Rahman may refer to:

People[link]

• A. R. Rahman, Indian Composer
• Rahman (name), Arabic male name
• Abdur Rahman, Arabic male theophoric name meaning Servant of (the most Gracious) Allah
• Dr. Mohammad Rehman, Founder of Rehman Medical Institute
• Rahman_(actor),Indian Actor

In Islam[link]

• Ar-Rahman, the 55th sura of the Qur'an
• Rahman (Islamic term), Islamic term

Places[link]

• Rahman, a village in Casimcea Commune, Tulcea County, Romania
• Rahman, alternate name of Rahmanabad-e Zagheh-ye Lalvand

See also[link]

• Rehman (disambiguation)
• Raman (disambiguation)
• Ramen, a Japanese noodle

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam at the premiere of Raavan in 2010
Born	Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (1956-06-02) 2 June 1956 (age 56) Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India[1][2]
Residence	Alwarpet, Chennai, India
Occupation	Film director Film producer Screenwriter
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Suhasini (1988–present)

Mani Ratnam (born Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam on 2 June 1956) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema, based in Chennai, India. Born into a Tamil Brahmin family in Madurai, Ratnam worked as a management consultant before entering into the film industry. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi in 1983, and followed this with the Malayalam film Unaru (1984) and the Tamil film Pagal Nilavu (1985). Ratnam came into prominence after Mouna Ragam (1986), a film about the friction between a newly–wed couple. He made his Telugu debut with the National Film Award winning Geethanjali (1989), which was critically acclaimed and a major commercial success. Ratnam is also known for his "Terrorism trilogy" consisting of Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Dil Se.. (1998). He is widely regarded as one of the leading directors in Indian cinema.^[3] Ratnam is widely credited with having revolutionised the Tamil film industry and altering the profile of Indian cinema.^[4]

Ratnam's Nayagan (1987) and Anjali (1990) were submitted by India for the Academy Award consideration in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.^[5] His Tamil film Nayagan along with Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (1957) are the only Indian films to have appeared in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies.^[6]

Ratnam is married to actress Suhasini. In 2002 he was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Government of India. Ratnam has won several film awards, including six National Film Awards. In addition to these, he is a recipient of a number of awards at various International film festivals. He has also been instrumental in organizing Netru, Indru, Naalai, a stage musical which has helped mentally affected women and children.

Early life and background[link]

Mani Ratnam with his wife Suhasini.

Mani Ratnam was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.^[2][7] His birth name is Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam.^[8] His father, Ratnam Iyer, was a film producer who worked under the banner of production company, Venus Pictures.^[9] Ratnam grew up in Chennai,^[10] doing his schooling there completed his graduation with a degree in commerce from Madras University, Chennai^[11] and then obtained an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies,^[12] after which he worked as a management consultant before becoming a filmmaker.^[4]

Ratnam had two brothers—G. Venkateswaran and G. Srinivasan—both of them film producers. The former was a prominent personality who produced many of Ratnam's films, including Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Agni Natchathiram, Thalapathi, and Anjali,^[4] later committed suicide in 2003, reportedly because of financial problems.^[13][9] His younger brother, G. Srinivasan died in an accident while trekking in Manali on 27 May 2007.^[14] In 1988 Ratnam married Suhasini, the niece of Kamal Haasan and daughter of Charuhasan.^[15][16] Suhasini is a National Award-winning actress and a well-known filmmaker as well.^[16] They have a son named Nandhan.^[17] Charuhasan, his father-in-law,^[18] is a National Award-winning actor.^[19] Ratnam lives in Alwarpet, Chennai, where he runs Madras Talkies, his production company.^[20][21]

Career[link]

Early years: 1983–85[link]

Unlike many film-makers, Ratnam neither assisted in film-making nor worked as a cinematographer before making a name for himself in the industry.^[22] He made his directorial debut in 1983 with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi, which starred Anil Kapoor and Lakshmi.^[23] The film explored the relationship between a young man and an older woman. Ratnam persuaded acclaimed director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to serve as his cinematographer.^[23] Ratnam's screenplay won a Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay.^[24] His second film was a Malayalam production titled Unaru. It explored the trade union problems in Kerala.^[25] His next film, Pagal Nilavu starring Murali and Revathi, marked his directional debut in Tamil cinema.^[26] The same year, he directed Idaya Kovil, a romantic drama which proved to be a major box-office success.^[24]

