From an astounding 75 'A' grader bollywood releases in 2008, barely a clutchful made the mark, music wise. Not surprisingly, films composed by Rahman, SEL and Pritam - those with catchy tunes made brisk business. The messiah of the masses, Himesh Reshammiya, hit a chord with Karzzz too, relying mostly on the popularity of the original tracks and some ingenuity on his own part. Those who experimented (Sneha Khanwalkar with Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye) were not blessed with quick album sales and downloads, however.

Here's the lowdown on the top 10 film albums of 2008 and the five composers who stood the test of popularity.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (T-Series , composer A R Rahman)

Rock On (Big Music, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)

Kismat Konnection ( Tips, Pritam )

Singh Is Kinng (Junglee Music, Pritam)

Dostana (Sony BMG, Vishal-Shekhar)

Jodhaa Akbar (UTV Music, A R Rahman)

Yuvvraaj (T-Series, A R Rahman)

Ghajini (T-Series, A R Rahman)

Karzzzz (T-Series, Himesh Reshammiya)

Race (Sony BMG, Pritam)

The top composers of 2008

A R Rahman

A R Rahman remains the top grosser with films like Jodhaa Akbar, ADA: A Way of Life, Sakkarakatti (Tamil), Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Yuvvraaj, Ghajini and Slumdog Millionaire (English / Hindi) under his belt. The music for ADA: A Way of Life was done by Rahman in 2002; however, the film was delayed and got released in 2008. Each album had tracks which remained etched in the listeners' mind, but the budgeted Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na remained the top money spinner as far as listener ship and song downloads go.

Rahman who was voted the NDTV Indian of the year in 2008, started 2009 on a high note - a Golden Globe triumph and promise of more at the Academy awards.

Pritam

Quite surprisingly, composer Pritam Charaborthy battled neck-to-neck with Rahman in album sales with his commercially appeasing sound tracks. His top grosser for 2008 was the multi-crore Singh Is Kinng, Golmaal Returns, Kismat Konnection and Jannat. The Saif Ali Khan- Katrina Kaif starrer 'Race' was marred by plagiarism accusations by Taiwanese singer Lee-Hom Wang. Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which owned the rights for Lee-Hom Wang's songs, sued Tips Films for $320,000. There were many similarities in Lee-Hom Wang's song Deep in the Bamboo Grove (Chu Lin Shen Chu) and Zara Zara touch me from Race. Neverthless, this hardly affected the album's popularity.

Pritam's film scores ...

that bombed this year were Haal-e-dil and My Name is Anthony Gonsalves, but the composer who turned high profile this year by agreeing to judge a reality talent hunt on television, is sure to have his kitty full of promises for 2009.

Vishal- Shekhar

This year, duo Vishal-Shekhar scored for Bhoothnath, Tashan, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Dostana and also debuted in Tollywood with Telugu movie Chintakayala Ravi.The score for children's film Bhoothnath was moderately accepted while the multi-starring Tashan that failed at the box-office was considered as one of the weakest films to come out of the Yash Raj banner ever. However, towards the year end, Bachna Ae Haseeno and Dostana proved to be one of the biggest sellers in 2008, with the duo now having understood the pulse of the urban Indian audience. Will the Yash Raj regulars widen their horizons in 2009?

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

The trio had just two releases in 2008 – Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Rock On. Yash Raj's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic got mixed reviews. But, with Farhan Akhtar's debut Rock On, SEL broke the age-old mental block that bollywood deemed about rock music. The music caught on like wild fire. Apparently, Big Music label which has the rights for the album has sold about 800,000 albums and is still counting. Their next, again with lucky mascot Farhan Akhtar, Luck by CHance, hits theatres soon, and with the music of the film already creating waves, SEL seem set for a rocking 2009 too.

Himesh Reshammiya

Himesh Reshammiya's only release for the year was 'Karzzzz', in line with his vow not to compose for films that do not feature him in the lead. The much hyped film of the year boasted of 19 tracks (original + remixes). The film got mired in controversy after Punjabi singer Kulwinder Kally accused Reshammiya for using his song Soniye Je Tere without giving him due credit. The film was moderately received by the audience and listeners alike. Now, the pulse is on his forthcoming film Kajraare scheduled to be released in 2009. The film will be directed by Pooja Bhatt.