In 1992, he was approached by director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for his Tamil movie, Roja.Rahman received the Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) award for best music director at the National Film Awards for Roja. The movie's music was critically and commercially successful in its original and dubbed versions, led by the innovative theme "Chinna Chinna Aasai".A. R. Rahman won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction, the first time ever by a debutant. Rahman also earned Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director and Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) for his work.