What Is A.R. Rahman's Net Worth?
A.R. Rahman is an Indian composer and musician who has a net worth of $50 million. Allah-Rakha Rahman is considered by some to be one of the world's best composers. His father worked in the music industry as a conductor and composer, and Rahman began playing musical instruments at a young age. He appeared in his first orchestra when he was eleven years old. Rahman developed his own recording studio in 1992 and eventually turned it into the premier studio in all of India. That same year, he put together the score and soundtrack for the movie "Roja" and earned a Silver Lotus Award for best music director. He went on to score "Bombay," "Indira," "Mr. Romeo," "Love Birds," "The Legends of Bhagat Singh," "Slumdog Millionaire," and "127 Hours." The "Bombay" soundtrack has since sold more than 12 million records around the world. Overall, he has won an unprecedented four Silver Lotus awards during his career, with his most recent coming in 2003 for "Kannathil Muthamittal."
Rahman is also the winner of two Oscars, winning Best Original Music Score in 2009 for "Slumdog Millionaire" and Best Original Song for "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire". That soundtrack earned him two Grammy Awards and he took home a Golden Globe for Best Original Score for "127 Hours" starring James Franco. Rahman is an active humanitarian who publicly supports a variety of organizations, including Stop TB Partnership and Save the Children India. He and his wife, Saira Banu, have three children together.
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Early Life
Allah-Rakha Rahman was born on January 6, 1967, in what is now Tamil Nadu, India. He is the son of Kareema and R.K. Shekhar. His father was a film score composer and conductor for Tamil and Malayalam films. At the age of four, Rahman began learning how to play piano. As a child, he assisted his father in his studio and played the keyboard. When A.R. was nine, his father died. The family rented his father's musical equipment out in order to earn an income. Rahman also had to begin working at a young age in order to support the family, causing him to often miss classes at his school and fail exams. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue a full-time career as a musician. He founded the Chennai-based rock group Nemesis Avenue. During his early career, he also worked closely with many composers and assisted many music directors.
Career
Rahman's professional career in music began with composing scores for documentaries and jingles for commercials on Indian television. In 1992, he was approached by director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil Film "Roja." When the film was released the following year, he received the National Film Awards award for best music director. The film's score was both a critical and commercial success. This early success helped Rahman jumpstart his film-scoring career. He followed this success by scoring other popular Tamil-language films for the Chennai film industry. Some of these films include "Bombay," "Thiruda Thiruda" and "Gentleman." He also composed music for romantic comedy films around this time, like "Mr. Romeo" and "Love Birds."
Rahman also attracted a fanbase outside of India. His soundtracks are known for their versatility in combining Western classical music, traditional Tamil music, jazz, reggae, and rock. The soundtrack for the film "Bombay" sold 15 million copies worldwide, and one of the tracks, "Bombay's Theme," would later appear in other films like "Fire," "Divine Intervention," and "Lord of War." In 1997, his soundtrack for the film "Minsaara Kanavu" won him his second National Film Award for Best Music Direction and a South FilmFare Award for Best Music Direction in a Tamil film.
During the 2000s, Rahman composed scores and songs for films like "Swades," "Rang De Basanti," "Water," and "Alaipayuthey," among others. In 2005, he expanded his existing studio by establishing AM Studios in Kodambakkam, Chennai. The resulting studio was the most cutting-edge in all of Asia. The next year, A.R. launched his own music label, KM Music. In 2007, he co-scored the film "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." In 2009, he scored his first Hollywood film, the comedy "Couples Retreat." His score for the film won the BMI London Award for Best Score. He also wrote the music for the 2008 film "Slumdog Millionaire." His music for the film won a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards for the songs "Jai Ho" and "O…Saya." The soundtrack for the film was a massive success internationally.
In 2010, Rahman composed the original score and songs for the romantic "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa," the sci-fi film "Enthiran," the musical "Rockstar," and the drama "127 Hours." A few years later, he composed for "People Like Us" and "Jab Tak Hai Jaan." In 2013, he composed for two successful films – "Raanjhanaa" and "Maryan." In 2014, Rahman was very busy as he worked in 12 films in various languages, including "The Hundred Foot Journey," "Million Dollar Arm," and "Highway."
In 2017, Rahman made his debut as a director and writer for the film "Le Musk." He has also been involved in other non-film projects like composing music for his first stage production, "Bombay Dreams," which was commissioned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. He has also embarked on three successful world tours, performing some of his film compositions in addition to non-film music. He also launched India's first YouTube Original, "ARRived," which is focused on finding the best singing talent from across the country, in 2018.
Over the course of his career, Rahman has received many awards, accolades, and honors. In addition to Grammy Awards, BMI Awards, and Academy Awards, he has also earned awards honoring the entirety of his career. In 2006, he was honored by Stanford University for his contributions to global music. In 2008, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rotary Club of Madras. In 2009, A.R. was included on the "Time" list of the world's 100 most influential people. A few years later, in 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. He has also received an honorary doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University.
Personal Life
Rahman was married to Saira Banu for 29 years before announcing their separation in 2024. They have three children – Khatija, Raheema, and Ameen. His children have sung various songs on their father's film scores. While Rahman's parents had been practicing Hindus, Rahman converted to Islam with other members of his family in 1989. The death of his father had been hard on the entire family, causing his mother to seek out the teachings of Sufism, a form of Islamic mysticism. This had an influence on the family's decision to convert.
Rahman has been involved in a number of charitable causes. He has supported Save the Children India and has worked as a global ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership. In 2008, he opened the KM Music Conservatory, which offers music training to economically and socially deprived children. In 2019, A.R. performed a Sufi Benefit Concert at the annual New York gala of Pratham, a large non-governmental organization in India that focuses on the provision of quality education to India's underprivileged children.
