AR Rahman's Roja Film is still an all time Hit.

Two Oscars for his work in Slumdog Millionaire may have taken AR Rahman's popularity to new heights, but the songs he composed for his 1992 debut film Roja remain the hot favourites with his Indian fans.

A majority of respondents covered by a poll commissioned by Economic Times rate Roja as Rahman’s best film album, with Slumdog coming a close second. Dil Se (1997), Taal (1998) and Bombay (1994) complete the list of the maestro’s top five albums.

Conducted by market research agency Synovate, the five-city survey that covered 257 music lovers among SEC A and A Plus consumers reveal that while a majority of the respondents (86%) across metropolitan India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad) agree that Rahman’s work in Slumdog is his best, the composer’s work in Roja emerged their favourite when they were asked to name his top three films.

A sizeable chunk of the respondents in Kolkata (86%), Chennai (48%) and Ahmedabad (44%) rated Roja as Rahman’s top album while it was the favourite with 30% of those surveyed in Mumbai. The films Dil Se, Taal and Bombay figured prominently among the favourites in Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

Some leading industry figures also feel Slumdog may not be Rahman’s best work to date. “The legacy of Rahman’s music makes it amply clear that he’s capable of much better work than Slumdog Millionaire,” said lyricist Prasoon Joshi. Composer Aadesh Srivastav agrees. “Slumdog Millionaire is not a complete reflection of Rahman’s true genius. It’s mainly fusion music in a foreign director’s film. There are other films where he has done better,” he said.

Besides his two Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards, Rahman also has won four national awards (the only music composer to have done so) and one British Academy Award (also for Slumdog Millionaire). Apart from scoring music of over100 Indian films, Rahman has also composed music for several international projects such as Bombay Dreams (2002), a stage show; The Lord of The Rings (theatre produc-tion in 2004) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).