Breakthrough: 1986–1991[link]

In 1986, Ratnam directed the Tamil romantic drama Mouna Ragam, which starred Revathi and Mohan. The film was critically acclaimed for portraying urban Tamils in a "realistic" manner.^[27] Specifically, it told the story of the friction between a newlywed couple.^[24] Its score by Ilaiyaraaja was highly appreciated and became popular upon release.^[28] Mouna Raagam was subsequently dubbed into Telugu under the same title and became a hit in Andhra Pradesh.^[29] The film elevated Ratnam's status as a director and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 34th National Film Awards. Ratnam won his first Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Director for the film.^[30][24]

In 1987, Ratnam directed Nayagan starring Kamal Haasan, and the film became a huge success and brought him recognition at the national level.^[27][31] Inspired by the 1972 American epic crime film, The Godfather,^[32][4] the film was based on the real-life story of underworld king Varadarajan Mudaliar,^[33][27] and tells the story of an orphaned slum-dweller and his rise to top of the Mumbai underworld hierarchy,^[28] was included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Movies in 2005.^[6] Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy and Guru Dutt's Pyaasa are the only other Indian films that have appeared in the list.^[34] Indian critics dubbed the film as India's answer to The Godfather.^[35][36][37] Nayagan was both commercially successful and critically acclaimed winning three National Awards—Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction—at the 35th National Film Awards.^[31][28] The film was India's official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards.^[38]

Following these two commercial successes, Ratnam wrote and directed Agni Natchathiram in 1988.^[39] The film deals with the story of step-brothers played by Prabhu and Karthik^[28] and is notable for its use of new techniques in camera framework, especially during the songs.^[40] The film had a successful run in the box office.^[4][39]

In 1989 Ratnam opted to make his next project, Geethanjali, his maiden venture in Telugu.^[31] Starring Nagarjuna in the lead role, the film told the story of an ill-fated couple, both of whom are suffering from terminal diseases.^[4] Geethanjali was critically acclaimed and won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 1990 and fetched the Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for Ratnam.^[41] Ratnam maintained a momentum of making emotional stories of under-served people through the film Anjali in 1990, which starred Raghuvaran and told the story of an autistic child who changed the lives of people around her.^[42] The film proved to be a commercial success and was nominated as India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 63rd Academy Awards.^[42][43] Following Anjali's release, Ratnam later made another underworld-themed Tamil film, Thalapathi (1991), starring Rajinikanth and Mammootty.^[44] The film was an adaptation of Mahabharata, dealt with the friendship between Karna and Duryodhana portrayed by Rajinikanth and Mammmooty respectively.^[45] The film met with both critical acclaim and commercial success upon release.^[46] Ilaiyaraaja's musical score and Ratnam's work were highly appreciated as they both went on to win the Music Director and Best Director awards respectively at the 39th Filmfare Awards.^[47]

International acclaim: 1992–99[link]

With Thalapathi, Mani Ratnam ended his long-term association with music director Ilaiyaraaja, bringing in debutant music director A. R. Rahman to score his Tamil classic Roja (1992). The venture was successful, earning Ratnam various awards. Roja, a romantic film, was about terrorism in the Kashmir region.^[4] Starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo, it was nominated for the Golden St. George Award at the Moscow International Film Festival.^[48] It became highly popular, gaining an iconic status in Indian cinema and was dubbed into other languages and met similar success in other regions.^[49] Ratnam took a more light-hearted approach with his next film —Thiruda Thiruda (1993). Scripted by Ram Gopal Varma,^[50] it explored the action and thriller genres,^[51] was a departure from Ratnam's previous style, did not fare well at the box office. A retrospective of his Tamil films was held at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1994.^[2]

