Thanks to the biography at AllMusic.com, I recently encountered this interesting Rahman detail:

"'Slumdog Millionaire' Oscar winner A.R. Rahman became the first Indian artist to sign with Sony Music, negotiating a three-year contract in 1997.

His premier release for the label, 'Vande Mataram' (his first collection of non-film music), was a tribute to India, commemorating 50 years of the country's independence. The album reached record stores in 28 countries on August 15th of that year."

The video shows the title track:

[Originally posted at Last.FM.]