Jodhaa Akbar is the soundtrack album to the 2008 film of the same name directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starred Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The film's musical score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar.
"Jodhaa Akbar" is the third collaboration with Rahman and Gowariker. The music discussion were held in early 2005, where Rahman had composed five tunes after the narration of the script. Rahman called it as one of his difficult albums to compose, and had to immerse in the storyline so that he could authentically replicate the period and setting through its music. The album featured influences from Sufi music, qawwali and semi-classical numbers, blending both genres as the film depicted the relationship between Akbar and Jodhaa Bai, which had been explored in the musical landscape.
The soundtrack was released at a launch event held in Mumbai on 9 January 2008, and simultaneously uploaded to digital platforms, while the physical editions of the album were launched on 18 January. The album marked the maiden launch of the record label UTV Music, a subsidiary of the film's distributor UTV Motion Pictures, which released the album through the market with Sony BMG as the publisher.
The music and score received high critical acclaim and fetched numerous accolades including two Filmfare Awards, three International Indian Film Academy Awards, two Apsara Film &amp; Television Producers Guild Awards, one Screen Award and seven Mirchi Music Awards. Rahman received a nomination at the Asian Film Award for Best Composer and also won the V. Shantaram Award for Best Music Director.
Development.
The film's musical score and soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman in his third collaboration with Gowariker after "Lagaan" (2001) and "Swades" (2004). Rahman finalized the tunes after each naration, with Gowarizer added that the situations in each antara being screenplay driven. This also made easier for Javed Akhtar to write the lyrics.
The first song he composed for the film was "Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah", which Rahman admits that he used a similar pattern and orchestration for a Tamil song, but opined "Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah" was far better than the aforementioned song in the film. Rahman utilized drums and percussions as the primary instruments, along with chorus and other voices, he said: "There wasn't a lot of orchestration. It is a drum-and-voice song. Therefore, we did not want to use violins or other instruments in it."
The second song "Jashn-e-Bahara" is a romantic number, depicting Akbar's relationship with Jodhaa Bai. Initially, Gowariker decided to not use the song in this film, and later use it in any of his other films, but Rahman convinced him to use the track. Later, Gowariker suggested Javed Ali, who was then known for singing with Viju Shah, Jatin–Lalit, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and Sandesh Shandilya; it was Ali's first collaboration with Rahman. He added that his vocals made the song much special and was of a qawwali-type number that suited it perfectly.
The song "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" was not composed for Jodhaa Akbar. Rahman added that he went to the shrine of Khwaja Mu'in al-Din Chishti for the past fifteen years and wanted to do a song on him for a film, which was impossible. He then composed the tune in 2005 for him to listen. When Gowariker narrated the script and the influences of Sufis and Mu'in al-Din Chishti, he mentioned the song he earlier composed which Gowariker asked him to play for it, and immediately likened to it, wanting it to be used in the film. Gowariker did not change any of Rahman's initial tunes, except for adding interludes and extra vocals for the new version. It was initially titled "Kashif", naming the songwriter, a spiritual person, and added that the song is spiritual to him.
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;"Ashutosh told me he would use the song in a sequence showing Akbar triumphant [...] He is married to a Rajput princess and he had made an important political alliance. But he also sees a spiritual light as he watches the singers and dancers. It is accompanied with a Rumistic, Sufi kind of dance."
Rahman composed a semi-classical number "Man Mohana" which was used twice in the film. He described it as a "quite complex composition" on multiple listens. The song was created keeping Aishwarya in mind; Gowariker wanted Aishwarya to sing the song after she hummed a tune in the film's shooting, but due to scheduling problems, the song was recorded it with the vocals of Bela Shende, working with Rahman for the first time. Rahman added that Shende's vocals "had a sense of purity" which led to Gowariker approval of her vocals.
Release.
UTV Motion Pictures, the film's primary distributor launched its record label UTV Music, to distribute soundtracks of the films released under their banner. "Jodhaa Akbar" is the first film soundtrack to be released under the label. The music was launched on 9 January 2008 at the hotel Grand Hyatt Mumbai with the star cast and crew in attendance. The physical CDs of the album were distributed on 18 January 2008. Besides its original version, the album was further dubbed and released in Tamil and Telugu languages, with the change in its singers.
Reception.
Sukanya Verma of "Rediff.com" rated four out of five stars and wrote ""Jodhaa Akbar" deserves a round of applause for its faithful adherence to melody, vibrant lyrics and musical detailing. At the same time, Rahman and his visionary sensibilities make their presence felt by and large in every note and rhythm. And that's what makes the soundtrack of this history-inspired romance a musical conquest." Karthik Srinivasan of "Milliblog" commended "The creative freedom Rahman and Ashutosh have sought in this soundtrack may not necessarily reflect the appropriate period in Indian history but makes up by being lavishly inventive and tremendously sweeping."
According to Gautaman Bhaskaran, in his review for "The Hollywood Reporter", "Famed Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman’s score is bouncy, but his old touch seems to be missing." Rachel Saitz of "The New York Times" described it as a "memorable score". Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN stated that ""Jodhaa Akbar" benefits enormously from AR Rahman's genius score, a collection of the finest, most haunting tunes you can remember recently", and called "Jashn-e-Bahara" and "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" as his favorites from the album.
According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 1,100,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's fourteenth highest-selling.
References.
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