AR Rahman wins 'Grassroot Grammy'

The 'Mozart of Madras' bagged the top prize for the soundtrack in the Tamil film Godfather in the 'Best Indian album' category at the 'Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards' held recently.

Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman has pipped another great Ilayaraja to win the 'Grassroot Grammy' held in the US.

The 'Mozart of Madras' bagged the top prize for the soundtrack in the Tamil film Godfather in the 'Best Indian album' category at the 'Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards' held recently.

HT Image

Bangla band 'Krosswindz' and Ilayaraja were among others nominated in the category. With over 50,000 members worldwide, the 'Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards' is aimed at supporting grassroot songwriters and musicians through networking, education and promotional support.

Rahman also won the third place in the 'Best Indian Song' category for 'Innisai' (Radio Mix) from Godfather while his 'Illamai' was fifth in the same category. Ilyaraja's "Music Journey: Live in Italy" was third in the 'Best Indian album' category. In 'Indian Classical and Traditional Album' category Shweta Jhaveri's "Avishkar" clinched the first position. The awards received responses from over 163 countries.