AR Rahman's birthday: Lesser known facts about the musical maestro

Musical maestro AR Rahman turned 53 on January 6, 2020. From winning the Filmfare awards to bagging Oscar awards, AR Rahman has taken the music industry of regional and Hindi cinema a notch up. AR Rahman kickstarted his career as a composer from television. Later with his authentic work, he composed music for many successful films. Chaiyya Chaiyaa and Jai Ho are among his most popular works. AR Rahman's work has always received praise from critics and fans, but there are many other things about the composer that are not widely known. Here are a few lesser-known facts associated with the 53-year-old musician:

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AR Rahman is the only Asian to have won 2 Oscars in the same year, as of now. He created history by collecting two Oscar awards in 2009 for his background score and song Jai Ho in the film Slumdog Millionaire. He was nominated for Oscar again in 2011 for his work in a Hollywood film titled 127 hours. He has also bagged six national awards for his work in various regional and Bollywood films. 

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Many of us know that AR Rahman practises Islam, but he was not a born Muslim. Reportedly, he born in a Hindu family and later changed his religion. Many reports state that at the age of 23 he changed his religion after witnessing his sister's speedy recovery from illness, whereas other reports quote that he met his spiritual guru Qadri Islam and then changed his religion. 

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Talking about his personal life and children, AR Rahman and his son Ameen share the same birth date. Rahman is also a quite protective and caring father. Reportedly, Rahman wanted to become a computer engineer but eventually developed an interest in music. He was seen in Doordarshan's Wonder Balloon where he became popular for being the kid who could play 4 keyboards at once.

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