Chennai: As Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman, turned 48-year-old today, his colleagues in the Indian cinema industry wished him success and happiness in life.
Rahman plans to live chat with his fans later in the day on Facebook. “Join me on 6th January at 8pm for a live chat right here on Facebook! To participate tag @myqyuki on Facebook…,” Rahman wrote. Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, who collaboared with Rahman in ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Zubeidaa’, ‘Pukar’ ‘Lagaan’ among others, took to Twitter to wish the singer. “Today is the birthday of experimental singer A R Rahman. He is the first Indian musician to win Oscars. My best wishes to him,” Mangeshkar posted on Twitter.
Soundarya Rajnikanth, who worked with him in her debut film ‘Kochadaiiyaan’, said, “Here’s wishing my dearest @arrahman sir a very happy birthday. Hope 2015 is a fantastic year for you sir.” Rahman is once again in the race for Oscar this year. His work in ‘Million Dollar Arm’, ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’ and Indian film ‘Kochadaiiyaan’ are part of the long list released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on its website.
Resul Pookutty tweeted, “Many many Happy returns of the day my dear brother @arrahman.” Rahman was born in Chennai on January 6, 1966 as S Dileep Kumar. The musical genius lost his musician father R K Sekar when he was only nine years and had to support the family. Starting his career by composing ad jingles, Rahman was approached by Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil film ‘Roja’.
The music of the film became a hit, giving Rahman a Best Music Director trophy at the National Film Awards. Rahman’s first big break in Hindi film came with Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Rangeela’. With the success of ‘Rangeela’, Rahman did not have to look behind as he found a huge fan following with his brilliant compositions for films like ‘Bombay’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Taal’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Delhi 6’, ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Highway’ among others.
Rahman is best known for mixing Western influences with Indian sounds, ranging from classical instruments to folk music. Rahman’s composition ‘Jai ho’ for British director Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, earned him two Academy awards and a Golden Globe trophy.
