People dressed in colourful attire mill around a railway station. Suddenly, familiar strains fill the place, their melody bubbling to a boil, till AR Rahman's voice sings Jai Ho! And the station comes to life, people dancing enthusiastically to the beat.
But it's neither Dev Patel nor Freida Pinto gyrating their way into the final scene of Slumdog Millionaire at CST, Mumbai. In their place is vivacious American girl band, the Pussycat Dolls, swaying to the remix of the song at a station in Vienna, Austria. This is the video setting for the remix of Jai Ho, with lead singer Nicole Scherzinger belting out English lyrics to replace the Hindi words. This is not the first time the composer has collaborated with international artists. Rahman has collaborated with Finnish band Vattrina for the score of the musical version of The Lord of the Rings and has recently worked with singer Kylie Minogue for Bollywood movie, Blue. Music producer and chairman of Geffen Records, Ron Fair says he got in touch with Rahman along with chairman of Interscope (IGA), Jimmy Iovine, after watching the movie. "We wanted to try and make a pop record without deviating from the original melody. I spent a week editing the song," says Fair. Nicole says the song shouldn't be called a remix, but an interpretation. "I wanted to maintain the integrity of the song, but also play on the sexy beats that he's used." The song was recorded in London and Nicole and Rahman corresponded over webcam. Fair says the composer gave him the space and encouragement to experiment with the song. "He was very positive and he knew our spirit was in the right place," he says. The video of the song was shot in Vienna, where the last scene of the movie was recreated with antique trains. "The video will be a lot of fun," says Scherzinger. "This is the start of a new age, with untraditional scores and beats, where Bollywood meets western sensibilities," says Fair. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/US/Now-Pussycats-do-a-Jai-Ho/articleshow/4179824.cms
