Bombay (soundtrack)

Last updated

Bombay
Album bombay cover.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Released24 December 1994 (Tamil)
January 1995 (Hindi and Telugu)
Recorded Panchathan Record Inn
Genre
Length40:50
Label Pyramid
Aditya Music
Polygram
Universal Music Group
Producer A.R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Gangmaster
(1994)
Bombay
(1994)
Indira
(1995)

Bombay is the soundtrack to the 1995 Indian film of the same name, with eight tracks composed by A. R. Rahman. [1] The film was directed by Mani Ratnam, and stars Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, while the soundtrack album was released on 24 December 1994 by Pyramid. [2] The Indian film was originally a Tamil film dubbed into Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam. The soundtrack was thus released in multiple languages. The lyrics for the Tamil version were written by Vairamuthu, except for the song "Halla Gulla", which was written by Vaali. The lyrics for the Hindi and Telugu versions were written by Mehboob and Veturi, respectively.

Contents

The soundtrack of the film became one of the best-selling Indian music albums of all time, with sales of 15 million units. [3] [4] The soundtrack was included in The Guardian's "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list, [5] and the Hindi version of the song "Kannalane", titled "Kehna Hi Kya" by K S Chitra was included in their "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list. [6] The song "Hamma" was later reused in Ok Jaanu (2017) as "The Humma Song". [7] "Bombay Theme" has appeared in various international films and music compilations, while "Kannalanae" and "Bombay Theme" have been sampled by various international artists.

Release history

The soundtrack album was originally released in Tamil in December 1994. Soon after the original released, in 1995 it was also released in Hindi and in Telugu by Polygram MIL. [2] PolyGram MIL later merged in Universal Music.

Critical reception

Since its release, the soundtrack for Bombay has been influential, both nationally and internationally. The soundtrack also found success across India in its dubbed Hindi and Telugu versions. In 2007, the soundtrack was included in The Guardian's "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list, [5] and the Hindi version of the song "Kannalane", titled "Kehna Hi Kya", was included in their "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list in 2009. [5] In 2014, BBC Music listed Bombay among their "20 Greatest Soundtracks" of all time, and selected the instrumental "Bombay Theme" as its standout track. [8]

A. R. Rahman won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) for the soundtrack. Vairamuthu won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist, and K. S. Chithra won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for the song "Kannalane".

Songs

Kannalane

"Kannalane", also known as "Kehna Hi Kya", is based on Qawwali, a form of Islamic Sufi music. [9] [10] K. S. Chithra won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for the song "Kannalane". Backing vocals were sung by A. R. Rahman, Sujatha Mohan, Ganga and Reshmi.

"Kehna Hi Kya", like the other songs on the Hindi soundtrack, was written by Urdu lyricist Mehboob. "Kehna Hi Kya" was included in The Guardian 's list of "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear". [5] The Hindi version of the song was also sampled by Ciara for her 2009 song "Turntables", featuring Chris Brown.

Bombay Theme

The track "Bombay Theme" is an instrumental orchestral piece composed and arranged by A. R. Rahman. It has been sampled by many artists in the world. The track featured in various compilations and films besides being sampled by many major artists. Major compilation albums on which it appeared include Chakra Seven Centers (1995; in which it was credited as "Ajna Chakra"), Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground (1997), Café del Mar Vol 5 (1998), Ambient Chillout Mix Vol. 1 (2002) and Paradisiac 2 . The track is alternatively credited as "Bombay Theme Tune," "Mumbai Theme Tune" or "Bombay Theme Music" in compilations. It was featured in the Italian film Denti by Gabriele Salvatores in 2000, in the Palestinian film Divine Intervention in 2002, in the 2005 Hollywood film Lord of War , [11] and in Julian Schnabel's Miral (2010). [12] [13] Rahman reused the track as "Bombay Theme Intro" in the score of the 1996 film, Fire , by Deepa Mehta. It also appeared on a French TV commercial for Volvic starring Zinedine Zidane in 2000. The theme was also sampled by the German band Löwenherz for their song "Bis in die Ewigkeit", [14] and by the American rapper Lloyd Banks for his song "Rather By Me" (2009). [15]

Hamma

Uyire

The track "Uyire" [16] was among the most popular and acclaimed songs of the 1990s. It was sung by Hariharan, who believes it is the best one he has ever sung. [17] After composing the song, Rahman had three choices for the vocalist - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. J. Yesudas and Hariharan. Rahman says: "I had three options for that song. SPB sir, Yesudas sir, Hariharan. Then I imagined all of them singing it. Since I had not heard Hari in a non-ghazal kind of song, I decided to take the gamble. Then when he did, he had a whole new flavour for the song." [18] The song also incorporates elements of Sufi music. [9]

The female vocals have been provided by K. S. Chithra for Tamil and Telugu, and the Hindi version was sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy. The song was called "Tu Hi Re" in Hindi while it was called "Urike Chilaka" in Telugu. The Hindi version was first sung by K.S.Chithra but music company wanted Hindi singer to sing henceforth it was sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy. The background voice was by Hariharan & Swarnalatha

The song was shot at Bekal Fort in Kerala.

