| Slumdog Millionaire | |||||
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| Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman | |||||
| Released | 25 November 2008 | ||||
| Recorded | Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios | ||||
| Genre | Soundtrack, film score, world music, hip-hop | ||||
| Length | 51:01 | ||||
| Label | N.E.E.T., Interscope T-Series (India) |
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| Producer | A. R. Rahman | ||||
| Danny Boyle film soundtrack chronology | |||||
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| A. R. Rahman chronology | |||||
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Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album of the British drama film Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle. The original score and songs were composed by A. R. Rahman, who planned the score in two months and completed it in two weeks,[1] a far shorter time period than usual. The soundtrack has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Music Score and the other for Best Original Song for "Jai Ho". The soundtrack has also won two Grammy Awards, one for the album itself and another for the song "Jai Ho".
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Rahman has stated that he was aiming for "mixing modern India and the old India" with the music (see Music of India), but that the film and soundtrack "isn’t about India or Indian culture. The story could happen anywhere." The film's director Danny Boyle, who "hated sentiment" and told Rahman "Never put a cello in my film", wanted a "pulsey" score. Rahman appreciated that Boyle liked how Indian films mix music, saying the director wanted "edgy, upfront" music that did not suppress sound. Composing pieces to fit the images, he noted: "There’s not many cues in the film. Usually a big film has 130 cues. This had just seventeen or eighteen: the end credits, beginning credits."[1] Describing the music as one of the parts he liked most in the film,[2] Boyle wanted to include M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" from early on in production on the score, which appears along with an original track Rahman composed, "O...Saya," featuring the artist.[3] M.I.A., who Rahman described as a "powerhouse" gave brief film notes on some scenes to Boyle upon request during editing.[1][4][5] The track "Ringa Ringa" was done as a tribute to the famous Laxmikant-Pyarelal song "Choli Ke Peeche" from the 1993 movie Khal Nayak.[6] Rahman has attributed part of the success of the film soundtrack to Arulpragasam.[7]
The soundtrack for the film was released on M.I.A.'s N.E.E.T. label.[8]
On the Billboard issue dated January 31, 2009, the album knocked-off Lady GaGa's The Fame album, which was on the top for more than twelve consecutive weeks, from the top of the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. The soundtrack gained popularity after the performance of this movie on the Golden Globe Awards. It also rose up the Billboard 200 albums chart rising from 56 to 16 for the issue of January 31, 2009,[9] later peaking at #4 on the chart.[10] For the issue of March 7, 2009, the album again rebounded from 48 to 22 by selling 21,000 copies (a 38% rise), spurred by sales due to the Oscar win at the 81st Academy Awards.[11]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "O... Saya*" (performed by A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.) | A. R. Rahman, M.I.A. | 3:34 |
| 2. | "Riots" (instrumental) | 1:59 | |
| 3. | "Mausam & Escape" (instrumental) | 3:53 | |
| 4. | "Paper Planes#1" (performed by M.I.A.) | 3:23 | |
| 5. | "Paper Planes (DFA Remix)" (performed by M.I.A.) | 5:49 | |
| 6. | "Ringa Ringa" (performed by Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun) | Raquib Alam | 4:15 |
| 7. | "Liquid Dance#2" (performed by Palakkad Sriram, Madhumitha) | 2:59 | |
| 8. | "Latika's Theme" (performed by Suzanne D'Mello) | 3:09 | |
| 9. | "Aaj Ki Raat#3" (performed by Sonu Nigam, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Alisha Chinai) | Javed Akhtar | 6:07 |
| 10. | "Millionaire" (performed by Madhumitha) | 2:44 | |
| 11. | "Gangsta Blues" (performed by BlaaZe, Tanvi Shah) | BlaaZe | 3:42 |
| 12. | "Dreams on Fire" (performed by Suzanne D'Mello) | BlaaZe, Wendy Parr | 4:08 |
| 13. | "Jai Ho**" (performed by Sukhwinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Vijay Prakash) | Gulzar, Tanvi Shah | 5:19 |
*Nominated for Best Original Song at Academy Awards
**Winner of Best Original Song at Academy Awards
Other music featured in the film include:
| Charts | Peak |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Albums Chart[12] | 37 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 26 |
| French Albums Chart[10] | 44 |
| Mexican AMPROFON Albums Chart[13] | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[10] | 19 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[10] | 46 |
| UK Albums Chart[10] | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 [10] | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums[14] | 1 |
| Country | Certification | Sales/Shipments |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Gold[15] | 100,000+ |
| Australia | Gold[12] | 35,000+ |
| Ireland | Gold[16] | 7,500 |
| Preceded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums number-one album January 24, 2009 – February 7, 2009 (first run) March 14, 2009 (second run) |
Succeeded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
A. R. Rahman won the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. Rahman also earned three Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Original Score and two for Best Original Song, one shared with M.I.A. for the song "O... Saya" and the other shared with lyricist Gulzar for the song "Jai Ho". The soundtrack won two of those Academy Awards, one for Best Original Music Score and the other for Best Original Song for "Jai Ho". The soundtrack has also won two Grammy Awards, one for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album, while "Jai Ho" has won Best Song Written for a Visual Media.[17]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Atonement |
Academy Award for Best Original Score 2008 |
Succeeded by Up |
| Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score 2008 |
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| Preceded by La Vie en rose |
BAFTA Award for Best Film Music 2008 |
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| Big Three Film Music Awards (2008) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award Slumdog Millionaire |
Golden Globe Slumdog Millionaire |
BAFTA Award Slumdog Millionaire |
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