Oscar-winning music maestro AR Rahman and his wife, Saira Banu, have left fans stunned with the announcement of their separation after nearly three decades of marriage. The couple confirmed the news on Tuesday night through a joint statement issued by their lawyer, Vandana Shah. The development marks the end of their 29-year journey together, which had been largely private and shielded from the public eye.
The split has unavoidably drawn attention to a number of aspects of AR Rahman’s life, such as his transformation from Dilip Kumar to the well-known international figure he is today. AR Rahman, whose real name was Dilip Kumar, was rechristened by a Hindu astrologer when he and his family converted to Islam following the untimely death of his father. In an interview with Dawn, AR Rahman had previously discussed this issue, stating that he had always desired to change his name since he felt disconnected from his given name. In all honesty, I’ve never been fond of my name. I don’t mean to belittle the legendary Dilip Kumar! But in some way, my name didn’t fit the way I saw myself,” he had remarked.
Opening up on how he got his name, he had said, “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.”
Rahman had two choices to choose from. He continued, “He suggested the names: Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim and said that either name would be good for me. 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.”
