R. K. Shekhar

R. K. Shekhar
R. K. Shekhar
	Photo of R. K. Shekhar
Background information
Birth name	Rajagopala Kulashekharan
Born	21 June 1933
Origin	Tiruvallur,British India
Died	9 September 1976(aged 43)
Genres	Film score,classical
Occupation(s)	Film composer,music director,Arranger,Music conductor
Instrument	Harmonium
Years active	1964 – 1976

Rajagopala KulashekharanorR. K. Shekhar(21 June 1933 – 09 September 1976) was an Indian musiccomposerwho worked mainly forMalayalammovies. He composed music for 52 films (23 inMalayalamwith 127 songs), and was the music conductor for more than 100 films. He is the father of music composers and singersA. R. RahmanandA. R. Reihana.His grandsonsG. V. Prakash KumarandA. R. Ameenare also involved in music production.^[1]

His debut song as a music director was "Chotta Muthal Chudala Vare" ( "from cradle to grave" ), which was a big hit inKerala.This was composed for the filmPazhassi Raja(1964).

Early life

He was born to a TamilThuluva velala Mudaliarfamily inGudiyathamto K. Rajagopalan also known asRajagopalanBhagavathar,aharikathaiexponent.^[1]His entry into film music was opened through his extraordinary performances on harmonium for theatre plays. He started his career in the film industry as an assistant tomusic director M. B. Sreenivasan.Later on he conducted and arranged music for famous Malayalam music directorsM. K. ArjunanandV. Dakshinamoorthy.He was so fascinated by the tunes created by these legends, that he would work very hard single-handedly to create the BGM of the songs they tuned to match their purity and standard, thus making the songs evergreen and on par. Their association lasted till his death.

Career

His career as an independent music composer started with the 1964 filmPazhassi Raja,of which the philosophical song "Chotta Muthal Chudala Vare" became a big hit. After his next work inAisha,he turned back to arranging and conducting for other composers.

After a gap of 7 years, he returned to music composing through the filmAnaathashilpangalin 1971. Apart from arranging the hits likeNinmaniarayileandNeela NishidhiniC.I.D. Nazir1971 for directorP. Venu,he composed music for his next filmTaxi Carin 1972. Then he went on to compose music for about 20 films. Due to the failure of these films in the box office, his songs went unnoticed and he lacked to get more opportunities for composing. His close friend in the industry was composerM. K. Arjunan.Starting from Arjunan master's first film, Shekhar assisted him in all his films till his death. Continuous hard work made Shekhar's health condition worse. In all these days, Arjunan master was the caretaker of him and his family.

He composed tunes for his last filmChottanikkara Ammawhen he was in bed for treatment and he died leaving the project incomplete. Later on, M.K. Arjunan completed the project by arranging and recording the songs that Shekhar composed.

Family

R. K. Shekhar was married to Kasthuri Shekhar (later Kareema Begum; d. 2020).^[2]Their marriage took place in the most prominent Hindu shrine in India, theTirumala Venkateswara Templelocated inTirupati.Shekhar and Kasthuri had four children,A. R. Reihana,Allah Rakha Rahman(born A. S. Dileep Kumar), Fathima Rafiq and Ishrath Qadri. Shekhar died on 9th September 1976 at the young age of 43. His grandchildren include Reihana's childrenG.V. Prakash KumarandBhavani Sreand Rahman's childrenKhatija RahmanandA. R. Ameen.

The family fell on hard times after Shekhar's death and came under the guidance ofSufi peerKarimullah Shah Qadri, later converting to Islam with Rahman's name being suggested by a Hindu astrologer.^[3]

Filmography

References

External links

Interview with A R Rahman

[scroll-1] "His father's son: How AR Rahman's father RK Shekhar made his mark as a composer and arranger".Scroll.in.11 October 2018.

[2] AR Rahman's mother Kareema Begum dies in Chennai.thefederal.com.

[3] Why I converted the transformation of Dilip Kumar into AR Rahman.Nasreen Munni Kabir.Scroll.in.

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