First AR Rahman’s collaborations put Indian music on the World map with two Oscars, then he joined Sir Mick Jagger to form the band Super Heavy and now he has inspired Trinity College of London to include Bollywood and Indian classical music in its curriculum.

Commenting on the inclusion of Bollywood music in the syllabus, Sarah Kemp chief executive of Trinity College said, "Bollywood music has been catapulted to centre stage. The international success of Rahman's music played a very important role in bringing Indian music to the world platform. We are changing our syllabus to keep it fresh, relevant and contemporary. It should reflect global trends and including Bollywood music is a way of doing that. This brings inclusiveness in our repertoire."

Trinity College has already offered Carnatic music of South India to some of the students as a pilot project and depending on the feedback they will include Indian classical music in the syllabus permanently. Overall though the focus was on rock, pop and jazz which were hot favourites among students.”

Trinity College delivers around 500,000 assessments each year worldwide, out of which 36,000 were from India last year. In music, the assessments were offered in piano, violin, viola, cello, classical guitar, plectrum guitar, keyboards, flutes, recorders, singing and drumkits. The College is a leading international examinations board providing qualifications in the English language and performing arts including music, dance, drama and speech. It is present in over 60 countries all over the world and the pan-India network has over 30 centres.