In early February 2009 I caught with AR Rahman on one of his brief visits to Los Angeles. AR as he likes to be called was in Los Angeles for the big night at the Oscars. AR’s  music in Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” was a huge success and the film had won strong praise from critics and movie goers.

“Slumdog Millionaire” was nominated for multiple awards in that year’s Academy Awards. AR himself was nominated in 3 categories and this was a first for a member of the Indian film industry, the largest in the world. AR went to to win 2 Academy Awards and became the first music composer from the Indian film industry to win 2 Oscars.

Like everybody else I was curious to find out about how AR came to work with Boyle and how did they work on this film that became such a big success.

LISTEN: Academy Award Winner AR Rahman on Slumdog Millionaire

In Part-1 of our conversation AR talks about working with Boyle, his thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire and why he instantly connected with it and why he thought the movie reminded him of “Shawshank Redemption.”

In Part-2 of our conversation AR talks about his journey as a musician and the central role his mother played in shaping his career.  In his acceptance award at the Oscars the first person he acknowledged was his mother, who was there to watch him receive the award.

This interview originally ran on NDTV.com.

Photo Courtesy: AR Rahman’s website.