Music Director and Singer AR Rahman have already made his mark in Hollywood winning an astonishing Oscar for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in 2009. Rahman recently earned another nomination for his contribution in ‘Pele: Birth of a Legend’. Earlier, his ‘Jai Ho’ from Slumdog Millionaire affirmed his stature in International market.

On the Oscar front, we all know that as many as 145 songs have been shortlisted for the race of Oscars, out of which the final list of nominations will be made. Rahman’s song ‘Ginga’ from the movie on Pele has been shortlisted for the Best Original Song award for the upcoming Oscars.

While the success in musical front is quite unanimous, Rahman’s journey in terms of personal life is bit eccentric. Somehow, soon after he has become quite popular, AR Rahman’s past has become the hot topic of the media. Do you know AR Rahman is not his original name? Media has become aware of his name change and various questions regarding this bothered the Oscar-winning musician.

However, there is a clean story behind this and we must know it.

Rahman, who is basically a Chennai boy, recently revealed that during his entry into Bollywood, he had been told that a person from south India could not cross the wall to the Mumbai music industry. He was also told to change his name in order to make it in Bollywood, those turned out to be nothing more than stories.

“I come from the south, from Chennai. In those days people used to tell me, ‘Nobody can cross this wall and nobody will help you enter Mumbai’. I was also told to change my name. But they just turned out to be stories. Everyone accepted me here just as I was, AR Rahman. You guys embraced me with love. There was so much of joy as you all celebrated me. And not only that, when I stand here today in India, I experience the cherished memories I have of the time when I started in the ‘90s.”

There were few speculations regarding conversion of his religion from Hindu to Muslim. The story was clearly mentioned in Nasreen Munni Kabir’s book ‘A R Rahman: The Spirit of Music’, the music composer tells the writer how he and his family voluntarily converted to Sufi Islam.

It was written, “My mother was a practicing Hindu. She had always been spiritually inclined. We had Hindu religious images on the walls of the Habibullah Roadhouse where we grew up. There was also an image of Mother Mary holding Jesus in Her arms and a photograph of the sacred sites of Mecca and Medina”.

Rahman further said, “In 1986, ten years after my father died, we happened to meet Qadri Saheb (Sufi Peer Karimullah Shah Qadri) again. The peer was unwell and my mother looked after him and he regarded her as a daughter. There was a strong connection between us.”

When asked whether the Sufi peer asked him to embrace Islam, Rahman replied “No, he didn’t. Nobody is forced to convert to the path of Sufism. You only follow if it comes from your heart. The Sufi path spiritually lifted both my mother and me, and we felt it was the best path for us, so we embraced Sufi Islam.”

Asked how Sufism affected his attitude to life, the music composer replied, “It has taught me that just as the rain and the sun do not differentiate between people, neither should we. Only when you experience friendship across cultures, you understand there are many good people in all communities.”

Rahman is also entering direction with Le Musk, a Virtual Reality (VR) multi-sensory episodic film that has been shot across various locations in Rome. He has not just directed it but has also written it.

Also Read: Music Director AR Rahman Shared A Pic Of Virushka And Gets Trolled Hilariously