Impressed with Rahman's works, Ratnam visited his studio and listened to a tune that Rahman had composed long back on the Kaveri River water dispute (later revealed to be 'Tamizha Tamizha' from the soundtrack). Ratnam happened to listen to some ad jingles, composed by Rahman, in an awards function, where Rahman received the award for Best Jingle Composer. He initially approached advertisement jingle composer Mahesh Mahadevan, who refused since it required full-time commitment to the project. Mani Ratnam after his long relationship with Ilaiyaraaja, decided to collaborate with a newcomer. The Hindi version of the album earned ₹7.5 crore (equivalent to ₹49 crore or US$6.1 million in 2020) in sales. The Tamil and Hindi versions of the album sold over 3 million units in India, with the Tamil version selling over 200,000 units and the Hindi version selling 2.8 million units. Rahman and the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for Vairamuthu.

It also fetched the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for A. Released on Lahari Music, it was also listed in Time magazine's ' 10 Best Soundtracks' of all time. Balasubrahmanyam and the other by Hariharan. The Hindi version of the song was titled 'Roja Jaaneman' has two versions – one by S. The song 'Kadhal Rojave' has two versions in both Tamil and Hindi a solo and a duet in the former.

Un pudavai mundhaanai saaindhadhil indha boomi poo poothadhu Pen illaadha oorilae kodi thaan poo poopadhillai Pen illaadha oorilae adi aan poo ketpadhillai

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