Rahman, A. R.
(b. 1966), Indian film-music composer. Allah Rakha Rahman is considered to be the most innovative Indian film-music composer of his generation. He was born A. S.
Dileep Kumar in Madras, India, to a musically talented family. Rahman's music lessons began at the age of four. When his father died, Rahman, at the age of eleven, dropped out of school and joined a musical troupe as a keyboard player to support his family. In 1988 Rahman converted to Islam under the spiritual influence of Sheik Abdul Quadir Jeelani, a pir (holy man), who was thought to have cured Rahman's sister of a mysterious illness.
Rahman's talent earned him a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music at Oxford University. In 1987 Rahman started composing jingles for commercials, which brought him to the attention of Maniratnam, a radical young filmmaker from Tamil Nadu, who signed Rahman for his next film Roja, the score for which won every conceivable award in India in 1992. Rahman continued to compose innumerable musical scores for Indian blockbuster films and to generate astounding record sales. He received the prestigious Padma Shri Award, the highest honor for an Indian civilian, in 2000.
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