When the producers of the musical Lord of the Rings needed a music director to come up with tunes that would do justice to the very British JRR Tolkien’s riveting vision of Middle Earth, they turned to the man known as the ‘Mozart of Madras’. The same man who earlier had London, and Broadway, swinging to the tunes he composed for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay Dreams.
And that’s what makes A R Rahman truly remarkable. He didn’t just bring a world sound to Indian cinema, he also put contemporary Indian music — or at least his version, which effortlessly blends techno, rap, latino, disco, reggae and ragas into a sumptuous potpourri — on the world map. Today, the snooty no longer have to be embarrassed to confess they like Bollywood music, because Rahman’s scores play at the trendiest London nightclubs. Indeed, transcending borders seems to be his speciality.
The haunting score of Mani Ratnam’s Roja catapulted him from being a 25-year-old prodigy known only down south to an all-India phenomenon. From there to his assignments abroad, he’s truly proved that great music knows no boundaries.
The reclusive genius who likes to work at night has a life story that itself makes for a great musical. Born A S Dileep Kumar, his family converted to Islam after a Sufi saint miraculously brought about the recovery of his ailing sister. He was playing piano and harmonium by the time he was four; his father’s synthesiser was his favourite childhood toy. Losing his father at the age of nine, he began playing the keyboard professionally to support his family.
A scholarship to Oxford University’s Trinity College of Music helped him get a degree in Western classical music. Returning to India, he was busy playing in local rock bands and creating ad jingles when he met Ratnam. The rest is musical history. Oh, and by the way, he’s also created easily the greatest patriotic anthem of our times — the chartbusting, rousing Maa Tujhe Salaam.
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