January 06, 2014, A.R. Rahman turned Forty Eight. He is the Mozart of Madras and a maverick composer who has carved a niche for himself. Interestingly, Rahman’s son Ameen shares his father’s birth date. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar, he rose to fame with his debut movie, Roja, directed by Mani Ratnam in the year 1992.

He was introduced to Qadiri Islam when his younger sister fell severely ill in 1984. Subsequently, he along with other members of his family converted to Islam, his mother’s faith, in 1989, when he was twenty three years old. He changed his name from A. S. Dileep Kumar to Allah Rakha Rahman (A. R. Rahman). He is married to Saira Banu and together they have three children, Khatija, Rahima and Ameen and is now re-living his childhood through them.

Rahman is one of the world’s all-time top selling recording artists. With a career spanning two decades, he is currently one of the highest paid composers of the motion picture industry.

Described as the world’s most prominent and prolific film composer by Time Magazine, his works are notable for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements.

Though Rahman has won many awards throughout his musical career, the double Oscar, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe for his compositions for the film Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle, this made him a global icon.

His ultimate dream was to create an orchestra that would be capable of performing the world’s best musical pieces and thereby building a cultural bridge across western and Indian music. He has finally achieved his dream by launching his own music conservatory.

His upcoming films include Imtiaz Ali’s Highway and the much-awaited Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone starrer Kochadaiyaan – The Legend.

Here’s wishing the music maestro A.R. Rahman a very Happy Birthday.