Music maestro AR Rahman, who is known for creating some of the most everlasting and brilliant compositions in music across a span of almost three decades, is turning 55 today. On his birthday, here are some unknown facts about the composer.
1) AR Rahman was initially born into a Hindu family as Dileep Kumar. When he turned 23, Rahman decided to embrace Islam after he met his spiritual guru, Qadri Islam.
2) Before he stepped into the film industry, he was seen in Doordarshan’s Wonder Balloon as a kid. The maestro had been famous even then for being able to play four keyboards at a time!
3) Did you know that the Oscar winning song Jai Ho was initially composed for the Salman Khan-starrer Yuvraaj?
4) Did you also know that AR Rahman is a bit of a television junkie? The singer-music composer loves spending time watching the television so much so that he has missed his deadlines as a composer on a few occasions!
5) To honour AR Rahman, a street in Markham, Ontario, Canada, was named after him in November 2013.
6) Who would’ve guessed that AR Rahman would venture further into the film industry and become a director? The composer directed the virtual reality film, Le Musk. The movie was screened at the ‘NAB’, Las Vegas in April 2017, and is yet to be released in India.