A.R. Rahman

Acclaimed Indian singer, songwriter, composer, and producer A.R. Rahman - born AS Dileep Kumar on January 6, 1967, in Madras, India - was raised in a musical family. His father, RK Shekar, was a well-known composer working for India's Malayalam film industry. As a teenager, Rahman helped his father in the studio, often playing keyboards on his father's compositions. It was inevitable that he would eventually begin working as a musician in India's burgeoning film industry. Rahman began his own career composing scores for documentaries and writing advertising jingles for the Indian TV networks and, in 1992, was approached by screenwriter and director Mani Ratnam who asked him to compose the score for his film Roja.The success of Roja launched Rahman's career on a trajectory which has seen him become one of India 's most successful composers and musicians and earned him the nickname' Mozart of Madras'. Slumdog Millionaire which earned him two Academy Awards. After his Oscar wins, his career went global. AR Rahman was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2010, the third highest civilian honor in India. That year, Danny Boyle called on him again to compose music for the film 127 Hours . A.R. Rahman has continued to be one of the busiest film composers in India and, quite possibly, the world. He composed award-winning scores and / or best-selling scores for films such as Rockstar (2011), Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), Maryan (2013), Highway (2014), OK Jaanu ( 2017), and many others. He even crossed over into filmmaking, writing the screenplay and producing the 2020 film 99 Songs among others.