Having set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record Inn at Chennai, arguably one of Asia's most sophisticated and high-tech studios, Rahman's film scoring career began in the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. The UK based World Music magazine Songlines named him one of 'Tomorrow's World Music Icons' in August 2011. In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World's Most Influential People. His extensive body of work for film and the stage earned him the nickname 'the Mozart of Madras' and several Tamil commentators and fans have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (English: Music Storm). He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating Eastern class ical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements.
Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist.
