SINGAPORE – President Tharman Shanmugaratnam has praised Indian music star A.R. Rahman for working with Singapore musicians.

In social media posts made on June 2, Mr Tharman uploaded photos of himself meeting the Grammy-, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning music and film icon popularly known as ARR.

Rahman, 58, was in town on May 10 and 11 for the premiere of Le Musk, a multi-sensory virtual-reality (VR) film he directed that is screening at Golden Village Suntec City until Aug 12.

“Our Indian music and cultural talents, from classical to the most contemporary and edgy, are naturally a minority in the local scene. But they make Singapore’s multiculturalism all the more special,” President Tharman wrote.

“ARR has also done our own talents good over the years, by giving them valuable exposure,” he added, listing the home-grown acts who have worked with Rahman – rapper-songwriter duo Lady Kash and Krissy, singer-musician Shabir and rapper Yung Raja. Rahman’s collaborations include Wanna Mash Up?, a song with Lady Kash and Krissy for the 2014 Hindi film Highway.

Mr Tharman added that Singapore was the first place Rahman – who was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – travelled to out of India in the 1980s, and how the musician bought his equipment from local music stores Swee Lee and City Music.

“Good to see that both local music stores are still going strong after all these years,” Mr Tharman wrote.

Rahman is a prolific musician, composer and singer whose works span more than160 film soundtracks and albums. Incorporating Indian classical with contemporary Western, his music famously transcended Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films, and made a mark on Hollywood, the West End and Broadway.

He gained global fame when his soundtrack to the Mumbai-set British film Slumdog Millionaire (2008) earned him Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song – for the upbeat number Jai Ho – in 2009.

The crime drama romance, which starred Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, also won Rahman Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

Le Musk, a 37-minute film that marks his directorial debut, uses pioneering camera technologies to present an immersive film that blends VR, haptics, music and fragrance. At GV Suntec City, viewers will wear VR headsets and sit in special egg-shaped chairs that release scents.

Rahman has staged several concerts in Singapore, most recently at the National Stadium on Aug 31. He also performed at Gardens by the Bay in 2014, the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2005, and Marina Bay Sands in 2011.

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