Ratnam again teamed up with Ram Gopal Varma to provide the screenplay for the latter's Telugu film Gaayam, a socio-politico film loosely based on The Godfather.^[52] In 1995, Ratnam returned to Tamil language drama through Bombay starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, which told the story of a Hindu-Muslim couple in the midst of the 1993 religious Bombay riots and bombings. It was also the first Indian film to focus on marriage between Hindu and Muslim people.^[53] The film met with controversy and censorship upon release,^[53] was subsequently dubbed into Hindi and was commercially and successful and appreciated by critics.^[31] It won a number of awards, such as Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, Special Award from the Political Film Society,^[54] In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem International Film Festival^[55] and the Gala Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.^[56]

Ratnam produced his wife's directorial debut film, Indira,^[57] and the critical success Iruvar, his next film as director. Iruvar was honoured the Best Film at the "Festival of the Auteur Films" at the FEST film festival held in Belgrade.^[58] In 1998 came the third part of his "terrorism trilogy", named Dil Se.. and starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, with the latter fabricating the second collaboration.^[59] It showed the relationship between a young man and a dangerous, disturbed woman. Although they fall in love, she is unable to take the romance further due to her bleak past. The soundtrack album, again composed by A. R. Rahman, gained mass appeal and gave Rahman his next Filmfare Award for Best Music Direction in 1999.^[60][61] Unlike his previous two projects, Dil Se.. opened with well note among the film critics and the film poorly performed in the domestic market,^[62] despite being a success overseas.^[63][64][65] It was screened in many international film festivals, and won the Netpac award (Ex-Aqueo) in the Berlin International Film Festival.^[66] In 2000, Ratnam directed the romantic drama Alaipayuthey that starred R. Madhavan and Shalini. The film focussed on marriage and explored relationships and their consequences, and garnered critical recognition.^[67][68] It was also screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[69]

Along with Vasanth, he was instrumental in organising Netru, Indru, Naalai,^[70] a stage musical that marked the first theatre production, with numerous other artistes, to aid The Banyan, an organization that rehabilitates women and children with mental illness.^[71][72]

[edit] Kannathil Muthamittal and onwards: 2002–present

Ratnam's following project, Kannathil Muthamittal, dealt with the story of a child of Sri Lankan Tamil parentage adopted by Indian parents, who wishes to meet her biological mother during the Sri Lankan Civil War.^[73] The film was critically lauded and commercially successful, winning six National Film Awards, Filmfare Award for Best Direction in Tamil, In the Spirit of Freedom Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival^[74] and an award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.^[75] In 2004, he made a Hindi film titled Yuva, his second venture into Bollywood. The film, which tells the story of how one incident sends the lives of three youths on a collision course, received positive reviews and was a hit in the box office.^[76] Ratnam made the film simultaneously in Tamil as Aaytha Ezhuthu, starring Surya Sivakumar, R. Madhavan and Siddharth replacing Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi respectively from the Hindi version.^[76] The Tamil version was appreciated by critics, unlike the Hindi version, which was a failure at the box office. Ratnam suffered his first heart attack while shooting for Yuva.^[59]

In 2007, Ratnam made Guru, a biographical film based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, a business magnate from India.^[77] starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, through his production house, Madras Talkies.^[78] The film is set in the early 1950s, became a box office success, and received critical acclaim.^[79]

In 2010, Ratnam worked on a bilingual film, titled Raavanan in Tamil and Raavan in Hindi.^[80] The Tamil version was dubbed into Telugu and titled Villain. The film was released worldwide on 18 June 2010.^[81] The film is loosely based on the Hindu epic Ramayana; its narrative occurs over 14 days when a revolutionist named Beera, who lives in a forest, kidnaps a policeman's wife to avenge his sister's death. The Tamil version received positive reviews from the critics compared to its other versions.^[82] The New York Times called the movie a "critics' pick". However, the reviewers of the Hindi version panned the film; Rajeev Masand said it was "a crushing bore of a film, a disappointment on virtually every count"^[83] while another critic, Raja Sen commented "It's profoundly sad to see a filmmaker of Ratnam's calibre reduced to this".^[84] The Tamil version was declared a box office success.^[85] Ratnam's forthcoming film, Kadal, earlier titled Pookadai, is said to be set against the backdrop of fishermen in and around Rameswaram.^[86] It will signify the acting debut of Gautham, son of veteran actor Karthik.^[87]

Legacy[link]

