From the Mozart of Madras, with love

The Google Play Store offers you at least a hundred A R Rahman apps. A recent addition to the list is the one by Quiky.com and Topfan. An all-in-one application, the new app is already on the must-have list of many.

Rahman, who calls it his official app, launched it on August 15. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices. The most striking feature of the app is that it brings most social media apps under a single roof. Log in and the first window will take you to the social feeds directly from the Oscar-winner.

The app is unique with its 'challenge and redeem your points' feature. Before you start taking challenges you just have to sign up in a few, easy steps. The challenges range from watching a few videos of Rahman songs to taking quizzes on how well you know the maestro. Once you successfully complete a challenge, you have a few thousand points credited to your account. You can redeem these points to get exclusive rewards including autographs, merchandise, tickets to Rahman concerts, etc. This feature has added a great deal to the interactivity of the app.

As you complete your challenges, listen to your favourite tunes from the Rockstar composer. But here's the catch. The tracks are for just about 40 seconds. If you want to listen to the complete track, be ready to shell out a few bucks. As I tried all available songs, a few failed to play. You can also surf through pictures, videos and albums. The app offers exclusive sections for Rahman's pet initiative, Infinite Love, and a discography for his numbers across all languages.

I would call the app a career biography of the composer. It gives you all the details of his compositions.

However, due to its heavy music and video files, the app appears to fill up the phone's memory and drain the battery and hence, do not be surprised if it slows down the phone. The news feeds and releases are far from updated. The most recent news item I came across was dated March 13.