Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture
| Slumdog Millionaire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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) | ||||
| 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 of the same name, 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 20 days,[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".
Development
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]
Chart performance
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 31 January 2009,[9] later peaking at #4 on the chart.[10] For the issue of 7 March 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]
Tracks
| 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; performed by Asad Khan (sitar)) | 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, Srimathumitha) | 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 Srimathumitha) | 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
- #1written by Mathangi Arulpragasam, Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Wesley Pentz, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer
- #2previously used as a background track in Azhagiya Thamizh Magan (2007, Tamil film) with different instrumentation and no vocals
- #3composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics by Javed Akhtar; from the album Don - The Chase Begins Again
- Not in the soundtrack
Other music featured in the film include:
- Salim's mobile phone ringtone – adapted from theme music to Swades.
- Opera performance at the Taj Mahal – "Che farò senza Euridice?" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
- "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" - Keith Strachan & Matthew Strachan.
- "Great DJ" by The Ting Tings featured in the trailer.
Charts
| Charts (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart[12] | 36 |
| Austrian Albums Chart[12] | 23 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[12] | 26 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[12] | 59 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[12] | 52 |
| French Albums Chart[12] | 24 |
| German Albums Chart[12] | 54 |
| Mexican Albums Chart[12] | 3 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[12] | 19 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[12] | 36 |
| Polish Albums Chart[10] | 8 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart[12] | 26 |
| Spanish Albums Chart[12] | 17 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[12] | 24 |
| UK Albums Chart[10] | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[10] | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums[13] | 1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales/Shipments |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Gold[14] | 100,000 |
| Australia | Gold[15] | 35,000 |
| Ireland | Gold[16] | 7,500 |
Chart procession and succession
| Preceded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums number-one album 24 January 2009 – 7 February 2009 (first run) 14 March 2009 (second run) |
Succeeded by The Fame by Lady Gaga |
Awards and nominations
References
- 1 2 3 Hill, Logan (12 November 2008). "Composer A.R. Rahman on the Sounds of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Being M.I.A.’s Idol". New York. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
- ↑ Vergee, Neelam (27 September 2008). "I think I changed working in Bombay". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
- ↑ Murrow, Martin (12 November 2008). "Clever Little Dickens". CBC. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ↑ "Danny Boyle says London actor Dev Patel plays ideal loser". CBC. 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
- ↑ Medina, Jeremy (12 November 2008). "Catching Up With...Danny Boyle". Paste. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
- ↑ The Times Of India http://movies.indiatimes.com/News-Gossip/Gossip/Rahmans-tribute-to-Choli-Ke-Peechey/articleshow/3950248.cms. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Information Not Found". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
- ↑ Maher, Dave (24 November 2008). "M.I.A.'s New Label to Release Slumdog Soundtrack". Pitchforkmedia. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ↑ Jonathon Cohen (22 January 2009). "Swift Makes It Lucky Seven Atop Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- 1 2 3 4 "Slumdog soundtrack on world charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
- ↑ Keith Caulfield (25 February 2009). "'Slumdog' Barks While Taylor Swift Nets 10th Week At No. 1". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "SOUNDTRACK / A.R. RAHMAN - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
- ↑ billboard Top Electronic Album
- ↑ "British album certifications – A.R. Rahman". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 September 2012. Enter A.R. Rahman in the field Search. Select Artist in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Search
- ↑ "Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
- ↑ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Ltd. - http://www.fireballmedia.ie (1962-10-01). "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2011-08-11.