MUMBAI: Music composer A R Rahman began the year literally on a high note! Post the Golden Globe Awards, followed by the Oscar nominations for Slumdog Millionaire, the expectations from him are soaring.

Known for giving soundtracks, which have good production value, his next album that is climbing the charts is Delhi 6. The soundtrack of Delhi 6 comprises 10 songs sans remixes.

Moreover, according to T-Series, which has the music rights of Delhi 6, the album has been well received by consumers.

Delhi 6 has been directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, after the cult classic film Rang De Basanti. The lyrics have been written by Prasoon Joshi. Rahman teams up with Mehra and Joshi once again for Delhi 6 after RDB.

Even though the world is singing praises of Rahman post Golden Globes, he has always been recognized for his musical magic back home! Similarly, each and every song in Dehli 6 too upholds the high standards Rahman has set.

T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar says, "Rahman has always given good music and the response to his music has always been good as far as sales are concerned. Moreover with the three talents – Rahman, Rakeysh Mehra and Prasoon Joshi coming together, the Delhi 6 album too is sure to be a big hit."

Though his personal favourites are Masakali and Rehna Tu, Kumar feels the album as a whole is great. He says, "Despite the recession, where people have become very selective about what they buy, we are getting a superb response as far as music sales of Delhi 6 are concerned. We are not feeling the hit of recession with this album."

T-Series has the rights of some of Rahman’s films like Taare Zameen Par, Jaane Tu, Yuvvraj, Ghajini, Slumdog Millionaire and Delhi 6.

According to Mehra, Rahman is involved with the film right from the time the story is conceived to the final draft. He says, "Rahman, Prasoon and I have been working on the music since the last three years. In all my films the songs are played in the background they are more like an interpretation of the story rather than lip sync, therefore there is nothing like the song has to be ready before the shoot. We discuss the story ideas together and in the process, Rahman starts forming pictures in his head and he works on the concept and the tune. He has a very unique way of working."

PEERS TALK

Speaking to Businessofcinema.com, musician Shankar Mahadevan from the Shankar Ehsan Loy team says, "Rahman has always given top quality music and he always will. The soundtrack of Delhi 6 too is sure to do well. Post the Golden Globe and the Oscar nominations the rest of the world has become more aware of Indian music and it’s sure to have a bigger market abroad."

Music director Sajid, from the Sajid Wajid duo, feels, "Expectations from Rahman post the awards might have gone up but Rahman’s work has always been beyond expectations. When we talk about Rahman we talk about guarantee. Though there are some music composers like Aadesh Srivastav who are doing work for the international market, the singing of Jai Ho! at the Oscars and the numerous awards that Rahman has won will definitely make the international market more aware about the quality and talent in India."

Director Mehra adds, "Rahman has always delivered good music and brought a change. In fact he’s the change. The demand for the music of Delhi 6 too is hot."

DELHI 6’s MUSIC MANTRA

With Delhi 6, Rahman offers a wide array of musical genres in a single album ranging from devotional, Sufi, classical, rock, romance, folk. Rahman has also used more of new-age voices like Mohit Chauhan, Javed Ali and Benny Dayal for this album.

On one hand, the Delhi 6 album has a completely Indian classical like Bhor Bhayi sung by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal and on the other it has Hey Kaala Bandar, which is somewhat a fun song on the lines of Masti Ki Paathshala from Rang de Basanti.

Then there’s Genda Phool, which has a folk touch wherein Rehman has matched new age with folk music. Speaking to Bussinessofcinema.com, Mehra says, "The song Genda Phool is a folk song and it was given to us by Raghuveer Yadav and Rajat Dholakia gave the additional music for the song."

On the other hand, Dil Gira Dafatan is more western, where Rahman introduces a new playback voice – Ash King. According to Mehra, "Rahman had heard him in London sometime back, so he got him to India to do this song. Being a third generation Indian living in London, he could not speak Hindi so we had to train him before singing every line. It took us almost 18 days to record the song. The outcome was excellent, Rahman has always been clear about the voice."

Masakali is a song about a pigeon in the film and is also soaring on the popularity charts. Sung by Mohit Chauhan, of Jab We Met fame, the song is catchy and Chauhan’s style of singing stands out. Speaking about this song, Mehra says, "Masakali is the name of the dove in the film. This dove happens to be Sonam’s favourite and is her pet. It’s also symbolic to her character in the film. The name Masakali does not mean anything as such but it just fitted in so we used it."

Noor is a monologue by Amitabh Bachchan, which carries a message of communal harmony. Then there’s a devotional track, Tumre Bhavan Mein, which is an aarti, also sung by Rekha Bharadwaj along with, Kishori Gowariker and Shraddha Pandit. This song reminds one of the bhajan – O Palanhare from Lagaan.

Arziyan, sung by Jaaved Ali and Kailash Kher has a bit of Sufi touch and compared to the other songs is a little longer but it is clearly the most touching song in the album. It’s soothing and symbolic and it also happens to be Mehra’s favourite from the album. He says, "The tune that we used for Arziyan had been with Rehman for almost nine years and it was very kind of him to give us this tune. Prasoon took almost one and half years to write this song and it’s one of the most soulful songs."

With Rehna Tu, Rahman decides to hold the mic himself and does complete justice to the song.

The title song of the movie, Delhi 6 is sung by Blaze, Benny, Tanvi, Viviane, and Claire. The lyrics that go "Yeh Delhi hai mere yaar, bas ishq mohabbat pyaar" is sure to be a big hit with all young Delhites.

T-Series’ Bhushan Kumar adds, "The title track Delhi 6 will not only be a hit with all the Delhites but just like the song ‘Mumbai se aaya mera dost’ appealed to all Indians, this song too will have a universal appeal."

On the whole the music of Delhi-6 has a global appeal. The movie releases worldwide on 20 February, which is two days prior to the Oscars, which will take be held on 22 February.