AR Rahman says his mother thought his Oscar, Golden Globe trophies were made of gold: ‘She wrapped it in a towel’

AR Rahman has won innumerable awards through his three-decade-long career in the movies. When the maestro was recently asked as to where he keeps all his awards, he shared that his mother kept all his international awards like Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA, Golden Globe wrapped in a towel as she thought that these were all made of gold.

In a chat with Film Companion, when Rahman was asked about his 2 Oscars, 2 Grammys, 1 BAFTA, 1 Golden Globe, 6 National Film Awards and over 32 Filmfare Awards, the composer shared that all the awards that he has won in the country are placed in a special room in Chennai. He also quipped that a lot of awards haven’t reached him as the filmmakers have kept it for themselves as souvenirs. “Some of them haven’t come to me. I think some of the directors have kept them like a souvenir,” he shared.

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AR Rahman then spoke about his international wins and said that his late mother Kareema Beegum actually wrapped his international awards in a towel in Dubai as she thought that those were made of gold. “I have kept the international awards in Dubai because it was wrapped in a towel… my mom wrapped it in a towel. She thought it was gold. So after she passed away, I went to her room, took them out and I gave it to the Dubai Firdaus studio. It’s in the Firdaus studio in a nice showcase,” he shared.

Rahman won most of his international awards for the soundtrack of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. The song “Jai Ho” from the film was an international hit and put Rahman on the global map.