Great Soundtrack to a Great Movie

I’m talking about the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. It always bugs me when some producer’s idea of a soundtrack is to slap a dozen popular pop tunes together and try to fit them into the movie. I suspect it’s done largely to sell CDs. That’s not the case with Slumdog. It features an original score by A. R. Rahman and it really complements the movie perfectly. Actually I was pretty familiar with the music before seeing the movie. So it was interesting to see how the songs would tie in with the movie. The music is an interesting blend of hip-hop, traditional and popular Indian music, and Bollywood. The opening track sets the stage for the rest of the disc/movie. It almost sounds like a call to prayer with an army of percussion in the background. My favorite songs are “Planes” by M.I.A., which is a fun dancy number, and the absolutely gorgeous “Latika’s Theme”—it’s a wordless vocal song that’s heard every time the starring couple meets. It’s one of the most beautiful and moving love themes I’ve ever heard. I also enjoyed the catchy “Aaj Ki Raat”, one of the songs that are really hard to get out of your head. It’s a drum heavy dance tune with the incredible vocals of Alisha Chinoy—someone worth looking into. I’ve heard many other songs by her and they all quite good. The dance routine at the end of the movie also features an excellent up-tempo song, Lai Ho” that has proven to be another earworm for me. I’m not going to do a review of the movie, but lets just say I felt it deserved every Oscar it got. If you’re not familiar with popular Indian music, this CD is a good place to start. Two thumbs up!

Here's the dance routine at the end of the movie: