1. Roja:
Roja is A.R. Rahman's first album and went on to be Listed in Time magazine 10 Best Soundtracks of all time. Music on Roja is astonishingly fresh and path-breaking. Every song on this album is a marvel and reflects Rehman's genius, But the Highlight of the soundtracks are two scintillating melodies, "Padhu Vellai Mazhai" and "Kaadhal Rojave". Not to mention that Even Rehman considers Roja as his Benchmark.
2. Rangeela: Three years after his Pathbreaking Tamil debut, came his maiden Bollywood work and will easily go down as one of Bollywood's most seminal music debuts. Every song is a testament to Rehman's ability to make a sonic innovation that Pays off. It is simply one of Rehman's best work and ended the era of heavy orchestration. "Hai Rama" is the spotlight of the album which has conventional Indian vocal melody and a frenzied fusion arrangement.
3. Bombay: Mani Ratnam's 1995 Blockbuster movie "Bombay" is centered around the events that led to the Bombay riots. Music by A.R. Rehmaan has been influential both nationally and internationally. THE GUARDIAN included it in the list of 1000 albums to hear before you die in 2007 and in 2009 the song "Kehna
He Kya" was included in their 1000 songs everyone must hear list.
4. Rang De Basanti:
Rang De Basanti was a revolutionary album with the fusion of Carnatic, bhangra and the regular stuff. Music on Rang de takes time to grow on the listener, hence wasn't received well upon its release. This Album saw first ever duet of Lata Mangeshkar and A.R Rehman in the form of "Lukka Chuppi". Rang De Basanti today is considered to be one of the finest pieces of Bollywood music.
5. Dil Se:
Music of "Dil Se" only has No Lows and only highs despite the movies poor reception at the box office. In 2003, "Chaiyya Chaiyya" was voted amongst the top 10 most famous song of all time by BBC world service and also won A.R. Rehman the Filmfare for the best music director. This was the first time Lata Mangeshkar sang for A.R. Rehman in "Jiya Jale, Jaan Jale".