AR Rahman: 'Never liked my Hindu name Dilip Kumar, instantly loved the name Rahman and...'

AR Rahman is one of the most iconic musicians and singers of Indian cinema who has an experience of three decades. Some of his best works in the Hindi film industry are Bombay, Dil Se, Yuva, Raanjhanaa, Tamasha, Rockstar, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Guru, and Swades.

In a throwback interview, Rahman revealed how he never liked his Hindu name Dilip Kumar and this is what the composer had to say, “The truth is I never liked my name. No disrespect to the great actor Dilip Kumar! However, somehow my name didn’t match the image I had of myself.”

AR Rahman added, “Sometime before we started on our journey on the path of Sufism, we went to an astrologer to show him my younger sister’s horoscope because my mother wanted to get her married. This was around the same time when I was keen to change my name. The astrologer looked at me and said, ‘This chap is very interesting.

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I instantly loved the name Rahman. It was a Hindu astrologer who gave me my Muslim name. Then my mother had this intuition that I should add Allahrakha [Protected by God], and that’s how I became AR Rahman.”

The composer once also outlined why he couldn’t imagine living away from his hometown in Chennai. In addition, he also shed light on his experiences curating songs and the equation he shares with his family. During a conversation with The Hindu, the 56-year-old also revealed how he was offered a stupendous house in one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in Hyderabad, the Banjara Hills, if he relocated to Mumbai. However, he acknowledged that the ‘underworld mafia culture’ prevented him from doing so.

As the conversation moved forward, Rahman revealed that director Subhash Ghai suggested he should switch base to Mumbai. He said, “When I found prominence up North, Subhash Ghai asked me to learn Hindi as people there love me and I should know the language. But that was the time of Mumbai’s underworld mafia culture, so I didn’t even consider it.”