06 January,2024 12:46 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
AR Rahman
AR Rahman Birthday: The prolific Indian musician, AR Rahman, turned 57 on January 6, 2024. He is one of the finest musicians the country has seen and continues to bring laurel to the country on international platforms as well.
A.R. Rahman's work is known not only in India but has travelled across the globe. But did you know, the musician has a street named after him in a city in Canada. The Grammy Award-winning music composer received an honour from the City of Markham in the country after they named a street after him.
After being bestowed with the honour, AR Rahman took to his Twitter handle to express his gratitude. "I never imagined this in my life. I am very grateful to all of you, the Mayor of Markham, Canada (Frank Scarpitti), and counsellors, Indian Consulate General (Apoorva Srivastava) and the people of Canada." Back in 2013, he had shared a picture of himself holding a board which read, 'Allah Rakha Rahman st.'
He further continued, "The name AR Rahman is not mine. It means merciful. The merciful is the quality of the common God we all have and one can only be the servant of merciful. So, let that name bring peace, prosperity, happiness and health to all people living in Canada. God bless you all. I want to thank my brothers and sisters of India for all the love. All the creative people who worked with me, gave me the inspiration to rise up and celebrate hundred years of cinema; with all the legends included. I am a very small drop in the ocean."
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"I feel like this gives me immense responsibility to do much more and be inspiring; not to get tired and not to retireâ¦yet. Even if I get tired I will remember that I have more things to do, more people to connect, more bridges to cross."
Rahman began his career in the film in the early 1990s. His first big hit was the music of the Tamil film 'Roja' which is loved and admired by people even today. He recently reunited with 'Roja' filmmaker Mani Ratnam for the film 'Ponniyin Selvan'. Rahman composed the music for the magnum opus which starred actors like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Jayaram, Sobhita Dhulipala, among others.
Here's wishing AR Rahman a very happy birthday!