| Bombay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn | |||
| Genre | World Music | |||
| Length | 40:50 | |||
| Label | Pyramid | |||
| Producer | A.R. Rahman | |||
| A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
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Bombay is the soundtrack to the 1995 Indian Tamil film Bombay, directed by Mani Ratnam and starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala in lead roles. The soundtrack album includes eight tracks composed by A. R. Rahman[1] and was released on 1995 by Pyramid.[2] The soundtrack was released in multiple languages. The lyrics for the Tamil version were written by Vairamuthu, except for the song "Halla Gulla", which was written by Vaali. The lyrics for the Hindi version and Telugu version were penned by Mehboob and Veturi Sundararama Murthy respectively.
After its release, Bombay was a large critical and commercial success. It became the largest selling Indian album of all time, with unprecedented sales of 12 million records.[3] The soundtrack was included in The Guardian's "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list,[4] and the song "Kehna Hi Kya", was included in their "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list.[4]
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The soundtrack album was originally released in Tamil in 1995. It was also released in Hindi by Universal Music and in Telugu by Polygram[2] in the same year.
Since its release, the soundtrack for Bombay has been influential, both nationally and internationally. The soundtrack also found success across India in its dubbed Hindi and Telugu versions. In 2007, the soundtrack was included in The Guardian's "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list,[4] and the Hindi version of the song "Kannalane", titled "Kehna Hi Kya", was included in their "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list in 2009.[4] The Hindi version of the song was also sampled by Ciara for her 2009 song "Turntables", featuring Chris Brown.
Vairamuthu won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist, and K. S. Chithra won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for the song "Kannalane". A. R. Rahman won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) for the soundtrack.
The track "Bombay Theme" is an instrumental orchestral piece composed and arranged by A. R. Rahman. The track became an internationally sensational work and has featured in several compilations. It was also sampled by many major artists. Major compilation albums on which it was appeared include Chakra Seven Centers (1995; in which it was credited as "Ajna Chakra"), Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground (1997), Café del Mar Vol 5 (1998), Ambient Chillout Mix Vol. 1 (2002) and Paradisiac 2 . The track is alternatively credited as "Bombay Theme Tune," "Mumbai Theme Tune" or "Bombay Theme Music" in compilations. It was featured in the Palestinian film Divine Intervention in 2002, and in the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War, in 2005. Rahman reused the track as "Bombay Theme Intro" in the score of the 1996 film, Fire, by Deepa Mehta.
It also appeared on a French TV commercial for Volvic starring Zinedine Zidane in 2000. The theme was also sampled by the German band Löwenherz for their song "Bis in die Ewigkeit".[5]
The track "Uyire" has become one of the most popular and acclaimed songs of the nineties. It was sung by Hariharan, who believes its the best one he has ever sung.[6] After composing the song, Rahman had three choices for the vocalist - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. J. Yesudas and Hariharan. Rahman says: "I had three options for that song. SPB sir, Yesudas sir, Hariharan. Then I imagined all of them singing it. Since I had not heard Hari in a non-ghazal kind of song, I decided to take the gamble. Then when he did , he had a whole new flavour for the song."[7] The female vocals has been provided by K. S. Chithra and Swarnalatha
The song "Humma Humma" ("Antha Arabi") was also a major success. Noted composer Amit Trivedi says, "When I first heard "Humma Humma" I couldn't believe my ears. It was brilliant! I bought the album, I realized that it was composed by the same magician who had composed Thiruda Thiruda. I was overhelmed by the songs."
| Tamil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singers | Length | Lyricist |
| 1 | "Humma Humma" | A. R. Rahman, Suresh Peters, Swarnalatha | 5:10 | Vairamuthu |
| 2 | "Kannalanae" | K. S. Chithra, A.R.Rahman and Chorus | 5:52 | |
| 3 | "Uyire Uyire" | Hariharan, K. S. Chithra | 7:14 | |
| 4 | "Kuchi Kuchi" | Hariharan, Swarnalatha, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Sharadha | 5:07 | |
| 5 | "Poovukkenna Poottu" | Noel, Anupama Krishnaswami, Malgudi Subha, G. V. Prakash Kumar | 5:53 | Vaali |
| 6 | "Bombay Theme" | Instrumental | 5:18 | |
| 7 | "Malarodu Malaringu" | Sujata, Chorus | 2:43 | Vairamuthu |
| 8 | "Idhu Annai Bhoomi" | Sujata, Noel, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka, Anuradha Sriram | 3:28 | |
| Hindi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singers | Length | Lyricist |
| 1 | "Kehna Hi Kya" | K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman and Chorus | 5:52 | Mehboob |
| 2 | "Humma Humma" | Remo Fernandes, Swarnalatha, A. R. Rahman | 5:10 | |
| 3 | "Tu Hi Re" | Hariharan, Kavita Krishnamurthy | 7:14 | |
| 4 | "Kuchi Kuchi" | Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Sharadha | 5:07 | |
| 5 | "Kuch Bhi Na Socho" | Pallavi, Shubha, Anupama Krishnaswami, Noel, Srinivas | 5:53 | |
| 6 | "Bombay Theme" | Instrumental | 5:18 | |
| 7 | "Aankhon Mein Ummeedon" | Sujatha, Chorus | 2:43 | |
| 8 | "Apna Zameen Yeh" | Sujatha, Noel, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka, Anuradha Sriram | 3:28 | |
| Telugu | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singers | Length | Lyricist |
| 1 | "Kannanule" | K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman and Chorus | 5:52 | Veturi Sundararama Murthy |
| 2 | "Adi Arabi Kadalandam" | Remo Fernandes, Swarnalatha | 5:10 | |
| 3 | "Vurike Chilaka" | Hariharan, K. S. Chithra | 7:14 | |
| 4 | "Kuchi Kuchi Koonamma" | Udit Narayan, Swarnalatha, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Sharadha | 5:07 | |
| 5 | "Poolakundi Komma" | Pallavi, Shubha, Anupama Krishnaswami, Noel, Srinivas | 5:53 | |
| 6 | "Bombay Theme" | Instrumental | 5:18 | |