Who is A.R.Rahman - The Oscar Winner

It wasn't until 1989 thatA.R. Rahman placed the first seeds of his film career. That year, he began obtaining the equipments and organizing the sound library for his Panchathan Record Inn. When Sharada Trilok's ad for Leo Coffee (for which Rahman penned the music) won her an award, she introduced the young composer Rahman to her cousin, Well known Film Director Mani Ratnam. Amazed with his work, the director signed Rahman to compose the music for K. Balachander's 1992 film Roja. Rahman's score, a colorful, organized combination of pop, rock, and his country's traditional music, reshaped the genre, winning him three awards for Best Music Director. Roja became the comparable of an Indian crossover success. Initially filmed in South Indian Tamil, it was re-dubbed (and its soundtrack re-recorded) in Hindi, the language of North India's famous Bollywood film center.

Since Roja hit movie screens in South India in 1992, A.R. Rahman has been redefining the country's extensively popular film music. Normally considered as the finest Indian film composer of his time and definitely the most commercially successful, Rahman created music for nearly 35 movie releases during his first five years in the industry. He has worked with many of his country's brightest music stars and a growing list of international celebrities like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Zakir Hussain, L. Shankar, Apache Indian, and David Byrne.

Rahman at last seemed prepared on the brink of the international success he desired. presentations were booked in Europe, Canada, and the United States during the final years of the century and a session was arranged with singer David Byrne (owner of the Luaka Bop label and a Rahman fan). Andrew Lloyd Webber chose Rahman to compose the music for his Bombay Dreams, a musical based on the Bollywood film industry. The pair began work on the scheme during the second half of 2000, and the musical opened in London during 2002. Bombay Dreams also ran for 284 regular shows at the Broadway Theatre in New York from April 29, 2004, to January 1, 2005.

Given that the turn of the millennium, Rahman has only seen his global appreciation and acclaim persist to grow, as he has truly risen to the greater level of film composers worldwide. In the year 2005 he commenced AM Studios -- believe as one of the foremost recording facilities in Asia -- as an attachment to Panchathan Record Inn, and the following year the composer established his own record label, KM Music. Rahman worked as musical director for nearly 50 films from 2001 through 2008, the bulk being Hindi- or Tamil-language movies, including noteworthy collaborations with Roja and Bombay director Mani Ratnam (Kannathil Muthamittal, Ayutha Ezhuthu/Yuva, Guru), and other directors including Rajiv Menon (Kandukondain Kandukondain), Shaad Ali (Saathiya), Ashutosh Gowariker (Swades), and S. Shankar (Boys, Sivaji), the latter of whom, like Ratnam, also directed a number of films notched up by Rahman during the 1990s.

Photo Source:: Flickr under creative commons lisence.

Photo Source:: Flickr under creative commons lisence.

Slumdog Millionaire - The winner of eight Academy Awards together with Best Picture, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score, Slumdog Millionaire was the suprise hit of the 2009 season. The film tells the story of a Mumbai teen who is accused of cheating after winning the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" A.R.Rahman baged two Academy awards through this film ( Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Oscars).

Photos In This Gallery From: Flickr Page under creative commons license.