A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah-Rakha Rahman, born A. S. Dileep Kumar), is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist. A. R. Rahman's works are noted for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. Among his awards are two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. Rahman's body of work for film and stage has given him the nickname of "the...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth6 January 1967
CountryIndia
compared indian movies six
Compared with other Indian film composers, I only write about six movies a year. Others write up to 60.
aggressive certain fine kids people pictures protect public surprised travel wants
When I travel with my kids abroad, I am not myself, but I'm more a father who wants to protect them. Sometimes, I am even aggressive about certain things and get surprised seeing myself like that: for instance, when people want to take pictures of them. I am fine if they want to take my pictures, but they are not public property.
constantly few hard keeps song soundtrack sure trick turning work
I usually work on a film soundtrack for two years, turning in a song every few months, and that keeps my creative energy high, because I'm constantly rotating projects. The trick is to make sure I don't work too hard and get exhausted.
biggest composers copy creative dollars existing expect freedom hits hollywood less possible producers scared score studio successful within
The more dollars the studio producers put in, the less freedom we have. If the budget hits $100m, they get scared - they'll take the existing score of a successful movie and expect composers to copy it, like wallpaper. The biggest challenge for any composer in Hollywood is to be as creative as possible within those boundaries.
career earned electronic equipment fascinated insisted money music musical pursue sure
My mother insisted that I pursue music. I rented out my father's musical equipment and earned some money. As a child, I wasn't sure about a career goal, but I was always fascinated by electronic gadgets, specially musical equipment.
good slowly streets work
I think I can get away, sometimes, with walking in the streets and not getting noticed. I like that. I want my work to get noticed, not me. And it's slowly getting there, which is good.
grasp mind scoring third
I like to see a film and then start scoring it in my mind while doing something unrelated. You just grasp a film and start working, and something unpredictable comes out from a third element. The mind, the more active it is, the more productive it is.
asked assist christian college director dropped joined led music musician shifted soon three worked
I joined the Madras Christian College but dropped out after three months. Telugu music director Ramesh Naidu asked me to assist him, and I did so for over a year. I did think of rejoining college, but by then, I was discovering the musician in me. I worked with Illaya Raja and Raj Koti and soon shifted to commercials. This led to movie offers.
age famous good immune positives
I was famous from the age of 13, and after a while you become immune to it - in a good way. You look at positives and what you can do with it.
While my mother wanted me to be a musician, I wanted to become an electronic engineer.
accepting excite human low painful turn
Some things are very low profile, but if they excite me creatively, I accept them. Sometimes there are high-profile projects, and you have to do it. We all have human limitations. It is a painful decision to turn things down. Even accepting 'Slumdog Millionaire' was a decision that I had to sacrifice another project.
among continuing grateful living music
I'm continuing to learn more about music - it's an ocean, and you can never really say that you know everything. I'm grateful that I'm still living and making music among the greats.
bollywood continue definitely great hope indian introduce music people types work
Bollywood music is definitely a big part of Indian music and can be a great way to introduce people to the sound. But I hope to continue to incorporate other types of Indian music into my work.
answering ask audience buy follow formula music process
I follow a simple formula when I compose. I ask myself, 'What would the audience want to hear?' and 'Why would they buy my CDs?' And the process of answering these questions through music follows. Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, it backfires.