Aarif Rahman

Aarif Rahman (Chinese: 李治廷; pinyin: Lǐ Zhìtíng, born 26 February 1987), also known as Aarif Lee Zhi-ting, is a Hong Kong actor, singer and songwriter.

Aarif Rahman
Born	Aarif Rahman (1987-02-26) 26 February 1987 (age 37) British Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong SAR
Alma mater	Imperial College London (Bachelor of Science in Physics) King George V School
Occupations	Actor singer songwriter
Years active	2009–present
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Awards	Hong Kong Film Awards – Best New Performer 2010 Echoes of the Rainbow – Desmond Law Best Original Song 2010 Echoes of the Rainbow
Musical career
Also known as	Aarif Lee Lee Chi-ting
Genres	Mandopop Cantopop
Instruments	Vocals guitar bass guitar drums
Labels	Echelon Talent Management, Inc.
Chinese name
Chinese	李治廷
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Zhìtíng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Lei5 Zi6-ting4

Early life

Born in Hong Kong, Aarif Rahman is of mixed Arab, Malay and Chinese descent. He grew up in Hong Kong and attended King George V School, where he discovered his penchant for music and started playing drums, guitar and the piano, as well as dabbling in song-writing.^[1]

After graduating with a physics degree from the Imperial College London, Rahman signed with East Asia Record Production company.^[1]

Career

Rahman first gained the interest of the Hong Kong music scene when he was exposed as the writer who penned all the lyrics in Janice Vidal's 2009 English album Morning.^[2] Following this, in 2009 he released his debut album Starting from Today, which won him the Best Newcomer award at the Metro Radio Music Awards.^[1]

Rahman then made his film debut in the movie Echoes of the Rainbow (2010),^[3] which won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer and Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild for Best New Actor of the Year – Silver Award. The theme song which he sang also won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Song.^[4] He then starred as Bruce Lee in the dramatic biopic film Bruce Lee, My Brother (2010)^[5][6] and as a police investigator in the crime thriller Cold War (2012).^[7]

In 2013, Rahman starred in the Mainland romantic comedy One Night Surprise.^[8] The low-budget film unexpectedly became a commercial success, and received positive reviews.^[9] Rahman won the Best New Actor award at the 1st China International Film Festival London and Outstanding Performance award at the Chinese Film Media Awards for his performance.^[10] Rahman then starred in historical drama The Empress of China, where he played the role of Li Zhi. The 82-episode TV series was broadcast on Hunan Television from 21 December 2014 to 5 February 2015, and earned increased recognition for Rahman in the Mainland region.^[11] He won the Best Actor in the Ancient Drama category at the Huading Awards for his performance.^[12]

In 2016, Rahman starred alongside Korean actress Kim Ha-neul in the family film Making Family.^[13] He also featured in Guo Jingming's fantasy animated motion capture L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties, and reprised his role in the sequel of Cold War.^[14][15]

In 2017, Rahman starred alongside Jackie Chan in the action comedy film Kung Fu Yoga.^[16] The same year, he starred in Tsui Hark's science fiction wuxia film The Thousand Faces of Dunjia.^[17][18]

In 2019, Rahman starred in the historical romance drama Princess Silver as the male lead.^[19][20]

Filmography

Film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2010	Echoes of the Rainbow	歲月神偷	Luo Jinyi
	Frozen	為你鍾情	Cheung Wai-kit	[21]
	Bruce Lee, My Brother	李小龍我的兄弟	Bruce Lee
2011	I Love Hong Kong	我爱HK开心万岁	Wu Ming	[22]
	The Allure of Tears	傾城之淚	You Le	[23]
	Dear Enemy	親密敵人	Heng Lima	[24]
2012	Cold War	寒戰	Billy K.B. Cheung
2013	One Night Surprise	一夜驚喜	Tony
2014	South of the Clouds	北迴歸線	Li Ming	[25]
2015	Tales of Mystery	怪談	Zi Liang	[26]
2016	Cold War 2	寒戰2	Billy K.B. Cheung
	L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties	爵跡	Ni Hong
	Making Family	非常父子檔	Zhou Liyan
2017	Kung Fu Yoga	功夫瑜伽	Jones
	The Thousand Faces of Dunjia	奇門遁甲	Dao Yizhang
2020	Special Couple	合法伴侣	Gu Dabai	[27]

