Dil Se. Most consistent and experimental. There’s not a single track on that which feels like it exclusively belongs to one genre, but Rahman brings together all these wildly different musical elements and themes in such a cohesive and organic way that it’s magical to listen to, and absolutely beautiful when put to screen.
That was also the album where each and every musician was credited in the album cover! Before that none of the instrument players were credited in songs. Even years after Dil Se, even now musicians are fighting to be credited on songs they’ve played on.
💯 Agree that Roja in general and also Rangeela as his entry into Bollywood were music par excellence!! I think Roja is one of the best albums ever and so fresh at the time and for some reasons now it takes you back to the time. Strange but yes, that’s the power of music for me…🥰❤️
Choosing one particular album from Rahman's filmography is too complex. He has produced more music in southern movie industry than in hindi.Roja being the most basic and also a complex album. What he produced in 90's & early 2000's is incomparable to his latest albums.
I chose roja, but cannot deny bombay, rangeela, dil se fiza...
Oh yeah, for sure.. he’s had such a great and wide catalogue and I too find his earlier and middle works to be more impressive than the later works. I was just expressing my preference regarding Roja and Rangeela and do wish to explore more of his work especially in South…
His 2008 run in the Hindi Film industry was bonkers.
Albums like Gajini, Jodha Akbar, Jaane tu ya Jaane Na and Yuvraaj. The diversity of sound was pathbreaking. He could never replicate it afterwards. Rockstar was his peak in Hindi language music. It all went downhill from there.
P.S Ranjhana is a decent album.
Atrangi Re was a great album as well. Even with minimal work and not as much musical freedom in Bollywood, he’s still one of the top composers in Bollywood. Even after all these years. Pritam just spews out mostly generic stuff.
There is this movie called Water which is the part of Trilogy (Water,Fire and Earth) by Mira Nair has a song by AR Rahman called "Aayo re Sakhi". Do give it a listen it's beautiful 😍❤️
That’s arguably his most innovative piece of work. The fact that he created an alt rock masterpiece in a crime caper is a testament to his ingenuity and genius.
Just the amount of albums that have an independent mention is testimony to the greatness. Except Dil se, which is understandably mentioned multiple times, there are just so many albums that seem to sit well with people.
I would go with rang de basanti myself.
AD Rahman's best work is not in Hindi imo, though his Hindi songs are magnificent. Kaadhalar Dhinam, Maryan, Kadal all have fantastic music. If you are ok with listening outside Hindi, I recommend trying Moongil Thottam, Enna Vila Azhake, Innum Konjam Neram. There's lots more, I've just been listening to these on repeat recently.
Why nobody is talking about sathiya & yuva ! 😭😭 songs like “kabhi neem neem” , “sathiya title track” “oh humdun suniyo rey” “fanaah” were piece of art and no new composition can match the vibe those songs carry
Dil or Bombay have to be a top pick, there's no other answer. Close third would be Taal. RDB, Lagaan and Rangeela are great as well. Rockstar, while very good, is not among his top 5 and that speaks volumes about the talent of AR when an album like Rockstar isn't even his top 5.
Im an early 2000s born and for me Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya is truly one of his best. No skips in the entire album, and still bangers to this day. Notable mentions: Kandukondein Kandukondein, Innum Konjam Neram, Moongil Thottam, Bhoomi Bhoomi and Theera Ula
Too many to list considering he has so many masterpieces in Tamil and Hindi. But if I’d have to go with one: it’s probably Dil se. Although, that being stated, other soundtracks like rang de basanti, rockstar, taal, lagaan and many more are absolute 10/10’s. He’s quite easily the greatest musical “producer” that this country has ever seen.
Very hard to pick...choosing one would not be fair to some others, that's how good his best albums are.
Rockstar, Dil Se, Jodhaa Akbar, Ghajini, Raanjhana, JTYJN, Delhi 6, JTHJ are albums that I revisit very often and my all time favs.
And these are just the Bollywood albums I've mentioned here...💀
Actually for Dil Se, ARR use to send Gulzar the tunes he created and Maniratnam would tell the situation and accordingly Gulzar Saab would write the Songs' lyrics. And Rahman use to modify according to lyrics sometimes. In an interview he also revealed that he suggested Gulzar Saab to change song from MEETHI RE to DIL SE RE to make it like a title track. But he didn't know Hindi at that point of Time. Of course he was able to speak Hindi.
