AR Rahman turns 52, lesser known facts about the musical maestro

Allah Rakha Rahman was born on 6th January 1967 as Dileep Kumar, into a Hindu family. The music composer converted to Islam at the age of 23, after he met his spiritual guru, Qadri Islam. Music was not on the list for Rahman during the initial days, after schooling he wanted to become an engineer. But, once he realised his inner self and was driven towards music, he went on to become the first Asian to win 2 Oscars in the same year. A R Rahman has also won 4 National Awards. He is also a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards. The Oscar winning song ‘Jai Ho’ was initially composed for Salman Khan starrer 'Yuvraaj.' Rahman tied the knot with Saira Banu in 1995 and has three children. One lesser known fact about him is that a street in Ontario, Canada, has been named after him.