The nominations keep piling up for maestro A R Rahman’s work on the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. The soundtrack and the song ‘Jai Ho’ raked in awards last season including the coveted Academy Award for both Best Original Score and Best Song and now, A R Rahman has been nominated in two categories for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Not only was the entire soundtrack nominated in the Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media, but the song ‘Jai Ho’ has been singled out and is in the running for the Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.
Interestingly AR Rahman only worked on the soundtrack for three weeks. He said in an earlier interview with IANS, “It’s probably one-fifth of the time I normally take. For one thing, a normal film has about 150 cues. But in this one there were only 17-18 cues for me. Boyle uses music very less but very efficiently.” He added, “After I started the work, I got a lot of feedback from him and then it became something else. I was surprised to hear the whole soundtrack in the end, which is quite different from what I have ever done. It’s younger, it’s more today and contemporary and its completely taking risks. It’s very edgy, hard kind of music and it will make you sit up.”
Well, the Grammy’s certainly have sat up and taken notice. The song is up against some pretty heavy hitters including a Hannah Montana song, a song from the smash hit Twilight and one by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. For the soundtrack the competition is Twilight, Cadillac Records, True Blood and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.
Gulzar who wrote the nominated ‘Jai Ho’ told Subhash K Jha that all the credit should go to Rahman, “’Jai Ho’ is a term that is as ancient as it is sacrosanct. I would sound extremely foolish if I took any credit for that phrase or for the success of that song. The entire credit must go to Rahman and Rahman alone. He has taken our popular sounds to an international level.”
Adding, “When I wrote ‘Jai Ho’ I was looking for a phrase that would best represent Indian sentiments. That it’s now gone from the Oscars where movies are honoured, to the Grammys where music gets recognized, is an amazing journey for ‘Jai Ho’. Like I said it’s from the Ramayan to Rahman. I will take no credit for it.”
The awards ceremony will take place on January 31st in Los Angles. You can be sure we will report all the news and the results so watch this space for more!