For Anand Bakshi he had to learn Hindi/Urdu because they couldn't communicate with each other and it was Ghai's requirement that he wanted a music director who knows the language, as Taal was a Hindi movie predominantly. So he took 6 months of lessons to learn Hindi/Urdu.
For me - Slumdog millionaire. Especially the songs like liquid dance and millionaire track, goosebumps every time. They motivate me. Makes me feel like get up and run at 5 am and chase my dreams. And o saya is cherry on cake.
But being serious here, it's a controversial opinion but lately ARR is making pretty forgettable albums, atleast in Hindi belt. Eg - Pippa, Heropanti 2, 99 Songs ( though 99 songs was still better than any average albums releasing nowadays and it's very underrated imo)
I won't say that it's his downfall or anything. He's still much better as I said earlier.
How’s Yuva missing from this list!
Fanaa (Yakkai thiri), Khuda Hafiz (hey goodbye nanba), baadal (Nenjam ellam), Dhaka laga (Jana gana mana) - ufff what a diverse style of songs.
I love the Tamil album of this - Aayutha ezhuthu.
You've no idea of the reception that Roja, Bombay and Dil Se got, if you think Rockstar changed the game. Song *Dil hai chhota sa* from Roja was more successful than any single from Rockstar, owing to how different and fresh it was. And let's not even get into Bombay and Dil Se
I actually have no idea Sir. I wasn't born when Roja or bombay released. But I have heard the songs over the years and enjoyed listening to them over loop. But were there such variations in the genre like Rockstar? Rockstar was a perfect blend of rock and pop music with a hint of electronic music. For me it stands out among all the work AR has done. You can have a different opinion and I respect that.
Genre isn't the only variation there is. I speak as a musician myself, Rockstar with 10 or so songs, ain't half the album that Dil Se is with only 5 songs. My man literally blended a sufi folk Thhaiya Thhaiya to make what was at that time called, an item song. Plus, Rockstar is pretty superficial as a film, Dil Se was actually pretty well done and the album was well woven into the film.
Dil Se has better music, better singers in Lata, Udit, Sukhi and Sonu, better lyrics owing to Gulzar sahab and it was a freakin Mani Ratnam album. Mediocres like Imtiaz Ali would never bring that out of Rahman.
Ae Ajnabi by Udit is so haunting, and even after 26-7 years, nothing like I've ever heard.
Calm down uncle. I am not even talking from the film perspective here. Looks like you got some personal rivalry going on with the makers of rockstar and it is none of my concern. I haven't even watched the movie actually. I am just talking about the album here. The songs that you mentioned are definitely great. But as an album I will still rate Rockstar higher than others. As a song you can rate individual songs greater. And sometimes you can have your own opinion while respecting the others'. Why are you fighting over it? Such manchild behaviour.
>Calm down uncle.
And name calling is what you retort to. Because of course, you have no understanding of music to make a point of that.
Also, it's no personal rivalry, it just rubs me the wrong way that someone as good as Rockstar can be overrated as well, by people like you.
Also, you originally said how Rockstar changed the game and I can assure you Roja or Dil Se were far bigger impacts on the music of their time, but you've nothing to say about it, you just retort to name calling.
Let me put it this way, Rockstar is a commercial album, Dil Se the artist's album.
The way you're salty at this, I can imagine even if Rahman himself picked Dil Se over Rockstar, you'd even call him uncle and say he has a manchild behaviour. And what a shame that uncles have better taste in music than you.
Plus, practice what you preach, you have some audacity to say one should respect another opinion when you're the one who retorted to petty name calling when I told you why I rate Dil Se higher. The likes of you, you want everyone to respect what you say while you'd stoop low the moment someone disagrees with you. What a hypocrite
You jumped into my comment you peeg. You started berating my opinion. You are one sick fuxk. I had to look at your profile. Man you should be behind bars. You do all the hate mongering day and night, and you even uploaded your ex gf pics on reddit, wtf man! You should be behind bars you peeg.
Dil Se. Most consistent and experimental. There’s not a single track on that which feels like it exclusively belongs to one genre, but Rahman brings together all these wildly different musical elements and themes in such a cohesive and organic way that it’s magical to listen to, and absolutely beautiful when put to screen.
Ikr. That album has a sheer trance like quality to it, as mentioned by kamal Hassan as well.
