The National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Music Direction are given annually. In years 1994, 1995 and 2010, an award for Best Background Score was instituted by the Jury, which was won by Johnson (for Ponthan Mada in 1994 and Sukrutham in 1995) and by Ilaiyaraaja (for Pazhassi Raja in 2010). A. R. Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja (including one for best background score) have won the most awards in this category (4 times).