Television series

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
2014	The Empress of China	武媚娘傳奇	Li Zhi
2018	Swords of Legends 2	古劍奇譚二	Xia Yize	[28]
2019	Princess Silver	白髮	Zongzheng Wuyou
2020	Two Sisters In the Chaos	浮世雙嬌傳	Xue Rong
TBA	The Geek Is on the Run	極客江湖	Bo Xian	[29]
	Ivy Monsters	藤科動物也兇猛	Zhuo Peng	[30]

Discography

Studio albums

Release date	Title	Track listing	Label
26 November 2009	Starting from Today	Track listing 今天開始 獨行俠 Fly Away 想我吧 Best I'll Ever Be 不堪設想 光速 Another Day 歲月輕狂 Echoes of the Rainbow	Amusic
5 February 2010	Starting from Today 2nd Version	Track listing Best I'll Ever Be (英) Echoes of the Rainbow (英) Way back into love (feat. Janice Vidal)
16 August 2011	Everything	Track listing 尼古拉 You Are My Everything 鵝毛 誰能代替 (國) 奇蹟等不到 一片痴 Craziness 速度對比 Still (英) Just the Way You Are (英) 不是不愛才分開 (國)
14 March 2014	Aarif's Love	Track listing 飞 不可思议 一夜惊喜 (feat. Fan Bingbing) 以苦为乐 睡蔷薇 Porcelain Princess’ Palace (陶瓷公主的宝殿)

Singles

Year	English title	Chinese title	Album	Notes
2010	"Never Know"	回家路上	—	with Janice Vidal
	"Growing Love For You"	為你鍾情	Frozen OST	with Janice Vidal
2011	"I love Hong Kong"	—	I Love Hong Kong OST	with Mag Lam
2012	"Our Starting Line"	我們的起跑線	—
	"Happy Together"	—	—	with Angelababy
2013	"One Night Surprise"	一夜驚喜	One Night Surprise OST	with Fan Bingbing
2014	"Eagles Fly in September"	九月鷹飛	South of the Clouds OST	with Isabelle Huang
2015	"GODAGODA"	—	—	Theme song of Sisters Over Flowers
	"Fighting For Dreams"	為夢而戰	—	Theme song of Yes！Coach
2016	"Gentlemanly"	紳士作風	—
2017	"Coming Home"	回家路上	—
	"Who is the Biggest"	誰是老大	The Thousand Faces of Dunjia OST	with Da Peng and Wu Bai
	"Director Xu Ke I Have A Problem"	徐克導演我有問題
2019	"Xiao Zhi"	小至	Princess Silver OST	with Yisa Yu
	"If Snow"	若雪
	"I Know You Know"	—	My True Friend OST
2020	"Won't You Be Mine"	N/A	N/A
	"Loser""	N/A	N/A
2021	"One and Only"	N/A	N/A

Awards

Music

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Ref.
2009	Metro Radio Hits Awards	New Singer Award	Starting From Today	[31]
		Best Singer Songwriter Album Award
	Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation	Best Male Newcomer – Gold Award		[32]
2010	IFPI Music Sales Awards	Best Selling Male Newcomer		[33]
	10th Chinese Music Media Awards	Best Cantopop Male Newcomer		[34]
	29th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Original Film Song	Sui Yue Qing Kuang	[4]
	Metro Radio Mandarin Hits Music Awards Presentation	Most Popular Winning Song Award		[35]
		Mandarin Hit Songs
	7th CNTV's Music King Hit Global Chinese Music Award	Film Golden Song Award		[36]
2011	8th CNTV's Music King Hit Global Chinese Music Award	All-Rounded Artist Award (Hong Kong/Taiwan)	—	[37]
		Singer-Song Writer Award	—
		Golden Song Award	"Ni Gu La"
2013	9th CNTV's Music King Hit Global Chinese Music Award	All-Rounded Artist Award	—	[38]
		Singer-Song Writer Award	—
	1st China International Film Festival London	Best Original Film Song	"One Night Surprise"	[39]
	9+2 Music Pioneer Awards	Most Popular Duet Song		[40]
		Best Film Singer	—
2014	2nd V Chart Awards	Best Collaboration	"One Night Surprise"	[41]
		Top Social Singer	—
	Metro Radio Mandarin Hits Music Awards Presentation	Hit Singer-Songwriter Award	—	[42]
		Mandarin Hit Songs	"Shui Qi Wei"
	9+2 Music Pioneer Awards	Best Trendy Singer-Songwriter	—	[43]
		Best Global Premiere Song	"Bu Ke Si Yi"
2015	V Chart Awards	Hot Trend Artist of the Year (Hong Kong/Taiwan)	—	[44]
	19th China Music Awards	Best Singer-Songwriter	—	[45]
		Best Golden Song (Hong Kong/Taiwan)	"Fly"
	KU Music Asian Music Awards	Most Popular Crossover Artist	—	[46]

