|
AR Rehman strode as a colossus in the world of film music
after his debut in Roja. Rehman, a man with grim look,
shyness and long hair, is now considered to be the
definition of music. From a keyboardist to the most
respected name in music business today, it's been a long
and winding journey for this longhaired composer who has
given sleepless nights to many a producer/director as he
works only at nights.
In
1989, Rehman’s passion for music led him to launch and
develop a small studio of his own called Panchathan Record
Inn, attached to his house. Later it emerged as one of
India’s most well equipped and advanced recording
studios. In his established state of the art sound and
recording studio, AR Rehman began experimenting in sound
engineering, design and production.
AR
Rehman released his first album of Muslim devotional songs
titled Deen Isai Maalai in 1991. This was followed by Set
Me Free, an album of English songs. Unfortunately for
Rehman,
both the albums went unnoticed in the market.
 Allah
Rakha Rehman (AR Rehman) was born as A.S.Dileep Kumar on
the 6th of January 1966 at Madras to a musically affluent
family. His father R.K. Sekhar was an arranger and
conductor in Malayalam movies and had worked under the
likes of Salil Chowdhary and Devarajan.
AR
Rehman started learning piano at the age of four. At the
age of 9, his father passed away. The pressure of
supporting his family fell on Rehman. At the age of 11, he
joined maestro Illaiyaraja’s troupe as a keyboard
player. His mother Kareema Begum stood behind him and
encouraged him to follow in his father’s footsteps. But
all this had an adverse effect on his education.
Infrequent attendance and an unaccomodative management
forced him to shift schools from the prestigious Padma
Seshadri Bal Bhavan to the Madras Christian College and
finally he dropped out of school altogether.
In
1988, one of Rehman’s sisters fell seriously ill and
numerous attempts to cure her failed. Her condition
worsened. Rehman’s family had given up all hopes when
they came in contact with a Muslim Pir-Shiekh Abdul Qadir
Jillani. With his prayers and blessings, his sister made a
miraculous recovery and got new life. The whole family was
much influenced by the teachings of the Pir and converted
to Islam. Then Dileep Kumar became AR Rehman. Rehman is
the only son of his parents and has two sisters. His
father Sekhar was very devoted to music. Most of his works
were in Malayalam films.
Rehman
also played on the orchestra of M.S. Vishwanathan and
Romesh Naidu and accompanied Tabla genius Ustad Zakir
Hussain and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan on world tours. Trinity
College of Music of Oxford University offered him
scholarship by judging his experience and qualities.
Rehman then studied there and earned a degree in western
classical music. When Rehman returned from Oxford, he
became a part of various music troupes. Rehman was also a
part of local rock bands like Roots, Magic and Nemesis
Avenue where he performed with his future colleagues like
Ranjit Barot and Sivamani.
Fortunately,
Rehman soon got his break in advertising. AR Rehman was
signed to compose the jingle to promote Allwyn’s new
Trendy range of watches in 1987. These ads of Allwyn
proved a turning point in his career and his work in them
was much appreciated. He then moved full time into this
glamorous field of advertising and composed jingles. Then
began Rehman’s 5-years saga in advertising where he went
on to compose more than 300 jingles. His career in this
industry has a lot of popular ads like those of Parry’s,
Leo Coffee, Boost featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil
Dev, Titan, Premier Pressure Cooker, Hero Punch and Asian
Paints. The jingles that Rehman composed for the Leo
Coffee ad and the Asian Paints ad earned him awards and
recognition. Besides, AR Rehman also won an award for
composing the theme music of the Madras Telugu Academy’s
Spirit of Unity Concerts.
 A
t
an advertising awards function where Rehman received his
award for the best ad jingle, which he had composed for
the popular Leo Coffee ad, met Mani Ratnam - the
well-known filmmaker. The meeting was arranged by Sharada
Trilok of Trish Productions for whose company the young
composer had worked. Mani Ratnam requested Rehman for a
sample of his wares. Rehman readily compiled and invited
Ratnam over to his studio where he played out the
particular tune. Mani Ratnam was hooked instantly. Mani
Ratnam had previously worked with Illaiyaraja but this
young genius changed his track. And AR Rehman finally got
a chance to prove his worth when Ratnam signed him to
score the music for his next film Roja.
The
music of Roja was the first step in changing the face of
Indian film music. Roja won every conceivable award in
music that year (1992). At the National Film Awards
function, Rehman also received the Rajat Kamal for Best
Music Director. Then Rehman left ads and moved into film
music full time. Roja, a film by Mani Ratnam, stormed the
country not just because of its content and style but
mainly its music.