Ratnam is highly credited for having revolutionized the Tamil film industry and altering the profile of Indian cinema.^[4] He has made films with a variety of genres and majority of his films are characterized by string Socio-political themes.^[88] It was mainly because of this most of his films have garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success.^[88]

With his idea of combining art and commercial elements, Ratnam was referred for bringing new dimension to the South Asian film industry.^[88] Many of his films have taken inspirations from real-life incidents such as Nayagan, Bombay, Iruvar and films like Thalapathi and Raavan were based on Indian epics.^[2] He is lauded for his casting in each of his films—he said in an interview, "I am not a director who performs and shows. I discuss the role, the scene with my actors and let them bring life to it".^[2]

Ratnam is also well recognized outside India with a retrospective of his films held at various film festivals around the world such as Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, Tokyo Filmex and Birmingham International Film Festival.^[58] His films are being screened regularly at many film festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Montreal Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.^[58]

Ratnam's aspiration towards films grew up watching films of K. Balachander, Guru Dutt and Sivaji Ganesan.^[89] His is greatly influenced by the film-making styles of Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Krzysztof Kieślowski and Ingmar Bergman.^[89]

Awards and honors[link]

The Government of India honoured Ratnam with Padma Shri in 2002.^[90] He has won several National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Awards South and state awards. Apart from these awards, many of his films have been screened at various film festivals and have won numerous accolades. Geethanjali, directed by him won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film at the 37th National Film Awards. Other films like Mouna Ragam, Anjali, and Kannathil Muthamittal have won the Best Regional Film awards at the National Film Awards. Two of his films, Roja and Bombay have won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. The former was also nominated for Best Film category at the Moscow International Film Festival.^[91] In 2010, Ratnam was honoured with Jaeger-Lecoultre Glory to the Filmmaker at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.^[27][92]

Filmography[link]

The following is the list of films directed by Mani Ratnam. Many have been remade or dubbed in several languages, mostly in Telugu and Hindi.

See also[link]

• List of films directed by Mani Ratnam featuring A. R. Rahman

Notes[link]

References[link]

• National Film Development Corporation of India, Directorate of Film Festivals (1988). Indian cinema. Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 
• Chaudhuri, Shohini (2005). "Cinema of South India and Sri Lanka". Contemporary world cinema: Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. Edinburgh University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-7486-1799-X, 9780748617999. 

Further reading[link]

• Benjamin, S. (2006 15(4), 423–435.). A rose by any other name: exploring the politics of Mani Ratnam's Roja.. Contemporary South Asia,. 
• Mallhi, Angie (2006). The Illusion of Secularism: Mani Ratnam's Bombay and the Consolidation of Hindu Hegemony. University of Victoria: CAPI Occasional Paper #31.Victoria: Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives. 
• Terska Ciecko, Anne (2006). "National Cinema and State Authority". Contemporary Asian Cinema: Popular culture in a Global Frame. Berg: Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84520-237-8. 
• Gopalan, Lalitha (2005). Bombay: BFI Film Classics. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85170-956-7. 
• Nagappan, Ramu (2005). "Momentary Pleasures of Reconciliation". Speaking Havoc: Social Suffering & South Asian Narratives. Washington: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-98488-9. http://books.google.com/?id=wdAgle6tCVoC&printsec=frontcover#PPA170,M1. 
• Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-39680-6. 

External links[link]

• Mani Ratnam at the Internet Movie Database

A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman in 2007
Background information
Birth name	A. S. Dileep Kumar
Also known as	A. R. Rahman, A. R. R.
Born	(1966-01-06) 6 January 1966 (age 46)[1] Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India[2]
Genres	Film score
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, music director, arranger, entrepreneur, philanthropist, conductor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussion, drums, harpejji, continuum fingerboard, keyboard, piano, accordion, goblet drum, concert harp
Years active	1980–present
Labels	K. M. Musiq
Associated acts	Nemesis Avenue, SuperHeavy
Website	www.arrahman.com

Allah Rakha Rahman (born 6 January 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar) is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist.^[3] Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time,^[4] his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements. He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations. His extensive body of work for film and the stage earned him the nickname “the Mozart of Madras” and several Tamil commentators and fans have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (English: Music Storm).^[5] In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People.^[6] The UK based World Music magazine Songlines named him one of 'Tomorrow's World Music Icons' in August 2011.^[7]