Track listing

The Tamil track "Andha Arabic Kadaloram" had two different versions. The original release contained only A. R. Rahman's version; whereas the re-released version contained the rap portions by Remo Fernandes which were recorded for the Hindi dubbed version.

All lyrics are written by Vairamuthu; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman

Tamil
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Hamma Hamma"A. R. Rahman, Remo Fernandes & Swarnalatha 5:10
2."Kannalanae" K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman & Chorus (Sujatha Mohan, Reshmi, Ganga)5:48
3."Uyire Uyire" Hariharan & K. S. Chithra & Humming (Swarnalatha)7:14
4."Kuchi Kuchi"Hariharan, Swarnalatha, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Bombay Saradha & Shweta Mohan 5:01
5."Poovukkenna Poottu"Noel James, Anupama, Malgudi Subha, Srinivas & Pallavi5:55
6."Bombay Theme" Instrumental 5:18
7."Malarodu Malaringu" Sujatha Mohan, Anuradha Sriram & Chorus2:43
8."Idhu Annai Bhoomi"Sujatha Mohan, Noel James, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka & Anuradha Sriram3:28

All lyrics are written by Mehboob; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman

Hindi (including Urdu)
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Hamma Hamma"Remo Fernandes, A. R. Rahman & Swarnalatha5:10
2."Kehna Hi Kya"K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman & Chorus5:48
3."Tu Hi Re"Hariharan & Kavita Krishnamurthy & Humming (Swarnalatha)7:14
4."Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma" Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, G. V. Prakash Kumar & Sharadha5:01
5."Kuch Bhi Na Socho"Pallavi, Shubha, Anupama, Noel James & Srinivas5:55
6."Bombay Theme"Instrumental5:18
7."Aankhon Mein Ummeedon"Sujatha Mohan & Chorus2:43
8."Apna Zameen Yeh"Sujatha Mohan, Noel James, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka & Anuradha Sriram3:28

All lyrics are written by Veturi; all music is composed by A. R. Rahman

Telugu
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Adi Arabi Kadalandam"Remo Fernandes & Swarnalatha5:10
2."Kannanule"K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman & Chorus5:48
3."Urike Chilaka"Hariharan & K. S. Chithra7:14
4."Kuchi Kuchi Koonamma"Hariharan, Swarnalatha, G. V. Prakash Kumar & Sharadha5:01
5."Poolakundi Komma"Pallavi, Shubha, Anupama, Noel James & Srinivas5:55
6."Kulamela mathamela"Sujatha Mohan & Chorus2:43
7."Bombay Theme"Instrumental5:18
8."Idhu Maathrubhoomi"K.S.Chithra, Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha Mohan, Noel James, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka & Anuradha Sriram3:28

Related Research Articles

<i>Rangeela</i> (1995 film) 1995 film by Ram Gopal Varma

Rangeela (transl. 'Colourful') is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film co-written, directed and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. It stars Aamir Khan, Urmila Matondkar and Jackie Shroff. The film was A. R. Rahman's first Hindi film with an original score and soundtrack, as his previous Hindi releases were dubbed versions of his Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films.

<i>Bombay</i> (film) 1995 film by Mani Ratnam

Bombay is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala. The film tells the story of an inter-religious family in Bombay before and during the Bombay riots, which took place between December 1992 and January 1993 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid led to religious tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities. It is the second installment in Ratnam's trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including Roja (1992) and Dil Se.. (1998).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. S. Chithra</span> Indian playback singer

Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various Indian languages, as well as foreign languages such as Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English and French. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration with music composers like A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, Hamsalekha, M. M. Keeravani and with the playback singers K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam over the years. She is cited as the Golden Voice of India by world's Prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London in 2001 and Melody Queen of Indian Cinema by Radio Mirchi, The Times Group in 2016. She is honoured with the title First Ladies by the President of India in 2018 for being the first Indian woman to be honoured by British Parliament at House of Commons, United Kingdom in 2003. People of India fondly called her as Little Nightingale of Indian Cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hariharan (singer)</span> Indian playback singer

Hariharan Anantha Subramani is an Indian playback, bhajan and ghazal singer who predominantly sings in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages. He has also sung over 15,000 notable songs in 10 languages including Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Sinhala, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Sanskrit, Gujarati and English. He is an established ghazal singer and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music.

