Allah-Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer, songwriter, music composer and philanthropist. A. R. Rahman's works are famous for combining Indian classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements.

Birth and early life 
Rahman was born in Madras, India. His father, R. K. Shekhar, was a movie composer for Tamil and Malayalam movies. Rahman assisted his father in the studio, playing the keyboard.

Rahman began his early musical training under Master Dhanraj, and at age 11 began playing in the orchestra of Malayalam composer (and close friend of his father) M. K. Arjunan. He soon began working with other composers, such as M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, Ramesh Naidu and Raj-Koti. He had assisted Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours. He also obtained a scholarship from London Trinity College of Music.

Studying in Madras, Rahman completed his studies with a diploma in Western classical music from the school. His mother was a practicing Hindu. He converted to Islam with other members of his family in 1989 at age 23, changing his name from R. S. Dileep Kumar to Allah Rakha Rahman (A. R. Rahman).

Debut movie and thereafter
In 1992, he was approached by director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil movie, Roja.Rahman received the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) award for best music director at the National Film Awards for Roja. The movie's music was critically and commercially successful in its original and dubbed versions, led by the innovative theme "Chinna Chinna Aasai".A. R. Rahman won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction, the first time ever by a debutant. Rahman also earned Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director and Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) for his work.

Apart from successful soundtracks, he has also received notability for his background music and is considered one of the finest background music composers in India. Almost every Music compositions of A.R.Rahman were famous throughout Tamil cinema and other language movies.

Awards
 Rahman was the four-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He got fifteen Filmfare Awards and sixteen Filmfare Awards South for his music. 
 Rahman has received a Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu for excellence in the field of music. He also received musical-achievement awards from the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and a Padma Shri from the Government of India.
 In 2006, he received an award from Stanford University for his contributions to global music. The following year, Rahman entered the Limca Book of Records as "Indian of the Year for Contribution to Popular Music". He received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Madras.
 In 2009, for his Slumdog Millionaire music, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards.
 He has received honorary doctorates from Middlesex University, Aligarh Muslim University, Anna University in Chennai and Miami University in Ohio. The composer has won two Grammy Awards: Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Rahman received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 2010.

References 

Tamil singers
Tamil musicians
Living people
Bollywood playback singers