Friday, January 6, 2012

The Genius That He Is


He was nine, when an accidentally played tune on a piano, during his father's recording, was later developed into a complete song for a film.

His debut composition led him to receive the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, a record win for a first-time film composer.

He has since been awarded the Silver Lotus three more times, the most ever by any composer.

He started Panchathan Record Inn, a music recording and mixing studio, which is the most advanced recording studio in India and possibly one of Asia’s most sophisticated and high-tech studios.

He is a four-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fourteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South for his music and scores.

He is none other than the musical maestro – AR Rahman.

Allah Rakha Rahman – the man who redefined contemporary Indian music and is the pride of the entire nation, a man who gave music a new meaning and class and is unarguably the world’s most outstanding and prolific music icon alive, celebrates his birthday today, i.e. 6th January.

And what better way to wish the genius on this day but by posting about his too-humble-to-believe simple life and the grandiose status that he has achieved.

I’ve been an ardent Rahman fan since his first known film rendition for ‘Roja’ in Tamil. I never knew he would grow up to be someone he is today, but I’ve always maintained that his kind of music is something which will never die or go out of fashion.

A humble beginning as a keyboard player in Illaiyaraja's (another musical ace) troupe at the age of 11, Rahman defied all norms of traditional Indian music.

Yet his music is completely deep rooted in age old traditions. Testimony to this, are his skills and usage of Carnatic music, Western classical, Hindustani music, Sufi music and the Qawwali style of music.

Contradicting his present occupation as a music composer, Rahman actually wanted to grow up to be an electronic or computer engineer. He has mentioned in one of his interviews-“I was not crazy after music. I was more interested in technology".

This may be the reason for his love for electronic sounds and technology.

With a perfect blend of Indian conventional instruments with Western electronic sounds and technology, Rahman dishes out a unique platter of music which transcends all barriers and is appealing to all genres.

He not only broke barriers between South India and North India, but also between India and the World at large.

The awards and recognition, conferred upon this genius, speaks volumes of his immense talent and sheer hard work. Even as honors and awards keep flowing in from every corner of the world, his humble, modest, and down-to-earth personality remains unchanged all through the years.

Time and again, he proves himself as the ace of music, without taking any effort in doing so, through his meaningful and distinctive musical performances.

As a summation all I want to say about this musical legend is that, his soulful music bridged several gaps and brings a divine experience to those who listen to his melody. I take pride in his Indian origin and as he salutes mother India, I salute this larger-than-life personality with a ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Rahman Tujhe Salaam’.

Long live the Maestro and Long live his Music and Melody!

PS: Below is a sneak peak into the star’s world-class studio in Chennai and his life in pictures. Hope you enjoy it!































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