Jai Ho! A R Rahman win two Academy Awards – Only person to win two Oscar Awards this year

Posted on Feb 23, 2009

a-r-rahman-showing-two-oscars A R Rahman became the first Indian music director to win two Oscars for his score in the globally appreciated film “Slumdog Millionaire” and for the film’s theme song “Jai Ho”.

He has created a record by coming in the record books as the first Indian to get a Golden Globe, the first Indian to get the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for music and the one among the first Indians to bag a golden Oscar statuette (first one to bag two Oscars), First Indian to be nominated for three Oscars.

“It’s a moment of pride not just for me. India has done it,” A R Rahman

Video of A R Rahman receiving the Academy awards

About Slumdog Millionaire

“Slumdog Millionaire” is British Director Danny Boyle’s rags to riches drama based on a book by Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup. The film had 10 Oscar nominations, including three for Rahman – he was nominated for Best Original Score and two for the Best Original Song for a motion picture with his songs “Jai Ho” and “O Saaya”. It was another first for an Indian.

Who is A R Rahman

A R Rahman is a leading music director and composar in India / Bollywood. He came into prominence in 1992 when he burst on the Indian musical scene with his refreshingly different tunes for the Tamil film “Roja”. The film was subsequently made in Hindi, giving mainstream Hindi film music a new meaning altogether: the rest as they say is history.

Born A.S. Dileep Kumar to a Tamil Hindu family, his father R.K. Shekhar, a composer who directed music for Malayalam movies, died when he was just nine. The family was forced to rent out musical equipment. Two years later, the 11-year-old budding maestro joined noted composer Ilayaraja’s troupe as a keyboardist and computer programmer to support his mother and three sisters.

After working with several renowned composers like Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy, Zakir Hussain and L. Shankar, he set out on his own to compose jingles and scores for popular Indian television features and has composed more than 300 jingles.

During this period, he also earned a degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music, London and went on to set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan record-inn at Chennai, which is said to be Asia’s most sophisticated and hi-tech studio.

In 1989, Dileep Kumar converted to Islam along with his family due to personal reasons. He became A.R. Rahman.

The Bollywood debut happened couple of years later. And there was no looking back after that.

In 1997, Sony Music signed up Rahman as its first artist in South Asia to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence. The result was “Vande Mataram”, the anthem of Indian patriotism, an album that succeeded in rekindling the nationalistic spirit and was an instant hit with Indian youth. The musical genius not only won hearts in India but also made a mark on the global music scene.

He got his first international break when Andrew Lloyd Webber invited him to compose music for the Broadway musical “Bombay Dreams”, which won him immense fame. He also composed for the stage adaptation of J R R. Tolkien’s “Lord Of The Rings” that premiered in Canada in 2006 and in London in 2007.

Apart from composing music Rahman is also involved in social work. He launched the A.R. Rahman Foundation to tackle the issue of poverty by providing education to the poor and equipping them with knowledge and skills to earn a living.

An outcome of this initiative was his first single in the English language called “Pray for me brother” and all proceeds from sales went to his foundation.

We all wish “Jai Ho” for you A R Rahman – readers can leave their message too in the comments below.

Tags: AR Rahman, oscar awards, Slumdog Millionaire