A true artist who has redefined contemporary Indian music, Academy-Award winning musician and composer A.R. Rahman has been hailed by TIME magazine as the “Mozart of Madras.” Considered by many to be the pride of the Indian nation and holding the designation of being one of the worlds top 25 all-time, top selling recording artists, Rahman is a true icon in the world of music and cinematic scoring. A.R. Rahman captured the international spotlight for his work on Fox Searchlight’s lauded Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman received two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Jai Ho.” He also became the first Indian artist to win a Golden Globe®, for Best Original Score and took home the Critics Choice Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award and a BAFTA for his Slumdog Millionaire score. Rahman’s Slumdog Millionaire score and soundtrack also received critical praise from publications including Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Rahman was also honored as one of “The TIME 100: The World’s Most Influential People” and was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.” Widely considered the man who single-handedly revived public interest in Indian film music in the 1990s, Rahman scored the runaway hit, Roja, directed by noted Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The soundtrack earned Rahman the Indian National Award for Best Music Composer, and was named by TIME magazine one of the Top Ten Compilations of all time, and one of the 100 best movie soundtracks in the world. Rahman followed up Roja with Gentleman, Thiruda Thiruda, Kaadhalan, Bombay and Minssara Kannavu all of which were huge chartbusters and were dubbed in Hindi as well. In 2001, Andrew Lloyd Webber invited Rahman to compose for the musical, Bombay Dreams. This marked the first time Lloyd Webber would produce a musical he did not compose. Bombay Dreams opened to packed houses in London’s West End, and had an unprecedented two-year run. The show, and Rahman’s music, later premiered on Broadway. Some of Rahman’s other hits include Alaipayuthey, Kandukondein Kandukondein, Jeans, Mudalvan, Kannathil Muthamittal & Boys. His foray into Hindi movies started off with a big bang with Rangeela followed by Dil Se, Taal, 1947 Earth, Pukar, Lagaan , Zubeida, Meenaxi, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Yuva, Tehzeeb Swades, Bose: The Forgotten Hero, Water and Rang De Basanti all of which have been critically acclaimed and well received. Rahman recently wrote the music for the stage adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings, which premiered in Canada in 2006 and in London in 2007. Last October, Rahman made his first foray into scoring music for an American comedy feature with the #1 box office hit “Couples Retreat” (Universal Pictures). To date, Rahman has won eighteen Filmfare Awards, three MTV Awards, four IIFA Awards, six Tamil Nadu State Awards, six Zee Awards, and four Screen Awards. He has also been conferred the prestigious “Padmashree,” the highest civilian honor in India by the Government of India in 2000, for outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry. Rahman is also involved with charitable causes. In 2004, he was appointed as the global ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a producer on the single “We Can Make It Better” by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota, Rahman donated all proceeds of the singe, and his 2004 tsunami relief concert in India, to the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. More recently, Rahman launched the A.R. Rahman Foundation, with the aim of eradicating of hunger and poverty. The foundation provides education to the poor and equips them with knowledge and skills needed to earn a living. Rahman’s first single in the English language called “Pray For Me Brother,” released in early 2007. All proceeds from sales were donated to the A.R. Rahman Foundation. The son of R.K. Shekhar, a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam movies, Rahman was born into a musically affluent family. Rahman began playing the piano at a very young age. When his father died when he was only nine, the family started renting out musical equipment to make ends meet. Young Rahman then joined noted composer Ilayaraja’s troupe as a keyboardist and computer programmer. After working with several renowned composers, like Ilayaraja, Vishwanathan-Ramamurthy, Zakir Hussain and L. Shankar, he set out on his own to compose jingles and scores for popular Indian television features. Rahman obtained a degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music, London, and set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record- Inn at Chennai, arguably one of Asia’s most sophisticated and hi-tech studios.