AR Rahman reflects on 25 years of 'Lagaan' says, the film opened doors to the world

The intention with the music of "Lagaan" was to make something that will endure, says A R Rahman about creating the timeless album of the Oscar-nominated film, which completes 25 years of its release on Monday.Rahman, who went on to win twin Oscars for his 2009 hit "Slumdog Millionaire", credits "Lagaan" for helping Indian film music gain wider global recognition. The film, he said, also opened doors for him to many international projects.Released in 2001, the period sports drama, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and starring Aamir Khan in an ensemble, went on to become one of India's most celebrated films, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and wide acclaim for its music."From my first movie, my intention was that my music should go out into the world. One of the reasons we worked hard on sound production, lyrics, presentation, credits, storage, and mastering was so that it would endure into the future. I even had to turn down movies because of that approach. I wanted Indian music to be cool so that the whole world could enjoy it," Rahman told PTI in an interview.He said the movie led him to projects such as the Chinese production, "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" and international ventures like "Elizabeth: The Golden Age".

"'Lagaan' actually got me many films. It is a milestone because it was one of my first movies to receive an Oscar nomination. In a way, that's a milestone. The whole world would have seen it."Set in 1893, "Lagaan" follows the story of villagers from the drought-stricken village of Champaner in Central India, who are challenged by a British officer in a game of cricket to get exemption from land taxes.When Gowariker first approached Rahman, he did not have a fixed musical template in mind and the soundscape evolved organically.

It marked the first collaboration between the two and led to films like "Swades", "Jodha Akbar" and "Mohenjodaro"."Usually, how I work is that I have a palette of things, and I let the director respond because the director is the one who has the whole picture and the vision of the film. Sometimes they lead, sometimes we lead, and sometimes we both find different things, like happy accidents," the composer said."But I knew it was a period film. On the journey, we kind of discovered it together.

I played him various melodies, sometimes not even connected to the movie, then he responded. We formed the whole soundscape of the movie that way."The soundtrack of "Lagaan" was crafted by Rahman along with lyricist Javed Akhtar, singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, and Udit Narayan.Despite being in one of the busiest phases of his career, with nearly a dozen films in hand, the musician took two to three months to compose the music for "Lagaan.""I was doing Rajiv Menon's projects, 'Taal'. This one came just after that. I was on the verge of finishing all those projects when Ashutosh came in. He would come to various studios and hang out with me. During break times, we'd discuss something. You could say we almost lived and enjoyed the process," he recounted.To capture the film's rooted setting, Rahman said the team travelled to Bhuj and interacted with folk musicians, using raw traditional sounds as a foundation."We wanted to get the feel of the whole movie because it was also fiction. Even the music responded to that idea," he said, adding that they used modern elements like bass guitar.Rahman revealed that some of the film's most popular tracks including "Mitwa" and "O Rey Chhori", were not originally conceived for the movie, and were instead adapted from his earlier compositions."When I played both of these tunes for Ashutosh, he liked them.

So, we changed those tunes to the soundscape of the movie. Then 'O Paalanhaare' came in, 'Radha Kaise Na Jale', and 'Chale Chalo' was the last tune we composed," he said.Among the album's eight tracks, Rahman described 'Ghanan Ghanan' as the most challenging primarily because various singers had to lend their voices."Each character had a personality that had to come through in the tune as well. Sukhwinder Singh, Udit Narayan,

Shankar Mahadevan

, Alka Yagnik ji, all of them brought different vibes to make the final song," he said.The composer also spoke about lending his voice to the motivational track "Chale Chalo", saying the decision came at the director's insistence."Ashutosh has voices in his mind. He has a very classically sensitised personality; he loves Indian classical music. He said, 'I think you should sing this song'. 'Maa Tujhe Salaam' had come out about two years before, so he felt I should sing this motivational song and I accepted it," Rahman said.He also fondly spoke about working with the late singer Asha Bhosle on "Radha Kaise Na Jale", saying her presence not only "elevated" the song but also gave it a "timeless" quality. Bhosle passed away in April this year.Praising Bhosle, Rahman, who worked with her on songs like "Rangeela Re", "Tanha Tanha", and "Kahin Aag Lage" and others, described her as a "legend"."When a great singer comes in, we always want to push even the composition into another zone.

You think, 'Oh, she's singing so easily, so why can't we make this even more complex?' More nuances and modulations spontaneously come in. You hear a word and think, "This word is nice, but it's in a lower tune. Why don't we move it higher?' All this stuff instinctively happens," he said.Rahman credited Akhtar for enriching the album through his words. The two have worked together on films like "Swades", "Zubeidaa", "1947 Earth", and "Sapnay" among others."For every song recording, he'd be sitting there, enhancing to the tune, or sometimes asking me to change something to match his words. So, it was a truly collaborative creative process," he said, adding that the song 'Chale Chalo' evolved from an earlier version, 'Nasha Nasha', thanks to Akhtar.