A. R. Rahman

Popular for his distinct style of music around the globe, A.R. Rahman is a prominent Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence after composing music for Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Roja, for which he also won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction, Filmfare Award for Best Music Director Tamil and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director. For his extensive body of work, Rahman has won many other awards like Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, National Film Awards, and several Filmfare Awards.

Fondly known as the Mozart of Madras, Rahman's in his long career has redefined music in Indian cinema, taking it to an international level. Time magazine rated the soundtrack of 'Roja' in the Top 10 of their all time best movie soundtracks of the world; The Guardian, UK, listed the soundtrack of Bombay in '1000 albums to listen before you die'. In 2009, Time also included Rahman on its list of the world's most influential people.

Apart from giving groundbreaking music, Rahman is actively involved with numerous charitable causes and is a notable philanthropist.
Did you Know?
He was nominated for the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award (The Hilton Award) for Best New Musical of 2002, for ''Bombay Dreams'', which was performed at the Apollo Theatre, West End, London, and on Broadway in New York City.


He is also known as the John Williams of the Indian film industry.

A.R. Rahman got the 2500th Filmfare Trophy at the 57th Filmfare Awards, 2011. It was a diamond studded trophy designed by PC Jewellers.


A.R. Rahman composed music for the unreleased shelved film ''Waqia'', which would have starred Sanjay Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Ramya Krishnan, Danny Denzongpa. This 1995 film would have been his debut in Bollywood.

A.R. Rahman composed music for the unreleased shelved film ''Waqia'', which would have starred Sanjay Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Ramya Krishnan, Danny Denzongpa. This 1995 film would have been his debut in Bollywood.

Rahman likes to record music only in the night, but he makes an exception when collaborating with the legendary Lata Mangeshkar.

Rahman joined genius composer Ilaiyaraaja as a keyboardist at age 11, two years after his father passed away.