[image: rah1.jpg] Rahmania begins By Ashanti OMkar
AR Rahman literally commands a fan-base of Billions of fans, all over the world, many of them call themselves Rahmantics. With this in mind, their love for the music of AR Rahman and the man himself, is termed 'Rahmania'. Embarking on the Jai Ho: The Journey Home world tour, his leigions of fans eagerly anticipate seeing him on stage. With 2 highly anticipated films releasing this Summer, Raavan/Raavanan/Villian and Rajinikanth's Endhiran and Sultan, Puli, 1-800-Love, Rockstar and Shekhar Kapur's Paani, in the pipeline, his music creates waves upon every release. This series brings some of his top hits, alongside snippets of interviews with people who have worked with him through his incredible career, as a musician, performer and humanitarian. His Tamil words at the Oscars: "Ella pugazhum iraivanukke", saying that all praises go to the Almighty and his humble line: "All my life I had a choice between hate and love, and I chose love." touched hearts around the world. Whether he sits with Michelle Obama, M.I.A and John Legend, as part of TIME magazine's most influential people in the world or performs for Barack Obama and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House, plays loving father to his children, or gently coaxes the best out of the students of his KM Musiq Conservatory in Chennai, AR Rahman's good nature and glowing inner spirituality, guides his work. A true artist who has redefined contemporary Indian music, Academy-Award winning musician and composer AR Rahman has been hailed by TIME magazine as the “Mozart of Madras.” Considered by many to be the pride of the Indian nation and holding the designation of being one of the worlds top 25 all-time, top selling recording artists, Rahman is a true icon in the world of music and cinematic scoring. The son of RK Shekhar, a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam movies, Rahman was born into a musically affluent family. Rahman began playing the piano at a very young age. When his father died when he was only nine, the family started renting out musical equipment to make ends meet. Young Rahman then joined noted composer Ilaiyaraaja's troupe as a keyboardist and computer programmer. After working with several renowned composers, like Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy, Zakir Hussain and L. Shenkar, he set out on his own to compose advertising jingles and scores for popular Indian television features. Rahman has his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record Inn, where his early works were created and his new state of the art AM Studio, arguably one of Asia's most sophisticated and hi-tech establishments. AR Rahman captured the international spotlight for his work on Fox Searchlight's lauded Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman received two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Jai Ho.” He also became the first Indian artist to win a Golden Globe®, for Best Original Score and took home the Critics Choice Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award and a BAFTA for his Slumdog Millionaire score. He also won 2 Grammy awards for Slumdog Millionaire, for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for a Visual Media. Rahman's Slumdog Millionaire score and soundtrack also received critical praise from several publications, including Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Rahman was also honoured as one of “The TIME 100: The World's Most Influential People” and was named one of Fast Company's “100 Most Creative People in Business.” Widely considered the man who single-handedly revived public interest in Indian film music in the 1990s, Rahman scored the runaway hit, Roja as his first cinematic outing. It was directed by noted Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The soundtrack earned Rahman the Indian National Award for Best Music Composer, and was named by TIME magazine, as one of the Top Ten Compilations of all time, and one of the 100 best movie soundtracks in the world. Rahman followed up the Tamil film Roja with Gentleman, Thiruda Thiruda, Kadhalan, Bombay, Minsara Kanavu, all of which were huge chart-busters and were dubbed in Hindi as well. Signing an important album with Sony music in 1997, it was for a much talked about re-working of India's National song, Vande Mataram, in which he worked with the legendary late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In 2000, Andrew Lloyd Webber invited Rahman to compose for the musical, Bombay Dreams. This marked the first time Lloyd Webber would produce a musical he did not compose. Bombay Dreams opened to packed houses in London's West End, and had an unprecedented two-year run. The show, and Rahman's music, later premiered on Broadway. Some of Rahman's other hits include Alaipayuthey, Kandukondain Kandukondain, Jeans, Mudalvan, Kannathil Muthamittal, Mutthu, Boys and Sivaji: The Boss. His foray into Hindi movies started off with a big bang with Rangeela followed by Dil Se, Taal, 1947 Earth, Pukar, Lagaan , Zubeidaa, Meenaxi, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Yuva, Tehzeeb, Swades, Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Fire, Water, Earth, Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar, Delhi 6, Ghajini and Guru, Raavan all of which have been critically acclaimed and well received. He has also featured British talents like Reena Bhardwaj, Rashid Ali, Ash King, Lady Lush, Ember Pheonix, Bosnian singer Alma Ferovic, the inimitable Kylie Minogue, the singing sensation Akon and is working with the likes of Rod Stewart, Dido and Usher in the near future. Rahman also wrote the music for the stage adaptation of JRR Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings, which premiered in Canada in 2006 and in London in 2007. Last October, Rahman made his first foray into scoring music for an American comedy feature with the #1 box office hit “Couples Retreat” (Universal Pictures). To date, Rahman has won 25 Filmfare Awards, 3 MTV Awards, 4 IIFA and National Awards, 6 Tamil Nadu State Awards, 6 Zee Awards, and 4 Screen Awards. He has also been conferred the prestigious Padma Shri, and the Padma Bhushan, 2 of India's highest civilian honours, by the Government of India in 2000, for outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry. He was also given an honorary award from Stanford University for contributions to global music, while receiving 3 honorary PhDs from the UK and India. He is also an honorary Fellow, of the Trinity College of Music, London, where he was certified in the piano as a child. Rahman is also involved with charitable causes. In 2004, he was appointed as the global ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a producer on the single “We Can Make It Better” by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota, Rahman donated all proceeds of the singe, and his 2004 tsunami relief concert in India, to the victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. More recently, Rahman launched the AR Rahman Foundation, with the aim of eradicating of hunger and poverty. The foundation provides education to the poor and equips them with knowledge and skills needed to earn a living. Rahman's first single in the English language called “Pray For Me Brother,” released in early 2007. All proceeds from sales were donated to the AR Rahman Foundation. He also is the principal of the KM Music Conservatory, which he created to hone the skills of the brightest musical minds in India. http://www.b4utv.com/rahmania/ -- - Regards ~ ~ A.R.Rajib ~ ~