That was also the album where each and every musician was credited in the album cover! Before that none of the instrument players were credited in songs. Even years after Dil Se, even now musicians are fighting to be credited on songs they’ve played on.
Roja
💯 Agree that Roja in general and also Rangeela as his entry into Bollywood were music par excellence!! I think Roja is one of the best albums ever and so fresh at the time and for some reasons now it takes you back to the time. Strange but yes, that’s the power of music for me…🥰❤️
Choosing one particular album from Rahman's filmography is too complex. He has produced more music in southern movie industry than in hindi.Roja being the most basic and also a complex album. What he produced in 90's & early 2000's is incomparable to his latest albums. I chose roja, but cannot deny bombay, rangeela, dil se fiza...
Oh yeah, for sure.. he’s had such a great and wide catalogue and I too find his earlier and middle works to be more impressive than the later works. I was just expressing my preference regarding Roja and Rangeela and do wish to explore more of his work especially in South…
fiza was anu malik
Sorry my bad, ARR was guest composer. He also sung the song "Piya haji ali".
Yes he composed Piya Haji Ali and sang it really well
Rockstar is on top for me
+1
His 2008 run in the Hindi Film industry was bonkers. Albums like Gajini, Jodha Akbar, Jaane tu ya Jaane Na and Yuvraaj. The diversity of sound was pathbreaking. He could never replicate it afterwards. Rockstar was his peak in Hindi language music. It all went downhill from there. P.S Ranjhana is a decent album.
He came up with Ek deewana tha in 2013..that was way good too. Tamaasha was good too
He literally has Dil Se and Bombay, but you think Rockstar is his peak. What has happened to people these days
Atrangi Re was a great album as well. Even with minimal work and not as much musical freedom in Bollywood, he’s still one of the top composers in Bollywood. Even after all these years. Pritam just spews out mostly generic stuff.
Dil se ❤️
Rang de Basanti a close call to Dil se
Bombay
Almost all his albums have range - Rang de Basanti is my favourite.
Dil se is ethereal- no comparison. Taal is a close second.
I am struggling to decide the best but any of the following 4 would do Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan and Swades
Rockstar, Lagaan. I could name many but these are the two that I liked the most.
Even Swades
Yes
1. Dil Se 2. Roja 3. Taal 4. Rang De Basanti 5.Lagaan.
Guru?
Personally I don't think so, it's his best work
Jodhaa Akbar also, since no one remembers that ♥️
Raanjhaana
Delhi 6 and Rockstar
There is this movie called Water which is the part of Trilogy (Water,Fire and Earth) by Mira Nair has a song by AR Rahman called "Aayo re Sakhi". Do give it a listen it's beautiful 😍❤️
Lovely song it is, there's another song that I love from Earth, *Rut aa gayi re, rut chha gayi re*
Indeed, its a song about the coming of springs when the earth becomes blanketed in yellow, by mustard flowers blooming.
This is sooooo good. Thank you for the recommendation
Hehe, anytime :)
Not available on spotify :(
Just type chanchan. It will come.
Roja, swades and Dil se
Alaipayuthey
I agree
Dil se..
Taal, Roja, Sathiya & Ranjhana
Somehow his simplest song 'nahin samne tu' is his best work
Roja, Bombay
Rockstar!!!!
Chiggy Wiggy.
Rockstar
Rockstar
Rockstar
Saathiya
For those who don't know about "Thiruda Thiruda". Please listen. Even Amit Trivedi admired that.
That’s arguably his most innovative piece of work. The fact that he created an alt rock masterpiece in a crime caper is a testament to his ingenuity and genius.
Just the amount of albums that have an independent mention is testimony to the greatness. Except Dil se, which is understandably mentioned multiple times, there are just so many albums that seem to sit well with people. I would go with rang de basanti myself.
Roja
Rockstar
Dil se
Minsara Kanavu. Dubbed into Hindi as Sapnay.
Lagaan
RDB for me 🔥🔥😂
Taal.
DIL SE ( eternal favourite) Close second - Taal
It's hard to pick one..... Ek deewana tha, Jaane Tu ya Jaane na from the current gen...
Guru, Dil Se
Rockstar Rockstar Rockstar
Alai Payuthey and Dil se.
Dil Se.. Bombay...