<i>Sivaji: The Boss</i> (soundtrack) 2007 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Sivaji: The Boss is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman for the film of the same name directed by S. Shankar, starring Rajinikanth and Shriya Saran and produced by AVM Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. R. Rahman discography</span>

A. R. Rahman made his debut in Indian Music Industry with the 1992 Tamil film Roja. In his three decade long career, he has composed and produced original scores and songs for more than 145 films in various languages, namely Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, English, Persian and Mandarin.

<i>Roja</i> (soundtrack) 1992 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Roja is the debut soundtrack album of music composer A. R. Rahman, featuring lyrics by Vairamuthu. It is the soundtrack to the 1992 Tamil film of the same name, directed by Mani Ratnam, and starring Aravind Swamy and Madhoo. The album features seven tracks in Tamil and Hindi, and six tracks in Malayalam, Telugu, Marathi and five tracks in the instrumental adaptation album.

<i>24</i> (soundtrack) 2016 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

24 is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman with song lyrics by Vairamuthu and Madhan Karky, to the 2016 Tamil film of the same name, produced by Suriya and directed by Vikram Kumar. The film stars Suriya, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen in lead roles. The album features six tracks and was released on 9 April 2016 by Eros Music.

<i>Raavanan</i> (soundtrack) 2010 soundtrack album to Raavanan by A. R. Rahman

Raavanan is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman, who accompanied for the music and background score for the 2010 Indian Tamil film of the same name, written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film marks Rahman's second collaboration with actor Vikram after Pudhiya Mannargal (1994). The soundtrack album was released by Sony Music on 28 May 2010.

"Changing Seasons" is a music video by Indian composer A. R. Rahman. The video was simultaneously released in Hindi and Tamil on 18 January 2011. The song "Jaare Udd Jaare" (Hindi) / "Naan Varuvene" (Tamil) featured in the video was composed by Rahman and performed by Rahman and Jali Fily Cissokho. The video, produced by Y. M. Movies and filmed by John Warner, features Aishwarya Rai along with Rahman. The song was originally composed for Bollywood film Raavan and its Tamil version Raavanan. The song was previously released on the Hindi Raavan (soundtrack) and the Tamil Raavanan soundtrack albums respectively in 2010.

<i>Ye Maaya Chesave</i> (soundtrack) 2010 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Ye Maaya Chesave is the soundtrack album of the 2010 Telugu romantic drama film of the same name, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The original score and songs were composed by A. R. Rahman; Lyrics are penned by Anantha Sreeram, along with Kalyani Menon and Kaithapram, the latter penning the Malayalam lyrics in the album. This is the sixth time that A. R. Rahman composed music for a direct Telugu film and the fourth time that he composed the entire soundtrack for a Telugu film. This also marked Rahman's comeback into Telugu cinema after six years. Ye Maaya Chesave was one of the most anticipated soundtracks of Rahman.

<i>Kochadaiiyaan</i> (soundtrack) 2014 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Kochadaiiyaan is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman to the motion capture animated Tamil film of the same name directed by Soundarya R. Ashwin. The original version as well as the dubbed Telugu version of the soundtrack was released on 9 March 2014. The Hindi version was released online on Eros Now on 13 March 2014. Upon its release, the soundtrack became the first Tamil film music album to trend on Twitter and top the iTunes India charts.

<i>Lingaa</i> (soundtrack) 2014 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Lingaa is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2014 Indian Tamil film of the same name written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The soundtrack album consists of five tracks, out of which, four had lyrics by Vairamuthu while the fifth was written by his son Madhan Karky. According to Rahman, as the film is set in different time zones, the music composed works around these time.

<i>Padayappa</i> (soundtrack) 1999 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Padayappa is the soundtrack album of the 1999 Indian Tamil drama film of the same name written and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film's original soundtrack and score were composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu and was released through the audio label Star Music. The soundtrack of the Telugu dubbed version titled Narasimha was released through Saregama.

<i>O Kadhal Kanmani</i> (soundtrack) 2015 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

O Kadhal Kanmani is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2015 Indian Tamil film of the same name written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The soundtrack album consists of nine tracks each in original Tamil and Telugu version of the albums with one track "Maula Wa Sallim" being common to both. Majority of the tracks for the original version were penned by Vairamuthu. The lyrics to the Telugu version were written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.The lyrics to its Hindi version songs in its Hindi remake OK Jaanu is by Gulzar The songs are fusion of contemporary music with carnatic music as well as pure classical Indian music based songs in the genres—carnatic and Hindustani. The original score was produced by ensemble Qutb-e-Kripa along with Rahman. The score utilises the songs and re-performed carnatic compositions of musicians Tyagaraja and Annamacharya.

