Rang De Basanti (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
The soundtrack to the 2006 film Rang De Basanti
was released by Sony BMG on 8 December 2005 and had its music composed by A. R. Rahman
and lyrics in Hindi and English by Prasoon Joshi
and rapper Blaaze
.
singer Nelly Furtado
, he said that she was to originally have featured on the soundtrack, although this was ultimately prevented from happening due to a change in producers and other factors. Star Aamir Khan
, with his knowledge of Hindi
and Urdu
, worked with Rahman and Joshi for the film's soundtrack. In addition, screenwriter and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
and Rahman were reported to have chosen him to sing for one of the songs, though his recorded performance turned out to be more a poetic recitation.
Joshi, one of the lyricists, was impressed with the director, Rakeysh Mehra, who was ready to adjust to his style of writing as well as his creativity. Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favorite out of all his previous works, Joshi felt that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today’s youth and to pen down their feelings". Speaking about one of his songs, "Luka Chuppi", in which veteran Lata Mangeshkar
sang with Rahman for the second time (debut collabration being in Dil Se
for the song, "Jiya Jale"), Joshi said that it was developed while discussing with Rahman the scene about a mother losing her son. Joshi wrote the lyrics about the mother and son playing hide-and-seek with the sad reality of the son being hidden forever. He confessed to have been in tears while Mangeshkar was singing the song. The soundtrack won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award
, and had two of its tracks, "Khalbali" and "Luka Chuppi", considered for an Academy Award for Best Original Song
nomination.
While discussing typical Bollywood
soundtrack
s, Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, a professor
of music
at Colorado College
noted that Rahman integrated traditional Punjabi cultural elements within his music for this soundtrack. Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurudwara (Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are incorporated alongside more contemporary, global styles such as hard rock
and hip hop
to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the youngsters in the film.
National Film Awards
Filmfare Awards
IIFA Awards
Zee Cine Awards
Star Screen Awards
Rang De Basanti
Rang De Basanti is a 2006 Indian drama film written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an ensemble cast comprising Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and British actress Alice Patten in the lead roles...
was released by Sony BMG on 8 December 2005 and had its music composed by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
and lyrics in Hindi and English by Prasoon Joshi
Prasoon Joshi
Prasoon Joshi is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. A prolific Writer-Poet whose first book of 3 books "Main aur Woh" was published when he was 17 years of age, an internationally acclaimed Indian advertising professional, Bollywood film songwriter, as well as a...
and rapper Blaaze
Blaaze
Blaaze is a rap artist and a popular playback singer in Indian films. An Indian by birth, born in Chennai, he grew up in Zambia and later did his education in England and in the US...
.
Overview
From the film's announcement in April 2005, Rahman was slated to compose the music. In a press conference with popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
, he said that she was to originally have featured on the soundtrack, although this was ultimately prevented from happening due to a change in producers and other factors. Star Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan
Aamir Hussain Khan is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema....
, with his knowledge of Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, worked with Rahman and Joshi for the film's soundtrack. In addition, screenwriter and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Rang De Basanti , for which he won Best Director awards at the 2006 Filmfare Awards and National Film Awards and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film...
and Rahman were reported to have chosen him to sing for one of the songs, though his recorded performance turned out to be more a poetic recitation.
Joshi, one of the lyricists, was impressed with the director, Rakeysh Mehra, who was ready to adjust to his style of writing as well as his creativity. Confessing that the film's soundtrack was his favorite out of all his previous works, Joshi felt that it "was a wonderful experience getting to know the mindset of today’s youth and to pen down their feelings". Speaking about one of his songs, "Luka Chuppi", in which veteran Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
sang with Rahman for the second time (debut collabration being in Dil Se
Dil Se
Dil Se is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala, and Preity Zinta. Mani Ratnam also co-wrote the screenplay for the film...
for the song, "Jiya Jale"), Joshi said that it was developed while discussing with Rahman the scene about a mother losing her son. Joshi wrote the lyrics about the mother and son playing hide-and-seek with the sad reality of the son being hidden forever. He confessed to have been in tears while Mangeshkar was singing the song. The soundtrack won the Filmfare Best Music Director Award
Filmfare Best Music Director Award
The Filmfare Best Music Director Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to the best composer/arranger of a soundtrack. This category was first presented in 1954. Naushad was the first recipient of this award for his song "Tu Ganga Ki Mauj"...