Melody
the key element in Indian music returned and the fact that
the lyrics were mere translations did not take away the
soul from the music and Roja became both a critical and a
commercial success. In spite of the success of Roja,
Rehman had to prove his worth as a Hindi film music
director to consolidate his debut in Bollywood. Mani
Ratnam’s Bombay was also a bilingual he had to do a pure
Hindi film to conquer the country. Opportunity came in the
form of Urmila Mantondkar running and pouting on the
beaches of Goa singing Tanha Tanha in Ram Gopal Verma’s
Rangeela. With this film, Rehman not only arrived but also
came to stay. The songs of Rangeela topped the charts.
Rangeela was a big success for both Rehman and Urmila.
After Roja, almost every song of Rehman topped the charts.
His 1995 soundtrack for Bombay, a film by Mani Ratnam,
crossed 5 million units and Rehman had arrived as the King
of Indian Music with sales of more than 40 million albums
over a period of 3 years. The success continued with films
like Dil Se with Mani Ratnam, Taal with Subash Gai,
Zubeida with Shyam Benegal and with many others too.
Since
Roja, AR Rehman has scored music for a number of hit films
such as Pudhiya, Mugam, Gentleman, Kizhaku, Seemaiyilae,
Bombay, Madham, Love Birds, Hindustani, Daud, 1947 Earth,
Dil Se, Jeans, Pukar, Taal, Fiza, Zubeida, Nayak-The Real
Hero, Lagaan, The Legend of Bhagat Singh and more others.
The
music of Bombay, Dil Se, Taal, Fiza, Zubeida, Nayak-The
Real Hero and Lagaan won the hearts of the listeners. And
now AR Rehman is liked, loved and respected as a superstar
like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.
In
this young age, Rehman has worked almost all-top
filmmakers of Bollywood from Mani Ratnam to Govind
Nihalani, Deepa Mehta, Subash Gai to Shyam Benegal. Rehman
still has a long way to go. And he is on his way to
achieve higher and higher destination in this industry.
AR
Rehman is well known for introducing several unknown
voices in playback singing. He has shown an extraordinary
flair for experimenting with untrained voices. Many of the
current crops of singers got a break with Rehman. Singers
who have worked with him have repeatedly said that Rehman’s
open approach during recording sessions has spurred them
on to giving their best. Suresh Peters, Shahul Hameed,
Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Harini, Anupama, Dominique,
Minmini, Shubha, Hema Sardesai are some of the singers who
have thrived after the advent of Rehman. Singers like Hari
Haran, Sukhwinder Singh, Sonu Nigam, Sujatha have had
successful comebacks in the industry after working with
Rehman. AR Rehman also gave break to Unni-Krishnan, Bombay
Jayshree and Nithyashree Mahadevan who are successful
Karnatak classical vocalists now.
Rehman
gave a successful comeback to Sukhwinder Singh in Dil Se
when he signed him to sing the popular song Chaiya, Chaiya.
After Chaiya, Chiaya, there has been no looking back in
Sukhwinder’s career. Today Sukhwinder Singh is the
highest paid singer in Bollywood. Sukhwinder described his
experience of Chaiya Chaiya with Rehman: "I went to
Rehman’s studio in Chennai to seek some work of writing
lyrics (Sukhwinder writes lyrics too) and asked Rehman
whether he had any work for me."Rehman, in his usual
soft style, replied instantly – "Do you want to
sing for me (Rehman was very much aware of Sukhwinder's
skills of singing)?" I couldn’t believe it that the
well-known composer like Rehman was offering me to sing
rather I wasn’t sure about having work of writing lyrics
from Rehman. Rehman gave me the song Chaiya Chaiya written
by legendary poet and director Gulzar, to sing. And the
result – all and sundry know! I am very much impressed
by Rehman’s studio, his work and his style."
The
greatest asset Rehman has and continues to develop is the
desire to innovate and introduce new styles, be it singing
or orchestration. Rehman also gave new life to the voice
of the legendary Asha Bhonsle in Rangeela. Jazz, Rock,
Funk, Western and Indian Classical and Folk music all
congregate in Rehman’s music to create a wonderful
mosaic, which is different and also not shallow.
Sufism
is very much apparent in his work right from Bombay and
continues to find expression in films like Dil Se, Pukar
and Taal. In 1997, as India was celebrating its 50th year
of independence, Rehman sang the national song Vande
Mataram and gave life to it.
Rehman’s
own voice with its distinct nasal pitch came to be heard
in the film Bombay. In Bombay, Rehman formally took to
playback singing. Rehman had lent his voice to his
compositions earlier too but they had been part of the
preludes or interludes like Yelo in Chinna Chinna Aasai in
Roja. But Hamma Hamma in Bombay was Rehman’s first
complete song. His song Mustafa Mustafa from Kadhal Desam
was another hit that made Sony take notice of Rehman and
sign him on for the non-film album Vande Mataram. Then he
continued his singing career too. Dil Se Re from the film
Dil Se made him a hot singer and the producers/directors
began to sign him as a composer cum singer in their films.
