Music of Slumdog Millionaire

One of the most internationally appealing albums to come out of Bollywood

When people look at renowned works of art, they are usually heard saying things such as, “It’s a Monet” or “It’s a Renoir”. With a soundtrack like “Slumdog Millionaire”, one can easily summarise it by saying, “It’s a Rahman”. What a work of audible art! Point to note that SM should be listened to as a background score album, as most of the tracks are mood-creators.

“O Saya” brings back Rahman’s fascination for the rhythm of the train. The song has tremendous energy and captures the spirit of bustling Bombay, flavoured with M.I.A.’s unique vocals.

“Mausam and Escape” is a brilliant fusion track, which puts sitar-work into a funky groove together with strings and electronica.

“Ringa Ringa” – one of Rahman’s first blatant admissions of inspiration – is an interesting take on “Choli Ke Peeche”, and very unique at first listen, because it’s not the type of song you expect from ARR’s realm.

Similarly, you don’t expect him to take on gangsta hip/hop, but he does so rather effectively with “Gangsta Blues”.

“Liquid Dance” is almost like a resurrection of “Spirit of Rangeela” (string ensemble work with Indian classical percussive vocals). Sukhwinder brings a lot of vivacity into his vocals, with “Jai Ho”.

The break-out track on the album has got to be MIA’s “Paper Planes”, and the remix version. This song began as an underground rebellion, and then crossed-over to become a mainstream hit. The Sri Lankan rapper’s distinctive vocal twang gets more appealing after a few listens.

“Riots”, “Latika’s Theme”, Millionaire” and “Dreams on Fire” are all individually enjoyable, and will prompt more memories and pique one’s interest further, after watching the film.

Balance sheet: Most of the songs have several proprietary elements, which scream Rahman, but for the most part, every twist and turn on each song takes you by surprise.

It’s always a pleasure to listen to an album like SM where you know that the musical genius behind the wheel is not afraid to experiment and has no imaginative limits whatsoever.

With the amount of global attention that SM has garnered, the soundtrack plays a befitting counterpart to the movie, in terms of diversity and finesse. One of the most internationally appealing albums to come out of Bollywood, and who else but ARR to be behind this masterpiece? Here’s to many more like this one.

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