Having set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record Inn at Chennai, arguably one of Asia’s most sophisticated and high-tech studios, Rahman's film scoring career began in the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. Working in India's various film industries, international cinema and theatre, Rahman has reportedly sold more than 300 million records worldwide of his film scores and soundtracks as of 2009 for over 100 film scores worldwide, making him one of the world's all-time top selling recording artists.^[8][9][10] In a notable career spanning two decades, Rahman has garnered particular acclaim for redefining contemporary Indian film music and thus contributing to the success of several films. Rahman is currently one of the highest paid composers of the motion picture industry. He has also become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for beneficial causes and supporting charities.

Early life[link]

A R Rahman receiving a Platinum sales disc at the MagnaSound Awards. The record label Magnasound released his first film soundtrack, Roja in 1992.

A. R. Rahman was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to a musically affluent Mudaliar Tamil family.^[11] His father R. K. Shekhar, was a film music composer and conductor for Tamil as well as Malayalam films. Rahman used to assist his father during recordings and play keyboard for the songs. Rahman lost his father at the age of 9 and his family had to rent out his father's musical equipment as their source of income.^[12] Rahman was raised by his mother Kareema (born Kashturi).^[13] During these formative years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots", with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja.^[3] Rahman is the founder of the Chennai-based rock group, "Nemesis Avenue".^[14] He mastered various music instruments like Keyboard, Piano, Synthesizer, Harmonium and Guitar. His curiosity in Synthesizer in particular, increased because, he says, it was the "ideal combination of music and technology".

He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj.^[15][16] At the age of 11, he started playing musical instruments in the orchestra of Malayalam composer and a close friend of Rahman's father, M. K. Arjunan.^[17] Soon he started working with other composers such as M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, Ramesh Naidu, Raj-Koti^[16] and also accompanied Zakir Hussain, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship with Trinity College, London, board of the Trinity College of Music.^[13] Studying in Chennai, he graduated with graded examinations and a diploma in Western classical music via the college.^[18] He was introduced to Qadiri Islam when his younger sister fell severely ill in 1984. Subsequently, Rahman along with other members of his family converted to Islam in 1989, when he was 23 years old. He changed his name from A. S. Dileep Kumar to Allah Rakha Rahman i.e. A. R. Rahman.^[13][19]

Career[link]

Film scoring and soundtracks[link]

When he was nine, Rahman accidentally played a tune on piano during his father's recording for a film, which R. K. Shekhar later developed into a complete song, "Vellithen Kinnam Pol", for the Malayalam film Penpada. This track credited to his father, was sung by Jayachandran and penned by Bharanikkavu Sivakumar.^[20] His film career began in 1992, when he started Panchathan Record Inn, a music recording and mixing studio attached to the backyard of his house. Over time it would become the most advanced recording studio in India,^[21] and arguably one of Asia’s most sophisticated and high-tech studios.^[22] He initially composed scores for documentaries, jingles for advertisements and Indian Television channels and other projects. In 1987 Rahman, then still known as Dileep got his first opportunity to compose jingles for new range of watches being launched by Allwyn.^[23] In 1992, he was approached by film director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for Ratnam's Tamil film Roja.^[21][24] The debut led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, an unprecedented win for a first-time film composer. Rahman has since been awarded the Silver Lotus three more times for Minsara Kanavu (Tamil) in 1997, Lagaan (Hindi) in 2002, Kannathil Muthamittal (Tamil) in 2003, the most ever by any composer.^[25]

