Indian composer A.R. Rahman’s double Oscar win for “Slumdog Millionaire” is his highest accolade yet in a career that has taken him from provincial Indian cinema to the Hollywood red carpet.
In doing so, the 43-year-old once called “the Mozart of Madras” becomes only the third Indian to be honored by the Academy, just weeks after becoming the first person from the sub-continent to win a coveted Golden Globe.
Born A.S. Dileep Kumar in the southern city of Madras (now Chennai) on January 6, 1966, Allah Rakha Rahman’s father, R.K. Shekhar, was a musical director for movies in the Indian language of Malayalam.
The young Dileep’s father died when he was nine, prompting his mother to convert from Hindu to Islam and forcing Rahman into playing music to support his family.
Rahman, who also switched faiths, went on to write jingles and scores for Indian television and eventually set up a high-tech recording studio in his home city where he still lives and works.
His break into the Hindi-language film industry of Bollywood came in 1991 when he composed the music for the movie “Roja.” Its box office success won him plaudits among audiences and peers.
Leading Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar described Rahman’s composition as a “masterpiece.” Rahman has never looked back and is responsible for music on some of the biggest hits in Indian cinema in recent years and is thought to have sold more than 100 million albums.
The legendary Indian film singer Asha Bhosle once said he had “brought about a freshness, a new sound to film music.” Rahman’s move onto the world stage began in 2001, when British composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber asked him to compose the music for the musical “Bombay Dreams.” Work on the stage version of “Lord of the Rings” followed.
“Slumdog Millionaire” brought him even wider acclaim, with its versatile soundtrack fusing hip-hop and pulsing electronica, haunting ballads, instrumentals and upbeat Bollywood-style numbers.
Hard-working Rahman, a devout Muslim who composes only at night, is not one to court the limelight, preferring instead a simple life with his wife Saira and three children and working on charitable projects.
He even missed the wild celebrations with the cast and crew at the Indian premiere of “Slumdog” just after the film was nominated for 10 Oscars. He was putting the finished touches to music for a new movie.
The composer’s Golden Globes win, which he dedicated to India, was greeted with drums and dancing in movie-mad India. His Oscar win assures him of immortality.
India erupts in celebrations for 'Slumdog' Oscar wins
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The collective cry throughout India of "Jai ho" (May you win) received a resounding answer when composer A.R. Rahman took home two Oscars for the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."
Composer A. R. Rahman, "The Mozart of Madras," celebrates his double Oscar win -- for Best Score and one for the song "Jai Ho" from the film.
Rahman's wins -- one for the song "Jai Ho" and the other for Best Score -- were just two reasons for Indians to erupt in boisterous celebrations Monday morning.
"Slumdog," which was shot in the streets and slums of Mumbai bagged eight golden statuettes in total, including one for Best Sound Mixing. Indian Resul Pookutty shared it with fellow sound editors who worked on the film.
"This is the finest hour of Indian cinema in the global scenario," said Anand Sharma, the country's junior external affairs minister.
Indians crowded around television sets in dorm rooms, restaurants and homes, exhaling in relief as Rahman's name was announced as the winner. They high-fived each other, hugged, shrieked and wept.
"I cannot describe this feeling," said Nikhil Jyonti, a Mumbai resident. "I'm bursting with pride for India."
In the Mumbai slum of Dharavi, where many of the scenes in "Slumdog" were shot, a television was set out for the street children to watch the ceremony. Few in the teeming slum of one million people had heard of the Oscars, but they knew Rahman's win was a source of pride for the country.
Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches film tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease.
The movie also won four Golden Globes and a host of honors at other award shows.
While the overwhelming sentiment was one of pride Monday, the movie has faced backlash from many Indian movie critics who took exception to its depiction of Mumbai's underworld without highlighting any of the city's achievements.
Among the most notable criticisms was one offered by Amitabh Bachchan, considered the most successful movie star in Bollywood history, and a former real-life host of the Indian "Millionaire."
The film," he said, "projects India as the third world's dirty underbelly ... and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots."
But most Mumabikers, still reeling from a terrorist attack in their city in November, embraced the movie while looking for something positive to root for.
They found that in Rahman, a composer who has consistently broken barriers in his musical scores for dozens of Bollywood hits and is known as the "Mozart of Madras." Rahman has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide -- more than the Beatles -- but has remained relatively unknown in Europe and the United States.
Director Spike Lee used one of his songs in his 2006 heist film, "Inside Man."
Many hope the Oscar win will bring Rahman greater exposure. Rahman and Pookutty, however, aren't the first Indians with Academy Awards to their names.
In 1992, legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray received an honorary award for his contribution to world cinema. And in 1982, Bhanu Athaiya shared an Oscar for costume design for the movie "Gandhi."
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