Chennai (PTI): From almost quitting the industry due to financial constraints to a his double-Oscar win, the journey of A R Rahman from Madras' Kodambakkam to Hollywood has been a path filled with thorns and obstacles.
The successful journey of this soft-spoken man, who stepped into his father's shoes at an early age of nine, is a source of inspiration for many a youth in the country. Rahman began his career in Chennai's Kodambakkam, where the film industry is located, as a keyboard player in legendary South Indian musician Illayaraja's troupe in the 1970s and went on to compose jingles for advertisements. He was forced to shoulder the family responsibilities after his father died due to illness when Rahman was just nine years old. Due to this burden, Rahman could never get proper education in his early days. This was evident when his mother once said she will feel bad forever for not giving opportunity for Rahman to get educated well. He first came to light with his jingles for Leo Coffee, Bombay Dyeing and Titan advertisements in the 1980s and he almost quit the industry as he could not continue due to financial constraints. Then came the break for the music composer when noted filmmaker Maniratnam approached him to score composition for his "Roja", after seeing him performing at a awards ceremony function. After the remarkable success of "Roja", there was no looking back for Rahman, who his close friends in the industry call him a humble personality. "From the very early days when we both worked for advertisements to this day, one thing has not changed with Rahman. That is his humbleness," noted cinematographer Rajiv Menon said. What made Rahman's music click with the listeners was the refreshing use of percussions, sound and melody, most of which were inspired from the Indian folk music. Rahman, who is fondly called as "Isai Puyal" in Tamil, has rendered music for over 150 films in Tamil and he always respected his mother tongue, which came to the fore today when he said "Ella pughalum iraivanuke" after receiving the Oscars. Another close friend of Rahman and noted Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu attributed the music composer's Oscar win to his sincerity and dedication towards work and humbleness. "He is a very humble man. He is simply simple and down-to-earth. I am proud of Rahman, especially as a person who wrote lyrics for 90 per cent of his songs," he said. Rahman, who is rarely seen at public functions, is a person who devotes most of his spare time to spend with his large family, consisting of mother, wife, three children and four sisters.