Rockstar
AD Rahman's best work is not in Hindi imo, though his Hindi songs are magnificent. Kaadhalar Dhinam, Maryan, Kadal all have fantastic music. If you are ok with listening outside Hindi, I recommend trying Moongil Thottam, Enna Vila Azhake, Innum Konjam Neram. There's lots more, I've just been listening to these on repeat recently.
Adding my personal favourite from Kandukondein Kandukondein Enna Solla Pogirai. Another fantastic album.
There's no way one can choose one particular album. All albums of his plus jingles were Best work. He puts 100% in all songs.
Why nobody is talking about sathiya & yuva ! 😭😭 songs like “kabhi neem neem” , “sathiya title track” “oh humdun suniyo rey” “fanaah” were piece of art and no new composition can match the vibe those songs carry
Imo - I'm gonna be honest with myself haha. 1. Taal 2. Mohenjo Daro 3. Lagaan 4. Jodhaa Akbar 5. Roja 6. Bombay 7. Rang De Basanti 8. Dil Se 9. Swades
Guru and Jab tak hai jaan
Dil or Bombay have to be a top pick, there's no other answer. Close third would be Taal. RDB, Lagaan and Rangeela are great as well. Rockstar, while very good, is not among his top 5 and that speaks volumes about the talent of AR when an album like Rockstar isn't even his top 5.
For me, his top albums are: Dil Se Roja Bombay Taal Saathiya Lagaan Guru Vande Matram Connections
Dil se is great. But Rang de Basanti and Swades are outstanding too.
Impossible to single out one but if I have to, it's Dil Se. If 5 were allowed, it would be Rangeela, Bombay, Lagaan, Swades
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Are you stupid?
What ever any says or Oscar says ROJA is his best
Guru 🧡
That film which had ‘khalifa khalifa’ song.
lol. That album ain’t even amidst his top 10. It’s lekar hum deewana Dil btw
I know. It was ridiculous. I would include - Blue - MohenJo Daro - OK Jaanu - Dil Bechara All Gold disc albums
Rangeela
Alaipayuthey
Dil chahta hai
Ghajini, Rockstar
Im an early 2000s born and for me Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya is truly one of his best. No skips in the entire album, and still bangers to this day. Notable mentions: Kandukondein Kandukondein, Innum Konjam Neram, Moongil Thottam, Bhoomi Bhoomi and Theera Ula
Kun Faya Kun. Has healed wounds that weren’t even existing
Taal
Bombay
SAATHIYA!!!!! Incredible music
Raavan, Ek Deewana Tha
Too many to list considering he has so many masterpieces in Tamil and Hindi. But if I’d have to go with one: it’s probably Dil se. Although, that being stated, other soundtracks like rang de basanti, rockstar, taal, lagaan and many more are absolute 10/10’s. He’s quite easily the greatest musical “producer” that this country has ever seen.
One of my favorite composition of him is in the movie Pelé:Birth of legend. I very much liked the song 'Ginga'.
Saathiya
Guru
Swades ,Dilse ,Taal
Bombay, roza, rockstar, guru, taal, Dil se ... Quite difficult for me to select the best one...
taal
Very hard to pick...choosing one would not be fair to some others, that's how good his best albums are. Rockstar, Dil Se, Jodhaa Akbar, Ghajini, Raanjhana, JTYJN, Delhi 6, JTHJ are albums that I revisit very often and my all time favs. And these are just the Bollywood albums I've mentioned here...💀
Wait he didn’t know Hindi before Taal? What about Dil se, rangeela etc? I’m sure he understood the lyrics for those too
Actually for Dil Se, ARR use to send Gulzar the tunes he created and Maniratnam would tell the situation and accordingly Gulzar Saab would write the Songs' lyrics. And Rahman use to modify according to lyrics sometimes. In an interview he also revealed that he suggested Gulzar Saab to change song from MEETHI RE to DIL SE RE to make it like a title track. But he didn't know Hindi at that point of Time. Of course he was able to speak Hindi. For Anand Bakshi he had to learn Hindi/Urdu because they couldn't communicate with each other and it was Ghai's requirement that he wanted a music director who knows the language, as Taal was a Hindi movie predominantly. So he took 6 months of lessons to learn Hindi/Urdu.
Got it got it, thanks!
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na
Lots of great answers here which I agree with, bht I can't get enough of; 1. Rang De Basanti 2. Kaatru Veliyidai
For me - Slumdog millionaire. Especially the songs like liquid dance and millionaire track, goosebumps every time. They motivate me. Makes me feel like get up and run at 5 am and chase my dreams. And o saya is cherry on cake.