Film and television

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Ref.
2010	29th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best New Performer	Echoes of the Rainbow	Won[4]
		Best Original Film Song (with: Lowell Lo (composer), Alex Law (lyricist))		Won[4]
	Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Award	Best Newcomer – Silver Award		Won[47]
	31st Hundred Flowers Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2011	11th Chinese Film Media Awards	Best New Performer		Nominated
	5th Asian Film Awards	Best Newcomer		Nominated
2013	1st China International Film Festival London	Best New Actor	One Night Surprise	Won[39]
2014	14th Chinese Film Media Awards	Outstanding Performance		Won[10]
2015	17th Huading Awards	Best Actor – Ancient Drama	The Empress of China	Won[12]

References

1. "Aarif Rahman on his career, physique and thoughts on love". Time Out. 2 May 2016.
2. "Aarif Rahman and Janice Vidal to perform in Genting". Yahoo News. 20 September 2013.
3. "李治廷人气飙升 《岁月轻狂》引重播热潮(图)" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 7 December 2010.
4. "Hong Kong Film Awards Announced". The Wall Street Journal. 19 April 2010.
5. "New Biopic Explores Bruce Lee's Life before Fame". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 October 2010.
6. "Q&A: Aarif Rahman". South China Morning Post. 4 December 2010.
7. "New Stills Released Featuring Aarif Lee in 'Cold War'". Chinese Films. 22 October 2012.
8. ""一夜惊喜"曝男色剧照 李治廷蒋劲夫丹尼尔拼身材". Mtime (in Chinese). 4 June 2013.
9. Lee, Maggie (12 August 2013). "Film Review: 'One Night Surprise'". Variety.
10. "14th Chinese Film Media Awards held in Beijing". China Daily. 14 October 2014.
11. "Aarif Rahman rules as 'most handsome emperor'". The Straits Times. 7 May 2015.
12. "第17届华鼎奖：佟大为夺视帝 周迅封后否认怀孕". youth.cn (in Chinese). 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
13. "KIM Ha-neul to Star in Korea-China Co-production MAKING FAMILY". Kobiz. 17 November 2014.
14. "郭敬明《爵迹》再曝新演员 李治廷加盟(图)". ifeng (in Chinese). 21 May 2015.
15. "《寒战2》四方角力"城治"组合再掀波澜" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 14 June 2016.
16. "《功夫瑜伽》破3亿 李治廷高能打戏获赞" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 30 January 2017.
17. "Tsui Hark's new film to be screened in December". China Daily. 13 October 2017.
18. "Aarif Rahman Lee trained hard for Tsui Hark". Yahoo. 21 December 2017.
19. "张雪迎李治廷《白发王妃》"真言"版剧照曝光". Netease (in Chinese). 3 January 2019.
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27. "Hong Kong actor hails China-UK film collaboration". China Daily. 7 June 2018.
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29. "《极客江湖》李治廷海归创业 喊景甜组队开黑遭拒" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 8 December 2017.
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37. "第八届总选奖项设置以及得奖名单". CNTV.con (in Chinese). 18 November 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
38. "容祖儿九夺劲歌后 尚雯婕获最佳女歌手". 21cn.com (in Chinese). 19 March 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
39. "伦敦华语电影节揭晓 李治廷夺两项大奖" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 8 December 2013.
40. "李治廷喜夺"音乐先锋榜"双奖 透露年初出新EP". Sohu (in Chinese). 2 December 2013.
41. "李治廷出席音乐颁奖礼 回归歌手斩获人气荣誉". Sohu (in Chinese). 18 April 2014.
42. "李治廷香港获创作奖 重心将回归音乐" (in Chinese). Sina Corp. 29 August 2014.
43. "2014《音乐先锋榜》年度颁奖典礼得奖名单". pengpeng.com (in Chinese). December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
44. "Winner List 2015". YinYueTai. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
45. "李治廷再唱《无字碑》 获华语榜中榜两项大奖". China Daily (in Chinese). 17 April 2015.
46. "李治廷：未来钱给老婆管". ifeng (in Chinese). 26 April 2015.
47. "第29届香港电影金像奖 李治廷获最佳新人奖". iqilu (in Chinese). 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.

External links

• Aarif Rahman on Weibo (in Chinese)
• Aarif Rahman at IMDb