AR Rahman, the ‘Mozart of Madras’ has won the ‘Grassroot Grammy’ award held in the United States.

The music composer bagged the top prize for the soundtrack in the film ‘Godfather’ (Varalaru) in the 'Best Indian album' category at the 'Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards' held recently.

Bangla band 'Krosswindz' and Illayaraja were among others nominated in the category. Rahman also won the third place in the 'Best Indian Song' category for 'Innisai' (Radio Mix) from ‘Varalaru’ while his 'Ilamai' was fifth in the same category.

Illayaraja's ‘Music Journey: Live in Italy’ was third in the 'Best Indian album' category. In 'Indian Classical and Traditional Album' category Shweta Jhaveri's ‘Avishkar’ clinched the first position.

With over 50,000 members worldwide, the 'Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards' is aimed at supporting Grassroot songwriters and musicians through networking, education and promotional support. The awards received responses from over 163 countries.