‘Music that feeds the soul’ is a phrase that befits Oscar award-winning musician, AR Rahman. He began his career in 1992 with Mani Ratnam’s Roja and has since composed beautiful melodies that have become a huge part of our lives.

Be it rain or sun, newfound love or heartbreak, birth or death - the man has composed music for every occasion. Listening to him perform live has been one of the best musical experiences of my life, reports the Hindustan Times.

Rahman has completed 25 years in the industry, and on his 51st birthday, here’s a look at my favourite Rahman music from 1992 to 2017.

I don’t exactly remember when my love affair with Rahman’s music began. All I know is that it only took me once to fall in love with ‘Pudhu Vellai Mazhai’ in Roja. It was initially just a great song, but with time and experience, the beauty of marriage between great lyrics and compositions came through. And so, this song will forever remain a favourite on my playlist.

There are many songs composed by AR Rahman that are not just evergreen but are ever-changing. That’s another thing about Rahman’s music. It is not just the melody that moves you, but also the lyrics. ‘Pachai Nirame’ from Alaipayuthey is one such song. The song draws a poetic portrait of the woman that the singer is in love with.

AR Rahman has also almost always nailed the mood of a given song. There is this popular phrase, ‘Ilaiyaraaja by day, Rahman by night’ is also the fans’ way of paying homage to the two great composers. The perfect song for one to listen to at night as you sit down with a hot cup of coffee is Delhi 6’s ‘Rehna Tu’, probably followed by ‘Tu Bole Main Boloon’ from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na.

Music transcends language and that’s how Rahman fans started to enjoy his songs in any language. The composer has worked in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. He has also worked on multiple albums, but ‘One Love’, which was released when the new seven wonders of the world were chosen, happens to be my favourite.