakash Kumar, son of his sister Rehana, is a music composer in the Tamil film industry.
Rehman has won several awards and honors such as:
• Padma Shri Award in 2000.
• National Film Award for Best Music Direction 4 times.
• Filmfare Award (Tamil film Industry) for Best Music Direction 10 times.
• Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Hindi film Industry) 9 times.
• IIFA Awards for Best Music Direction 4 times.
• 2006 GIFA Awards for Best Music and Best Background Music for the Hindi film Rang De Basanti (2006).
• 2006 Swaralaya-Kairali-Yesudas Award for outstanding performance in music field.
• 2007 Filmfare Best Music Director Award for the Hindi film Guru (2007).
• 2007 Filmfare Best Background Score for the Hindi film Guru (2007).
• 2008 IIFA Best Music Director Award for the Hindi film Guru (2007).
