A.R. Rahman is not a household name in the United States, but to millions of South Asians in India and abroad he's the superstar music man behind the sound of the sprawling, lavish Bollywood films they love. There, where the soundtrack is often considered more important than the plot, Rahman has broken all sorts of records -- he's scored more than 70 films and sold more than 100 million albums.

With Indian bands performing at prestigious international events and foreign stars coming to India, these are rocking times indeed for niche music in the country.

It's getting louder and bigger - the noise about Indian music. And it's not the new sounds in Bollywood that we're talking about. Other genres of music in the country, like rock, electronic and folk, are gaining in popularity, visibility and money, thanks in part to international recognition.