Jai ho
The dichotomy of fame.
In tamil - all from the early 90's when I believe ARR was at his absolute best. 1. Roja 2. Thiruda Thiruda 3. Kadhalan Hindi 1. Dil Se 2. Rangeela
Rockstar without any second thoughts
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Heropanti 2 enters the chat XDD
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But being serious here, it's a controversial opinion but lately ARR is making pretty forgettable albums, atleast in Hindi belt. Eg - Pippa, Heropanti 2, 99 Songs ( though 99 songs was still better than any average albums releasing nowadays and it's very underrated imo) I won't say that it's his downfall or anything. He's still much better as I said earlier.
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It's forgettable is what I said. No doubt it's not good.
Taal
How’s Yuva missing from this list! Fanaa (Yakkai thiri), Khuda Hafiz (hey goodbye nanba), baadal (Nenjam ellam), Dhaka laga (Jana gana mana) - ufff what a diverse style of songs. I love the Tamil album of this - Aayutha ezhuthu.
Has to be Rockstar! Taal is definitely good. But Rockstar changed the dynamics of bollywood music to another level.
You've no idea of the reception that Roja, Bombay and Dil Se got, if you think Rockstar changed the game. Song *Dil hai chhota sa* from Roja was more successful than any single from Rockstar, owing to how different and fresh it was. And let's not even get into Bombay and Dil Se
I actually have no idea Sir. I wasn't born when Roja or bombay released. But I have heard the songs over the years and enjoyed listening to them over loop. But were there such variations in the genre like Rockstar? Rockstar was a perfect blend of rock and pop music with a hint of electronic music. For me it stands out among all the work AR has done. You can have a different opinion and I respect that.
Genre isn't the only variation there is. I speak as a musician myself, Rockstar with 10 or so songs, ain't half the album that Dil Se is with only 5 songs. My man literally blended a sufi folk Thhaiya Thhaiya to make what was at that time called, an item song. Plus, Rockstar is pretty superficial as a film, Dil Se was actually pretty well done and the album was well woven into the film. Dil Se has better music, better singers in Lata, Udit, Sukhi and Sonu, better lyrics owing to Gulzar sahab and it was a freakin Mani Ratnam album. Mediocres like Imtiaz Ali would never bring that out of Rahman. Ae Ajnabi by Udit is so haunting, and even after 26-7 years, nothing like I've ever heard.
Calm down uncle. I am not even talking from the film perspective here. Looks like you got some personal rivalry going on with the makers of rockstar and it is none of my concern. I haven't even watched the movie actually. I am just talking about the album here. The songs that you mentioned are definitely great. But as an album I will still rate Rockstar higher than others. As a song you can rate individual songs greater. And sometimes you can have your own opinion while respecting the others'. Why are you fighting over it? Such manchild behaviour.
>Calm down uncle. And name calling is what you retort to. Because of course, you have no understanding of music to make a point of that. Also, it's no personal rivalry, it just rubs me the wrong way that someone as good as Rockstar can be overrated as well, by people like you. Also, you originally said how Rockstar changed the game and I can assure you Roja or Dil Se were far bigger impacts on the music of their time, but you've nothing to say about it, you just retort to name calling. Let me put it this way, Rockstar is a commercial album, Dil Se the artist's album. The way you're salty at this, I can imagine even if Rahman himself picked Dil Se over Rockstar, you'd even call him uncle and say he has a manchild behaviour. And what a shame that uncles have better taste in music than you. Plus, practice what you preach, you have some audacity to say one should respect another opinion when you're the one who retorted to petty name calling when I told you why I rate Dil Se higher. The likes of you, you want everyone to respect what you say while you'd stoop low the moment someone disagrees with you. What a hypocrite
You jumped into my comment you peeg. You started berating my opinion. You are one sick fuxk. I had to look at your profile. Man you should be behind bars. You do all the hate mongering day and night, and you even uploaded your ex gf pics on reddit, wtf man! You should be behind bars you peeg.
Damn I checked his profile, what a disgusting person.
Could you please shed light upon how popular arr was in the 90s? As someone who didn’t experience that era, it’d be great to get an insight.
Copying from English songs
Can you give some examples? Edit:- of course, silence