1) AR Rahman began taking piano lessons at age 4 and started working as a keyboard player at age 11 to support his family after losing his father. He earned a degree from Oxford but left school early to work with music groups. 2) Mani Ratnam approached Rahman after he won an award for best jingle composer, sparking his film career. He achieved great success with films like Roja, Bombay, and Dil Se. 3) Rahman emphasizes the importance of pursuing your passions intensely, pausing to avoid rushed decisions, and asserting your uniqueness rather than trying to emulate others.

1. ART of FOCUS
By, Anand M. Marda (MBA)

2. Early Life…
• Rehman began taking piano lessons when he was 4.
• He lost his father when he was 9.
• For supporting the family financially he started working
as a keyboard player in Illaiyaraja's troupe when he
was 11.
• He also left school and trotted the globe with several
orchestra groups.

3. Contd.
• He also worked with Zakir Hussain, a famous
expert of tabla, on some tours around the world.
• He was rewarded with a scholarship at Oxford
University's Trinity College of Music and earned
a Western Classical Music degree.
• Afterwards he converted to Islam and got the
name A R Rehman.

4. Career Start in
• The award function at which A R Rehman
received an award for the category of the
Best Jingle Composer for his Leo Coffeee
ad
• There Mani Ratnam - Spielberg of India
approached him.
• After that A R Rehman had to never look
back.

5. Contd.
• His music in 'Roja' became popular worldwide
and after that :
• great hits: Jeans - Bombay - Gentleman - Dil
Se - Pukar - Saathiya - Lagaan and Taal
• Rehman's latest hits include music in the films
:Rang De Basanti – Guru - Jodha Akbar &
Rockstar
• He also worked as a singer in his films Dil Se -
Rang De Basanti - Guru and Jodha Akbar.

6. Words of Rahman….
• ―I‘m never composing in the studio for too long—at
best for 20 minutes, 30 on the outside. I don‘t
spend eight to nine hours on something it fatigues
me. It‘s like beating a sick person. There‘s this Big
Bang moment. It either comes, or it doesn‘t. It
flows or it doesn‘t. But when you sit and things are
at ease… that‘s when it happens.‖

8. 1. PAUSE
• The big lesson: The ability to pause for a
few moments when everything around
seems completely out of whack.
―Never take a decision based on emotion.
You need to look at the world in a
detached way.
Pause! ―It requires effort.... it requires
sacrifice.‖

9. 2. Pursue your Passion
•
―I used to cycle and go all the way to
Mount Road [some 10-12 km away] just to
find this one British magazine called Music
Makers. It was about synthesizers.‖ Often,
after he‘d cycled there, the store would
say it hadn‘t arrived yet. But he‘d keep
going there every day, ―until I got my copy.
And when I‘d finally get it, I‘d go ‗Oh my
God!‘‖

10. • ―Then there was this time I used to go to
Bangalore to another shop, where they
had albums that were not there in Chennai
and come back listening to them on the
train. That transported me to another
world. When I did my music, I wanted to
transport other people as well, without
compromising on tradition. I guess that‘s
why Roja eventually happened.‖

11. 3. Asset your Differences
• ―If you go to Hollywood and say, ‗I can do
what John Williams does,‘ they‘ll say, ‗get
out!‘ But when I said I have Slumdog
Millionaire, they embraced me. Do
something on your own. Do something
unique. Look at yourself from the other
person‘s perspective and make yourself
unique.‖

12. 4. Choose the World that supports
you

13. 5. Master Distraction
• In business, multi-tasking is a much-touted
skill. The better you are at it, conventional
wisdom goes, the higher your chances of
making it to the top.
• AR Rahman doesn‘t multi-task. When he‘s
focussed, it is intense, because, as he says,
―It is a spiritual thing. Nothing comes without
losing something. You can‘t have everything.‖

14. THANK YOU……