Rahman's Oscar Win Was a Great Moment for All Indians April 01, 2009 By KS Vijay Elangova
IT HAS been a proud and exhilarating moment for all Indians living in Derry. Our AR Rahman has won two Oscars for the film Slumdog Millionaire in the Best Original Score and Best Song (for the song Jai Ho! in the film) categories. It has been a scintillating performance from the hardest working musician in Asia. My association with him began in 2000 when I met him to score for our film Popcarn, which I scripted along with the talented actor Nasser. By that time AR Rahman was already famous all over Asia. The film was offbeat and involved a radical classical dancer and a radical folk musician. They were living personalities who were very eccentric. The dancer was, of course, the much-acclaimed Chandrlekha who had done a lot of radical work in the dance format, and the folk singer was Gunasekar, who sings folk songs with modern accompaniments. The film was about what happens when they get married. (Of course they did not act in the film. The great Malayalam actor Mohanlal and talented actress Simran donned their roles). We had been meeting AR Rahman to score for the film. But he was booked up for the rest of the year and wanted us to wait for some time. And we could not wait. We roped in Yuvan Shanakar Raja, son of great Illayaraja for whom AR Rahman played keyboard for almost seven years, to score for the film. But my meeting with AR Rahaman was memorable. I met a man who was very humble and unassuming and (he was only a few years older than me) who was bustling with a lot of energy. He was also a God- fearing and family-oriented man. He worked every day right through the night. He recorded songs during the wee hours of the night. He evinced a lot of interest in my poetry. I loved him the moment I met with him. His journey into music began even when he was a very young child. Originally he was born into a Tamil Hindu family in Chennai. He was named AS Dileep Kumar. His father RK Sekar was a music director in Malayalam movies, but died when the child was only nine. But by then he infused a lot of music into the young boy's mind. In 1989, his sister was very ill and she did not respond to any treatment. The family went to a mosque and prayed and she was miraculously cured! Following this the entire family converted to Islam. AS Dileep Kumar became AR Rahman. His musical journey began when he was brought in to score for ace director Maniratnam's film Roja. AR Rahman won the national award for music for his very first film. Times magazine in London listed the film as one of the top 10 ever for original tracks. From then onward, he never looked back. His journey to the West began in 2002, when he composed his maiden stage production Bombay Dreams (2002) following a commission from musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. With Finnish folk music band Varttina, he wrote the music for The Lord of the Rings theatre production and in 2004 Rahman composed the piece "Raga's Dance" for Vanessa-Mae's album Choreography. It has all culminated in two Oscars for him. I hope he goes on winning more laurels for India. He dedicates all his awards to God and his mother. He often says, "All glory is to God and mother without whom nothing is possible." True to the words. He is God's own child. I salute him for his genius and I salute him for his friendship. (c) 2009 Belfast Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved. http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/yb/128308456 -- regards, Vithur
