Asian Window

A.R. Rahman on scoring music for “Slumdog Millionaire” and the challenges he faces. Brian Wise in the Wall Street Journal:

Ken Fallin

When British director Danny Boyle needed a composer to capture the frantic and violent hustle and bustle of Mumbai for his film “Slumdog Millionaire,” he turned to A.R. Rahman, Bollywood’s best-known composer, whose dozens of film scores span romantic symphonic themes, classical Indian music, and catchy pop confections. In India, Mr. Rahman is a megastar, having sold an estimated 100 million albums, or roughly the same number as Madonna or Billy Joel. Not only has he scored such Bollywood film classics as “Roja” and “Lagaan,” but he has a growing slate of international credits, including the 2002 Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced London stage musical “Bombay Dreams” and last year’s film “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”

Mr. Boyle’s exuberantly paced story — about an orphan from the Mumbai slums who gets a shot at winning a fortune on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” — is a distant cry from Bollywood, where Mr. Rahman has worked for nearly two decades. “He didn’t want any sentimental or sad stuff. He wanted only throbbing and edgy and pulsating sounds,” Mr. Rahman said of Mr. Boyle’s request to avoid emotion-tugging themes and maudlin arrangements.

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