, and had two of its tracks, "Khalbali" and "Luka Chuppi", considered for an Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
nomination.
While discussing typical Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s, Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
at Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
noted that Rahman integrated traditional Punjabi cultural elements within his music for this soundtrack. Regionally defined elements such as a woman's prayer at the Sikh Gurudwara (Golden Temple) and the bhangra harvest dance are incorporated alongside more contemporary, global styles such as hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
to depict the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the youngsters in the film.
Track listing
Awards
Academy Awards- Longlisted, Academy Award for Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
- A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
for Lukka Chuppi - Longlisted, Academy Award for Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
- A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
for Khalbali
National Film Awards
- Won, Best Male PlaybackNational Film Award for Best Male Playback SingerThe following is a list of winners of the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. The singer with the most awards in this category is K. J. Yesudas with seven wins, whereas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won six times for 4 different languages; Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.-Superlatives:...
- Naresh IyerNaresh IyerNaresh Iyer is a playback singer from Chennai, India. Naresh Iyer has rendered film songs in several Indian languages and has several chart hits to his credit. His rendition of "Roobaroo" from the movie Rang De Basanti composed by A. R. Rahman topped the music charts for many weeks in 2006 and won...
for Rubaroo
Filmfare Awards
- Won, Best Music Direction - A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
- Nominated, Best Lyrics - Prasoon JoshiPrasoon JoshiPrasoon Joshi is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. A prolific Writer-Poet whose first book of 3 books "Main aur Woh" was published when he was 17 years of age, an internationally acclaimed Indian advertising professional, Bollywood film songwriter, as well as a...
for Rubaroo
IIFA Awards
- Won, Best Music DirectionIIFA Best Music Director AwardThe IIFA Best Music Director Award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the actual ceremony.The winners are listed below: A.R.Rahman has the most awards with 6 wins.- See also :* IIFA Awards* Bollywood* Cinema of India...
- A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and... - Nominated, Male PlaybackIIFA Best Male Playback AwardThe IIFA Best Male Playback Award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the ceremony.The winners are listed below:-...
- A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
for Rubaroo - Nominated, Male PlaybackIIFA Best Male Playback AwardThe IIFA Best Male Playback Award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the ceremony.The winners are listed below:-...
- Naresh IyerNaresh IyerNaresh Iyer is a playback singer from Chennai, India. Naresh Iyer has rendered film songs in several Indian languages and has several chart hits to his credit. His rendition of "Roobaroo" from the movie Rang De Basanti composed by A. R. Rahman topped the music charts for many weeks in 2006 and won...
for Rubaroo - Nominated, Female PlaybackIIFA Best Female Playback AwardThe IIFA Best Female Playback Award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the ceremony.The winners are listed below:-- See also :* IIFA Awards* Bollywood* Cinema of India...
- Lata MangeshkarLata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
for Lukka Chuppi - Nominated, Best LyricsIIFA Best Lyricist AwardThe IIFA Best Lyricist Award is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the actual ceremony.The award is given in the current year but the winner is awarded for the previous year.Javed Akhtar has the most wins with 6 awards....
- Prasoon JoshiPrasoon JoshiPrasoon Joshi is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. A prolific Writer-Poet whose first book of 3 books "Main aur Woh" was published when he was 17 years of age, an internationally acclaimed Indian advertising professional, Bollywood film songwriter, as well as a...
for Rubaroo
Zee Cine Awards
- Won, Best Music Direction - A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
- Nominated, Best LyricsZee Cine Award for Best LyricistThe Zee Cine Award Best Lyricist is chosen by the jury and the winner is announced at the actual ceremony.The award is given in the current year but the winner is awarded for his/her work in the previous year.The winners are listed below:-...
- Prasoon JoshiPrasoon JoshiPrasoon Joshi is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter and advertising copywriter. A prolific Writer-Poet whose first book of 3 books "Main aur Woh" was published when he was 17 years of age, an internationally acclaimed Indian advertising professional, Bollywood film songwriter, as well as a...
for Paathshaala - Nominated, Best Choreographer - Ganesh Acharya for Paathshaala
Star Screen Awards
- Won, Star Screen Award for Best Background Music - A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
- Nominated, Star Screen Award for Best Music Director - A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...