This is a list of movies made by the Indian director Mani Ratnam featuring the Indian music composer A. R. Rahman. Their partnership is widely regarded as having produced some of the best film music in Indian cinema from the 1990s till present. They are also considered to have revolutionized Indian Film Music and also considered one of the best Director- music director combo.
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History and significance
Mani Ratnam after his long relationship with Ilaiyaraaja, decided to drop him and introduce a newcomer, A.R.Rahman in Roja. He happened to listen to some ad jingles, composed by Rahman, in an awards function, where Rahman received the award for Best Jingle Composer. Impressed with Rahman's works, Ratnam visited his studio and listened to a tune that Rahman had composed long back on the Kaveri River water dispute. Ratnam signed him immediately for the film, which was the first one in his terrorism trilogy. Rahman, in spite of his reluctance to seriously take up work in films, accepted the offer since Ratnam had the reputation of a director with a good taste for music. Rahman would later say: "I wasn't sure myself why I accepted Roja. I was offered ₹25,000 (US$370) for it, a sum that I could make in three days composing ad jingles. I think it was the prospect of working with Mani that enticed me".
Roja was released in 1992 to universal acclaim. It is considered a milestone in Tamil and Indian film music that heralded the start of a new era. It was subsequently listed in Time magazine's World's "10 Best Soundtracks" of all time. They worked together in 11 films altogether, with every soundtracks having marked a phenomenal critical and commercial success in Indian cinema. Rahman won two out of his four National Awards from his association with Ratnam. Bombay, the most significant work from their combination, is the largest selling Indian music album of all time, with an unprecedented sales of 12 million records.