<i>Alai Payuthey</i> (soundtrack) 2000 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Alai Payuthey is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2000 Indian Tamil film of the same name. The soundtrack album consists of nine tracks from the original Tamil version of the album, whereas the Telugu version has seven tracks. The soundtrack of Alaipayuthey was unanimously hailed as a Mani Ratnam film soundtrack turning for rhythmic fusion using modern synthesizers. A film, initially planned with film score, eventually took place.

<i>Muthu</i> (soundtrack) 1995 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Muthu is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman for the 1995 Tamil-language film of the same name starring Rajinikanth and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It is the first film where Rahman, Rajinikanth and Ravikumar worked together. The album have six tracks in each with lyrics with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The Hindi version is titled Muthu Maharaja and had lyrics penned by P. K. Mishra, whereas the Telugu version of Muthu is penned by Bhuvana Chandra. Recording of the songs took place at the composer's Panchathan Record Inn studio in Chennai. The soundtrack was released on 8 October 1995 under the Pyramid label. The Telugu version of the soundtrack was released under Aditya Music and Saregama distributed the Hindi soundtrack.

<i>Anniyan</i> (soundtrack) 2005 soundtrack album by Harris Jayaraj

Anniyan is the soundtrack album composed by Harris Jayaraj for the 2005 Indian Tamil film of the same name directed by S. Shankar. It eventually marked Harris' maiden collaboration, replacing his usual music director A. R. Rahman, who worked for his previous ventures as Rahman was busy with the production of the international musicals Bombay Dreams and Lord of the Rings. Harris Jayaraj began working on the soundtrack in early 2004 and completed within April 2005. But the re-recording of the soundtrack and score which began on the same month took place for more than 45 days, which resulted in delaying the film's release till 17 June 2005.

<i>Ponniyin Selvan: I</i> (soundtrack) 2022 soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman

Ponniyin Selvan: I is the soundtrack album for 2022 Indian Tamil-language epic period drama film of the same name directed by Mani Ratnam which features an ensemble cast of Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Rahman and R. Parthiban. The film’s soundtrack and score were composed by Ratnam's norm composer A. R. Rahman, marking the duo's 30th year collaborating.

References

  1. "Bombay soundtrack by Rahman". A. R. Rahman Official Website. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Bombay soundtrack release history". Tripod.
  3. "The "Mozart of Madras" AR Rahman is Performing LIVE in Australia". SBS. 14 February 2017.
  4. Surajeet Das Gupta, Soumik Sen. "A R Rahman: Composing a winning score". Rediff . Retrieved 21 September 2002.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "100 Best Albums Ever". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  6. "1000 songs everyone must hear; Part one: Love". The Guardian. 14 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Songs about love across the barricades delivered in a coquettish fashion are something of a staple in Bollywood. Which is why Kehna Hi Kya by AR Rahman is all the more extraordinary. With its extravagant vocal gymnastics and qawwali-esqe devotional wails, this tale of inter-religious attraction set a new standard and leaves you in no doubt that Rahman deserves his India's greatest living composer tag.
  7. "Here's what Shraddha Kapoor thinks about 'OK Jaanu' co-star Aditya Roy Kapur!". 11 January 2017.
  8. "Sound of Cinema: 20 Greatest Soundtracks". BBC Music . BBC. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Twenty- Five Magical Years of Allah Rakha Rahman". Outlook . 24 April 2017.
  10. "Rashtriya Sahara". Rashtriya Sahara . Sahara India Mass Communication. 2 (2). 1994. In the first song, Kehna Hi Kya (sung by Chitra), Rehman has used the 'solo' kawwali technique, the form which perhaps only late Roshan could have thought of.
  11. "Lord of War (2005) - IMDb". IMDb .
  12. "Rahman credits Frieda for getting him Miral - Times of India". articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  13. "Jai ho! - Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
  14. Löwenherz - Bis in die Ewigkeit on YouTube
  15. "7 Times AR Rahman's Music Inspired International Composers & Made Its Way Into Hollywood Films". India Times . 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  16. "Bombay Film Soundtrack". arrahman.com. A R Rahman. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  17. `I love to sing' [usurped] . The Hindu. Retrieved 5 February 2005.
  18. Saraswathy Nagarajan. Of rhythm and soul [usurped] . The Hindu. Retrieved 16 June 2006.