Working in India's various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2004, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, had sold more than 150 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide,and sold over 200 million cassettes,making him one of the world's all-time top selling recording artists.
Time magazine has referred to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm). In 2009, the magazine placed Rahman in the Time 100 list of World's Most Influential People.













