Music maestros A R Rahman and Ilayaraja have been selected for the “Padma Bhushan” award on the occasion of 60th Republic Day.

“I’m overwhelmed that I have received the honour at the same time that music composer Ilayaraja has received it. It is a great personal statement for me. He has played for my father Shekher, and I have played for Ilayaraja Sir. It is a family thing for me,” says Rahman,  adding that this honour has increased expectations that people have for him.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan  alsoalsoAadfdsf also chosen for Padma Bhushan this year. 44-year-old Khan, who made his directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed Taare Zameen Par in 2007, recently came out with 3 Idiots that has become the highest-earning movie in Bollywood.

Cricketer Virendra Sehwag and Badminton star Saina Nehwal have been chosen for the “Padma Sri” awards along with yesteryear Bollywood diva Rekha and actor Saif Ali Khan.

Eminent theatre personalities Ebrahim Alkazi and Zohra Segal were conferred the Padma Vibhushan, along with the Nobel Prize-winning scientist of Indian origin, Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, The Apollo Hospitals Group chairman, Mr Prathap C. Reddy, and the former RBI Governor Mr Y. Venugopal Reddy.

This new year seems to be getting into a new head start for AR Rahman as his work once again got noticed by the Oscar nominators and currently had shortlisted his Tamil number ‘Nana’ which is reportedly a good mix of English, African, Hindi, Spanish and Sanskrit tracks. This was disclosed by Rahman during the background score launch of Couple’s Retreat in Chennai.

His latest Hollywood venture ‘Couple’s Retreat’ seems to be already creating waves. The streamline of the story is centric to the life of four couples left on an island.

Regarding to Rahman’s vision he wanted to experiment to a greater horizon besides Bollywood and added, “I like comedy. Lots of movies were offered but I felt this one wanted to use me genuinely as a composer. And I wanted to do something to experience Hollywood first and this helped a great deal.”

More over Rahman is very excited about this nomination as there is personal reason added to it. For this special number has been sung by his son Alim in a smaller fraction and adds, “Yes he has sung just a few bits. It’s a great start for him.” This mix language track is expected to be a big hit in India.

AR Rahman

Music genius and Academy Awards winner AR Rahman turns 44. One of the most acclaimed music directors of the present time, he in a career spanning over a decade has delivered some of the most memorable music in films like Roja, Lagaan, Rang De Basanti , Guru, Taal, Bombay, Dil Se, Rangeela and the most recently Slumdog Millionaire.

For his score of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song.

Rahman, the “Mozart of Madras”, was born in 1966 as AS Dileep Kumar, a Hindu, to RK Shekhar, a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam-language films. However, he later got converted into a Muslim.

Rahman began his independent career with Mani Ratnam’s Roja in Tamil in 1992 after assisting the doyen of Tamil film music Illaiyaraja for nearly a decade. He was awarded the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards for the film, the first time ever by a first-time film composer and since then he never looked back.

The film was also listed in TIME’s “Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time”. Rahman went on to win the national award three more times (for his scores for Minsaara Kanavu in 1997, Lagaan in 2002 and Kannathil Muthamittal, the most ever by any composer. The music director is known for his versatility in classical, folk, jazz, reggae, soft rock and other styles in his pieces. Rahman’s debut Hindi film was Rangeela. He has also been awarded the Padam Shri for his outstanding contribution to music.

Some of his recent work includes Jodhaa Akbar, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Yuvraaj, Delhi-6 and Ghajini. Rahman scored the Mandarin language picture Warriors of Heaven and Earth in 2003 after researching and utilizing Chinese and Japanese classical music, and co-scored the Shekhar Kapoor helmed Elizabeth: The Golden Age in 2007.

Known for keeping his personal life away from the media glare, Rahman is married to Saira and has three children – Khatija, Rahima and Amin. Rahman attached and opened a developed extension studio to his Panchathan Record Inn in 2005, called AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai – considered to be the most developed, equipped and high tech studio in Asia.

In 2006, he launched his own music label, KM Music. After the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman has become selective and is working on a few Bollywood projects; his last Hindi release was ‘Blue’. After winning couple of academy awards with Slumdog Millionaire, the “Mozart of Madras” has been approached with many Hollywood offers. He recently made his first foray into composing music for an American film with Universal Pictures’ forthcoming romantic comedy, Couples Retreat.

Rahman will also score music for more Hollywood films including Danny Boyle’s tentatively titled 127 Hours and Ashok Amritraj’s Street Dancing. The master composer’s next big ventures are with his ‘Roja’ director Mani Ratnam’s  ‘Raavan’, Shankar’s ‘Robo’ (Ethiran), and SJ Surya, Pawan Kalyan’s Telugu film ‘Puli’.

NonstopCinema team wish Rahman a happy birthday and a great year ahead!