AR Rahman Birthday 2023: Here are 14 unknown facts about the music maestro

Official Instagram Account Of AR Rahman

After having started off from humble beginnings, A R Rahman achieved dizzying heights, purely on the basis of his talent, dedication, hard work and sincerity. Besides the southern film industry, he has impressed everyone with his musical scores in Bollywood as well as Hollywood! Besides composing superhit musical scores, he can sing with equal ease. Testimonies to this are in the form of hit tracks like ‘Vande Mataram', ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja' (Jodhaa Akbar) amongst others. Here's presenting 14 unknown facts about the music maestro!

Unknown fact 1

Did you know that AR Rahman is not his original name. His original name is Dileep Kumar.

Unknown fact 2

Were you aware that, the music maestro had once played a small role in Doordarshan's serial ‘Wonder Balloon'.

Unknown fact 3

AR Rahman had once stunned everyone by playing 4 keyboards at one time!

Unknown fact 4

You will be surprised to know that there is actually a street in Markham (Ontario, Canada) which has been named in his honour! The street is called 'Allah Rakha Rahman Street' and was inaugurated in the year 2013.

Also Read: Happy Birthday AR Rahman: 5 songs to add to your playlist

Unknown fact 5

Who doesn't know or hasn't heard the signature tune of Airtel! But, did you know that this tune had been composed by the birthday boy AR Rahman!

Unknown fact 6

The man who can be credited for discovering the musical talent of AR Rahman is the ace film maker Mani Ratnam, who had given a break to the musical genius in the film ‘Roja'. Not many know that the music composer had got Rs 25,000 for his work in the film.

Also Read: AR Rahman hosts wedding reception for daughter Khatija; Manisha Koirala, Honey Singh bless the couple

Unknown fact 7

Did you know that, there was an international TV commercial (French language) which starred Zinedine Zidane, wherein they had used sample music from the theme song of ‘Bombay'. No prizes for guessing that the music for the film ‘Bombay' was composed by AR Rahman.

Unknown fact 8

Call it a coincidence of sorts! Not many know that AR Rahman and his son Ameen share the same birth date, which is January 6.

Unknown fact 9

We all know the magnitude of laurels that the Oscar winning track ‘Jai Ho' had got for its makers as well as for our motherland India. But, did you know that the track ‘Jai Ho' had been initially composed for the Salman Khan starrer ‘Yuvraaj'!

As they always say, ‘The rest is … history!'

Unknown fact 10

There must be hardly anyone who hasn't heard of Avengers: Endgame. Well, but, did you know that AR Rahman had composed a special song for its Indian release!

Unknown fact 11

If you were wondering as to what the initials ‘AR' stand for in the name AR Rahman, then let us tell you that it stands for ‘Allah Rakha Rahman'.

Unknown fact 12

Those who have seen the Denzel Washington starrer ‘Inside man' will be aware of the fact that AR Rahman's smash hit composition ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya' had been used in it!

Unknown fact 13

Even though AR Rahman is an institution in himself today, did you know that he was once a keyboard player in the band that he had formed with his childhood friends. These friends included Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, Raja and JoJo. They had named their group as ‘Nemesis Avenue'.

Unknown fact 14

Were you aware that birthday boy AR Rahman is often referred to as ‘The Mozart Of Madras'.