In 1997, the international music giant, Sony Music, whose
portfolio included the likes of Michael Jackson, signed AR
Rehman. Rehman was the first person to be signed by Sony
Music from the Indian subcontinent. And the both (Sony and
Rehman) released an album, Vande Mataram. Vande Mataram
was released simultaneously in 28 countries around the
world on August 15, 1997. The album was a mega success and
sold over 1.2 million copies in India and did reasonably
well internationally too. Jana Gana Mana was his another
hit album released on 26 January 2000. To satisfy his
world fans, Rehman does concerts around the globe.
To
this day, AR Rehman has worked with internationally
reputed artists like Late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,
Michael Jackson, Apache Indian, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Kunna
Kudi, Vaidyanathan, Dominic Miller, L. Shankar, Kadri
Gopalnath, Vikku Vinayakram, Ustad Sultan Khan, Pandit
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and more others. On a trip to India,
David Byrne met Rehman and got impressed with the way this
young genius worked. Byrne did a project with Rehman,
which is yet to release. In October 1999, Rehman performed
a song Ekam Satyam in a charity concert in Munich with Pop
King Michael Jackson. The meeting between two legends of
music was arranged by Hindujas and Bharat Bala.
Some
years ago, AR Rehman worked with Michael Jackson on a
single titled Satyam, the track composed by Rehman is part
English and part Sanskrit. The Sanskrit portions written
by AR Parthasarathy were rendered by Rehman while the
English lyrics written by Kanika Myer Bharat were rendered
by Michael Jackson. The track was released as a single.
Rehman’s music in Lagaan was much appreciated by the
audience. Rehman keeps in mind the script of the film when
he composes the music that is why there emerges quality in
his creations.
Rehman
works only in his studio in Chennai, he does not go to
Mumbai to work in other studios. He feels comfort in his
studio. Describing the exact definition of creativity and
success, Rehman said: "A creative person should crave
for more and never be satisfied. If he is satisfied then
it will only mean the end for him".
 Composing
music is Rehman’s first love. But he also likes to sing
and thinks that singing requires a totally different
energy. Initially Rehman used to have a complex about his
voice and never even dared to sing for any of his films
till he heard late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He felt that if
Ustad Nusrat could create wonders with his voice, he could
also try his hand at singing. Ustad Nusrat was his
inspiration in singing. Rehman is also impressed with
Nusrat’s compositions. And later Rehman worked with this
legendary singer and composer (Ustad Nusrat). When Rehman
worked with Ustad Nusrat, it was like a big day of his
life as he was working with internationally renowned
musician. The big musician like Rehman thinks that singing
needs a lot of practice on your part, it is not easy.
In
future, Rehman has plans to compose ghazals too. Two big
producers of Hollywood offered music maestro Rehman to
compose original soundtracks for their films. Currently he
is busy composing music for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay
Dreams in London. Rehman thinks that it is a change doing
the songs in English. Abroad, people like his style and
want him to work the way he wants, which is very
encouraging for him. Bombay Dreams is the most expensive
Webber Production to date.
AR
Rehman has received several awards including the
Padmashree by the Indian Government in year 2000. Two
National Awards for Best Composer came his way for films
Roja and Minsara Kanava. He received awards in Filmfare,
Screen-Videocon, Zee Sangeet, Bollywood Music Awards, MTV-VMA
Awards, and more others. No year has gone by without a
Filmfare Award for Rehman since Roja.
Following
is a list of Rehman's non-film albums
Hindi:
Vande Mataram (1997), Gurus of Peace (1998), Jana Gana
Mana (2000) Live in Dubai (2000), AR Rehman Live (2000) -
Dubai, AR Rehman Live in -, Concert (2001) - Dubai
Pop/English:
Set Me Free - Shubhaa
(1992)
Tamil:
Thenvandhu Paayedhu (1991), Deen Isai Maalai (1991), Andhi
Maalai/Fantasy (1994), Beauty Palace (1996)
Short
Films: Desh Ka Salaam (1999), Jaya He (2001) for
Indian Navy, India on IMAX (2001)
Songs:
Colours (1992), Oh Bosnia (1996), Chakra - Seven Centers
Colonial Cousins Unplugged, Anokha - various artists
Zindagi
Se Pyar Karo (1999), Hey Jawan Tujhe Salaam (1999), Ekam
Satyam (1999)
|
