*Slumdog Millionaire* made a clean sweep at the BAFTAs in London. Danny Boyle's film won seven awards including the ones for Best film and Best Director, but giving India another achievement to be proud of was music composer A R Rahman who won the Award for the Best Music Score.
The question that raised on CNN-IBN's *Face The Nation* was: Is A R Rahman the finest Indian music director ever? To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were: Music director for films *Aamir* and *Dev D*, Amit Trivedi and film critic Mayank Shekhar. *Slumdog music Rahman's best work?* A R Rahman has taken Indian to the world and his music for *Slumdog Millionaire* has been praised world over. However, people are wondering whether Rahman's music for the film been widely appreciated because it's his best music or because of the film's international appeal. Mayank Shekhar didn't believe the music of*Slumdog...* is Rahman's finest work and in fact felt the music director has delivered better scores for other movies. He further said that the West has taken notice of Rahman due to *Slumdog...* and that is the reason for the attention on him. "You can't compare the soundtrack of *Slumdog...*with the soundtrack of even *Delhi6* because it's inferior. A song like *Ringa Ringa* sounds like *Choli ke peeche* to me," he said. He further cited examples of Rahman's other work and said in the year 2008 itself he's done some exceptional soundtracks for films like *Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na* and *Yuvraaj*. However, Mayank Shekhar recalled Rahman's entry into the music industry and said he took the standards of music higher. Amit Trivedi agreed with Mayank Shekhar, but said it was a long overdue appreciation for Rahman. He considered Rahman an inspiration and said he's grown up listening to his music. In conclusion, Rahman's music speaks for itself and though *Slumdog Millionaire* has brought his work into focus to the West, awards can't define this maestro's greatness who time over has given inspirational music. *Final SMS Poll: Is A R Rahman the finest Indian music director ever?* * Yes: 91 per cent * *No: 9 per cent* http://ibnlive.in.com/news/striking-the-right-chord-rahmans-music-rocks/84920-3.html
