The Music of Slumdog Millionaire
A pulsating score from A.R. Rahman drives the underdog film, with help from
M.I.A.
The soundtrack to the film 'Slumdog Millionaire' -
N.E.E.T.
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Movie: Slumdog Millionaire
Drake Lelane,
Dec 03, 2008
The film Slumdog Millionaire
is a frenetic portrait of Mumbai, a gritty fairytale of beating the
odds and standing firm in the face of adversity, and propelling it
forward is the pulsating score by A.R. Rahman. In the wake of the recent
tragedy in Mumbai, the film -- and its soundtrack -- becomes even more visceral
than the ebullient depiction of the Indian city.
To be honest, I had just started to write something about the
soundtrack last week when the news of the terrorist attack came, and I
couldn't help wondering if this tragedy would now be linked to the
film, for good and for bad. Hearing M.I.A. singing, "Some some some I some I
murder, some I some I let go" in the song "Paper Airplanes"
while watching the news unfold can steer one's thoughts in the oddest
of directions. That song of course has made her a star, and one of the
drawbacks of her higher profile is that it has also made her a target.
This summer M.I.A. had to release a statement disclaiming accusations that she
supports terrorism,
a rumored link she's repeatedly had to dispel thanks to both her
estranged father's participation in the Sri Lankan terrorist outfit LTTE
and her arguable glamorization of their cause. Of course, M.I.A. is no
terrorist, she just has a natural fascination with the cause, having
grown up with it. (Critic Robert Christgau wrote a great piece on this struggle
nearly four years ago, and it holds up especially well.)
"Paper Airplanes," of course, got its second life this past summer thanks to
being featured in the trailer for Pineapple Express, but it should be pointed
out that Slumdog
had it first, and that once you see the song used in the film, it will
cease to be "that song from that stoner comedy trailer." Director Danny
Boyle always had that song in mind for the film, but for the score, he
had his sights set on White Stripes' Jack Black.
Thankfully, the prospect of Black taking a year off to write music in
India was a bit of a pipe dream, and Boyle settled on the "Mozart of Madras,"
Bollywood legend A.R. Rahman.
For those not familiar with Bollywood, A.R. Rahman is like Michael Jackson and
John Williams
all rolled into one -- king of both pop and score. At only 42, Rahman
is the 8th best-selling music artist of all-time, and with a long
career still ahead of him he will undoubtably work his way further up the list.
Boyle let Rahman loose, asking that he create something with a
pulsating rhythm and that he resist sentiment. As Boyle has been
retelling it at post-screening Q&A's across the country, "I told
him, 'Never put a cello in my film!'" implying his need to keep the
film clear of too much melodrama. (This, along with a sort of nostalgic
look at growing up in a shantytown, is what makes the film a bit more
like its Brazilian doppelgänger, City of God.)
The
result is an intoxicating mix of old and new India, juxtaposing classic
Indian instrumentation with big beats and hip-hop synth sounds (hear "Mausam &
Escape"). Early in the film, it's his collaboration with M.I.A., "O Saya,"
that truly sucks you in, sweeping you into the gritty shantytowns of
Mumbai. Rahman also mixes in some popular Bollywood cues, giving the
fans of the genre some of extra thrills. The song "Ringa Ringa" that plays as
Latika dances is actually a reworking of the popular Bollywood song "Choli ke
peeche" from the film Khalnayak
(1993). Rahman even utilized the same voice talent, Alka Yagnik and Ila
Arun, who sang the original chart-topping version. Meanwhile, for a
gangster-related scene Rahman borrows the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy song "Aaj Ki Raat"
from the recent Bollywood gangster film Don: The Chase Begins Again (see video
of original use).
The final song in the film (and on the soundtrack) is "Jai Ho,"
which, along with the cast's dancing, has the distinction of keeping
the audience in their seats through the credits. It's an explosion of
joy that the film and audience feel like they've earned, witnessing all
that Jamal has triumphed over. Whether or not the film is married to
tragedy remains to be seen (it's still playing on less than 50
screens), but the ending goes a long way towards distancing itself in
spirit from the evil the city just endured.
drake lelane
curator of the music/soundtrack blog thus spake drake
