Don (soundtrack)

Summary

Don is the soundtrack album to the 2006 Hindi film Don: The Chase Begins Again (a remake of 1978 film of the same name), directed by Farhan Akhtar, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Boman Irani. The music was released on 26 August 2006, on T-Series.[1] It was one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtracks of the year, with 1.5 million units sold in India.[2]

Don
Soundtrack album by
Released26 August 2006
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Electronic dance music
Length38:12
LabelT-Series
ProducerShankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy chronology
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
(2006)
Don
(2006)
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
(2007)
Singles from Don
  1. "Aaj Ki Raat"
    Released: 31 August 2006

Overview edit

The film has seven songs composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar.[3] Two of the original songs, "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" and "Yeh Mera Dil" were remade for the movie. The album overall, is very contemporary, stylish and racy. Composers have taken care to maintain the essence of the old Don.[4]

Two of the tracks were redone for the movie, which was originally composed by the duo of Kalyanji Anandji. Shahrukh Khan has rapped in the retro track Khaike Paan Banaraswala, the remix of the old classic, who rendered the song along with Udit Narayan.[5] Yeh Mera Dil, sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, is the second remix of the album, which was originally sung by Asha Bhosle.

The song "Mourya Re" sung by Shankar Mahadevan is a Ganpati song set big in Mumbai. Then there is "Aaj Ki Raat", sung by Alisha Chinai, Mahalakshmi Iyer & Sonu Nigam, which has a trendy 1980s club feel to it. The title song, "Main Hoon Don" which falls in a rave, techno, industrial genre, is rendered by Shaan. The "Don Revisited" track was composed by MIDIval Punditz and the remix of the title track was done by DJ Randolph.[4]

Track listing edit

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Main Hoon Don"Shaan5:30
2."Yeh Mera Dil"Sunidhi Chauhan4:39
3."Mourya Re"Shankar Mahadevan5:52
4."Khaike Paan Banaraswala"Udit Narayan & Shahrukh Khan5:24
5."Aaj Ki Raat"Alisha Chinai, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Sonu Nigam6:08
6."Don - The Theme"Shahrukh Khan4:07
7."Don Revisited"MIDIval Punditz4:46
8."Main Hoon Don" (Funcinternational Mix)Shaan5:13
Total length:38:12

Release edit

 
SEL performing the songs at the music launch

The music was released on 26 August 2006, at the Inorbit Mall, Malad, Mumbai. Over 30,000 people attended the function.[6]

RJ Harsh of Radio Mirchi was the host of the event. The programs started off by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy singing Mourya Re, and gave a brief intro about the album. Isha Koppikar, who plays the role of Anita in the film, performed onstage, and later launched the music with Shahrukh Khan as the lead actress Priyanka Chopra was unable to attend the function. Shahrukh had also performed the rap from Khaike Paan Banaraswala and delivered some dialogues from the film.[1]

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Bollywood Hungama      [7]
Planet Bollywood           [8]
Rediff      [9]

The music received generally favorable reviews from critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama in his four star review, said, "Shankar Ehsaan Loy do exceedingly well with the soundtrack of 'Don – The Chase Begins Again' and establish their supremacy as the composer trio who can give their own even while rearranging the songs from the past, as seen in 'Khaike Paan' and 'Ye Mera Dil'. While 'Aaj Ki Raat' sits pretty at the top for its innovative appeal, 'Khaike' is a sure shot chartbuster for all generations and 'Main Hoon Don' makes the proceedings exciting, the theme instrumentals too create a great impact and take the proceedings on a fast track."[7] Faridoon Shahryar of IndiaGlitz, said in his review, "Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy cast their spell in the music score of DON. And I am still recovering from the thrilling effect it has left on me."[10] The Rediff review read, "This lavish enterprise has a little bit of everything. An eclectic mix of old, new and everything in between; Don is an unusual presentation of old wine in new bottle."[9]

The music became extremely popular among the public[11] and topped the music charts.[12] The music sold over 1.5 million units in India.[2] Main Hoon Don (Normal/Fncinternational Mix) has been in The Top 20 songs list compiled by Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM every week, on the basis of album sales, on-air requests and research since 28 October 2006 i.e. for 47 weeks. It gained the #1 position on 14 October 2006 in its first entry and has been in the top 20 list ever since, except one case when it disappeared in just one of the compilations.

In popular culture edit

The song "Aaj Ki Raat" was included in the Academy Award-winning soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire (2008) by A. R. Rahman.[13] It features in the climax of the film Slumdog Millionaire.[14]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b "When SRK blew flying kisses". Rediff.com. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Don - The Chase Begins Again (2006)". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b ""Shah Rukh Khan has sung in DON" - bollywood news". glamsham.com. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  5. ^ "SRK Raps in Khaike Paan Banaras Wala - Bollywood Movie News". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 16 October 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Don music launch amongst 30000 people". Bollywood Hungama. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Don - The Chase Begins Again : Music Review by Joginder Tuteja". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  8. ^ "Don - The Chase Begins Again - music review by Shruti Bhasin". Planet Bollywood. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Don music: Snazzy, good mix". Rediff.com. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  10. ^ "Don - The Chase Begins Again Music Review songs lyrics". IndiaGlitz. 13 October 2006. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  11. ^ ""We have retained the melody but we have changed the dressing and added some surprise elements" – Shankar Mahadevan". Bollywood Hungama. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2011.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Don Tops the charts -IndiaFM | PlanetSRK - ShahRukh Khan discussion forums & community". PlanetSRK. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  13. ^ "A. R. Rahman uses 'Choli Ke Peeche' track from Khalnayak in Slumdog Millionaire". Bollywood Hungama. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Review of Slumdog Millionaire - Slumdog Millionaire". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2011.