Roja's score met with high sales and acclaim in both its original and dubbed versions, led by the theme song "Chinna Chinna Aasai" bringing about a marked change in film music at the time. Rahman followed this with successful scores for Tamil–language films of the Chennai film industry including Ratnam's politically charged Bombay, the urbanite Kadhalan, Thiruda Thiruda and S. Shankar's debut film Gentleman, spurred by the popular dance song "Chikku Bukku Rayile".^{[26][27][28][29]} Rahman worked with director Bharathiraaja's Kizhakku Cheemayile and Karuththamma, producing successful Tamil rural folk inspired scores and delivered the grand saxophonic score for K. Balachander's Duet.^[30][31] The 1995 film Indira and the romantic comedies Mr. Romeo and Love Birds all gained him considerable notice.^[32][33][34] His fanbase in Japan increased with Muthu 's success there.^[35] His soundtracks gained him recognition in the Tamil Nadu film industry and around the world for his stylistic versatility incorporating Western classical, Carnatic and Tamil traditional/folk music traditions, jazz, reggae and rock music.^{[36][37][38][39]} The soundtrack of Bombay sold 12 million copies worldwide.^[40] The "Bombay Theme"—from Ratnam's Bombay—would later reappear in his score of Deepa Mehta's Fire and various compilations and media around the world. It was featured in the Palestinian film Divine Intervention in 2002, and in the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War, in 2005. Rangeela, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, marked Rahman's debut for Hindi-language films made in the Mumbai film industry.^[41] Many successful scores for films including Dil Se.. and the percussive Taal followed.^[42][43] Sufi mysticism would inspire the track "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the former, as well as the composition "Zikr" from his score for the film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero for which he created large symphonic orchestral and choral arrangements.^[19] His score for the Chennai production Minsaara Kanavu garnered Rahman his second National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1997, and a South FilmFare Award for Best Music Direction in a Tamil film, breaking a record with six consecutive wins in the latter category. Rahman would go onto win the award a further three consecutive times. Musical cues in scores for Sangamam and Iruvar employed Carnatic vocals and instruments such as the veena with leads of rock guitar and jazz.^[44] In the 2000s Rahman created hit scores for Rajiv Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain, Alaipayuthey, Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades and Rang De Basanti.^[45] He composed songs with Hindustani motifs for Water (2005). By the end of 2003, Rahman had sold more than 150 million records of his film scores and soundtracks for over 50 film scores worldwide.^[10][40][46]

Rahman has worked with Indian poets and lyricists such as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Vairamuthu and Vaali. He has consistently produced commercially successful soundtracks when collaborating with particular film directors such as Mani Ratnam, who he has worked with since Roja, and the director S. Shankar in the films Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Nayak, Boys, Sivaji and lately for Enthiran.^[47]

In 2005, Rahman extended his Panchathan Record Inn studio by establishing AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai, thereby creating the most cutting-edge studio in Asia.^[48][49] In 2006, Rahman launched his own music label, KM Music.^[50] Its first release was his score to the film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal.^[51] Rahman scored the Mandarin language picture Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003 after researching and utilizing Chinese and Japanese classical music,^[52] and won the Just Plain Folks Music Award For Best Music Album for his score of the 2006 film Varalaru (God Father).^[53] He co-scored the Shekhar Kapur project and his first British film, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, in 2007.^[54] He garnered an Asian Film Award nomination for Best Composer at the Hong Kong International Film Festival for his Jodhaa Akbar score.^[55] His compositions have been sampled for other scores within India,^[56] and appeared in such films as Inside Man, Lord of War, Divine Intervention and The Accidental Husband. In 2008, Rahman scored his first Hollywood picture, the comedy Couples Retreat released the next year, which won him the BMI London Award for Best Score.^[57] Rahman scored the film Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, for which he won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards, becoming the first Asian to do so. The songs "Jai Ho" and "O…Saya" from the soundtrack of this film met with commercial success internationally. In 2010, Rahman composed scores for the romance film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, blockbuster sci-fi romance film Enthiran and Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Rahman started off the year 2011 by scoring Imtiaz Ali's musical film Rockstar. The soundtrack became a phenomenal success and earned Rahman immense critical praise.^[58]

Performing and other projects[link]

Rahman performing at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2010

Rahman has been involved in several projects aside from film. Vande Mataram, an album of his original compositions released on India's 50th anniversary of independence in 1997, enjoyed great commercial success.^[59][60][61] Vande Mataram is the largest selling Indian non-film album to date.^[62] He followed it up with an album for the Bharat Bala–directed video Jana Gana Mana, a conglomeration of performances by many leading exponents and artists of Indian classical music.^[63] Rahman has written jingles for ads and composed several orchestrations for athletic events, television and internet media publications, documentaries and short films.^[64] He frequently enlists the Czech Film Orchestra, Prague and the Chennai Strings Orchestra.