The character arc of A. R. Rahman
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born 6 January 1967 in Madras as A. S. Dileep Kumar, the son of the film composer R. K. Shekhar. Between then and now sit his father's death in 1976 when he was nine, years in which the family income came from renting out his father's musical equipment, professional work from the age of eleven, a new name in 1989, a first film score in 1992, and two Academy Awards in 2009. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is A. R. Rahman?
The instruments paid the rent, and then he played them to the world.
He was born in Madras in 1967 as A. S. Dileep Kumar. His father, R. K. Shekhar, composed and arranged for Malayalam cinema, and the boy was at the piano from about four. In 1976 his father died, and he was nine. What kept the household was the equipment his father had left behind: the family rented out the keyboards and the studio gear, and the instruments that had been a vocation became the rent. By eleven he was playing professionally himself, in the orchestras and sessions of the industry his father had worked in, and his schooling gave way to the work.
He spent his twenties as a session musician and then as a writer of advertising jingles, and he was good at it, well paid and busy, with several hundred commercials behind him. In 1989 the family embraced Islam and he took the name Allah Rakha Rahman. He also built his own studio in Chennai, which was unusual in Indian film music at the time and gave him control over how his work sounded. Then the director Mani Ratnam asked him to score a film, and he left the reliable business for the uncertain one.
Roja was released in 1992 and changed Indian film music. It brought him the first of his National Film Awards, and the scores that followed, through Bombay, Dil Se and dozens more, made him the defining composer of his generation at home. Bombay Dreams took him to the West End in 2002. Then Slumdog Millionaire, released in 2008, brought him two Academy Awards in 2009 and two Grammy Awards in 2010, and the Padma Bhushan at home. He founded the KM Music Conservatory in Chennai in 2008 to teach what he had never been taught formally. His line is worth reading because the thing that saved the family was the thing that made him.
The moments
A. R. Rahman's timeline.
The 1970s
His father died
Setback, and it changed everything. Nine years old, and the household lost both its parent and its earner in the same day.
Playing to feed the family
Everyday, and it changed everything. At eleven he was working in the orchestras of the industry his father had worked in. The schooling gave way to it.
The 1980s
A new name
Milestone, and it changed everything. He had been A. S. Dileep Kumar for twenty two years. Everything after this is signed with the new name.
He built his own studio
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Unusual for an Indian film composer then, and the reason his records sound the way they do.
The 1990s
Keep the jingles, or score a film
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: take the film, taken, or stay in advertising. Roja was released in 1992 and brought him his first National Film Award, and every score since has followed from taking it.
Roja
Milestone, and it changed everything. He left a comfortable living writing advertising jingles to score a film, and the film changed Indian music.
A first National Award
Milestone. The country's highest film honour, for a debut, at twenty five.
Dil Se and Chaiyya Chaiyya
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The song filmed on top of a moving train, and one of the most widely recognised pieces of music India has produced.
The 2000s
Bombay Dreams opens in London
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The first time his music carried a stage production outside India.
The KM Music Conservatory
Milestone. A school for the formal training he never had, in the city where he had learned by working.
Slumdog Millionaire
Milestone, and it changed everything. A British film shot in Mumbai, and the score that took him to an audience that had never heard his name.
Two Academy Awards
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two Oscars in one night, for a composer who had left school to keep his family fed.
The 2010s
The Padma Bhushan
Milestone. One of India's highest civilian honours, ten years after he received the Padma Shri.
Two Grammy Awards
Milestone. The same work recognised again, by the recording industry rather than the film one.
The 2020s
With the Houston Symphony
Milestone. Almost fifty years after he began playing sessions as a boy, still performing his catalogue with orchestras.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is already plain: an Indian film composer taken seriously everywhere, a conservatory in Chennai, and a generation of musicians who did not have to leave to be heard.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His began with a loss at nine and a house kept going by rented equipment. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
A. R. Rahman: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is A. R. Rahman's character arc?
What were the turning points in A. R. Rahman's life?
What was A. R. Rahman's biggest setback?
What did A. R. Rahman win an Oscar for?
Why did A. R. Rahman change his name?
What was A. R. Rahman doing before film music?
What does A. R. Rahman do now?
Where does this timeline of A. R. Rahman's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- A. R. Rahman, Britannica biography.
- A. R. Rahman, English Wikipedia biography.
- A. R. Rahman discography, English Wikipedia.
- A.R. Rahman wins two Oscars for Slumdog, The Hollywood Reporter, February 2009.
- Slumdog Millionaire Sweeps Music Oscars, Billboard, February 2009.
- Houston Symphony Welcomes A. R. Rahman For Special Concert In July, Houston Symphony newsroom, 2026.