Wikipedia

Mohenjo Daro (soundtrack)

Mohenjo Daro is the soundtrack album to the 2016 Indian Hindi-language period action-adventure film of the same name, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, starring Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles.[2] The film was produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures and The Walt Disney Company India and Sunita Gowariker under Ashutosh Gowariker Productions (AGPPL).[3] The soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman in his fourth collaboration with Gowariker, after Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), and Jodhaa Akbar (2008).

Mohenjo Daro
Soundtrack album cover
Soundtrack album by
A. R. Rahman
Released6 July 2016[1]
Studio
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length36:47
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series
ProducerA. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Pelé: Birth of a Legend
(2016) 		Mohenjo Daro
(2016) 		Ok Jaanu
(2017)

The film featured eight tracks with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. The album was released by T-Series on 6 July 2016.

The music received positive reception from critics and audience. The tracks "Tu Hai" and "Sarsariya" topped the national charts, in all music and video platforms.

Production

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In February 2014, it was reported that would compose songs and background score for the film.[4] This marked his fourth collaboration with Gowariker, after Lagaan (2001), Swades (2004), and Jodhaa Akbar (2008).[5][6] Gowariker's entire team felt that no one except Rahman could do justice to the period favour in Mohenjo-Daro.[7] Gowariker stated "I stayed within the findings from the excavations and the artefacts, while creating a make-believe world and Rahman has helped shape that world beautifully, exotically and believably".[8]

Javed Akhtar was signed to write lyrics for the songs in his second collaboration with both Gowariker and Rahman after Jodhaa Akbar.[9] The film also marked his return as lyricist after 4 years.[10] The music rights were bagged by T-Series for ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million).[11]

Rahman revealed that when Gowariker said Mohenjo Daro, I thought it's going to be like a historical documentary and be so boring. "But then when Gowariker showed me all the pictures, it really inspired me. So I was trying to go to that zone and unearth with my imagination", he added.[12]

"Ashutosh Gowariker has got a lot of very interesting musical sensibilities and he loves the process of creating music. So with him, he picks up the right tunes, picks up the right lyrics and picturises them with so much passion. So it’s always a pleasure working with Ashutosh." Rahman on working with Gowariker.[13]

Rahman was also reported to sing one of the tracks in the album (later known as "Tu Hai").[14]

"He took me out of my comfort zone while recording for Tu Hai. When I heard myself at the end of the recording, the first thought that came into my mind was ‘Wait, I never knew I could do that!’ His vision is extraordinary", Sanah Moidutty on recording "Tu Hai" with Rahman. [15] Sanah Moidutty sang three songs for the film. [16]

Composition

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The title track "Mohenjo Mohenjo" was sung by A. R. Rahman, Arijit Singh, Bela Shende, and Sanah Moidutty which was written by Javed Akhtar.[17][18] The track "Sindhu Ma" was sung by Rahman, and Sanah Moidutty with lyrics provided by Javed Akhtar. The track "Sarsariya" was recorded by Shashwat Singh, Shashaa Tirupati.[19] Rahman and Sanah Moidutty provided vocals for the track "Tu Hai" which was written by Akhtar.[20]

The chant based tracks "Whispers Of The Mind" and "Whispers Of The Heart" were instrumental tracks with vocals by Arjun Chandy.[21] The track "The Shimmer Of Sindhu" was performed by Keba Jeremiah, and Kareem Kamalakar. The track "Lakh Lakh Thora" was performed by Tapas Roy, and Naveen Kumar.

Release

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The entire album was released through streaming platforms on 6 July 2023.[22][23] The music video of song "Tu Hai" was released on 6 July 2023 on YouTube.[24][25] The music video of title track "Mohenjo Mohenjo" was released on 20 July 2016.[26] Later, on 25 July 2016, the music video of "Sarsariya" was unveiled.[27][28]

Track listing

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The complete track listing of the soundtrack was released on 6 July 2016, on A. R. Rahman's official site.[29]

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Mohenjo Mohenjo"A. R. Rahman, Arijit Singh, Bela Shende, Sanah Moidutty6:22
2."Sindhu Ma"A. R. Rahman, Sanah Moidutty5:47
3."Sarsariya"Shashwat Singh, Shashaa Tirupati6:10
4."Tu Hai"A. R. Rahman, Sanah Moidutty3:59
5."Whispers Of The Mind"Arjun Chandy4:16
6."Whispers Of The Heart"Arjun Chandy3:51
7."The Shimmer Of Sindhu"Keba Jeremiah, Kareem Kamalakar3:21
8."Lakh Lakh Thora"Tapas Roy, Naveen Kumar3:01
Total length:36:47

Reception

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The soundtrack album received positive reviews from critics, praising Rahman's composition.

Reviewing the soundtrack album, Sankhayan Ghosh of Live Mint wrote "Mohenjo Daro has eight tracks that are full of tribal, folk sounds and melodies and is underlined by the sweeping gorgeousness we associate with the composer’s work in period films." [30] Samarpita Das of The Indian Express commented "AR Rahman spins magic". [31]

In her album review for India.com, Akshata Shetty rated the album with 3 stars and wrote "The jukebox of Mohenjo Daro is strictly for classical music lovers. If you prefer listening to peppy beats then you must skip this album altogether. A R Rahman must have researched a lot to create the music for the film which belongs to an era which we have no clue about. Besides, there is no documented knowledge of how the music of those times used to be. But, he has convincingly done a good job." [32]

Stating "AR Rahman’s instrumental compositions dominate the soundtrack of ‘Mohejo Daro’", Rohwit of The Quint rated the album with 3 stars and wrote "All in all, Mohenjo Daro is an album where instrumentals outlast ‘vocal’ attempts purely because the former sound more cohesive and simple, the latter however are obvious attempts at over simplifying everything with a lot of distractions and ordinary lyrics. [33]

Suanshu Khurana of The Indian Express wrote "There is everything — tribal sounds, magnificent howls, electronic sounds, pop music, Bollywood timbres, folk and opera — merging together." [34] A critic of Urban Asian wrote "As expected, Mohenjo Daro is a phenomenal album showcasing the talent of A.R. Rahman and all the musicians involved in any of his musical projects. “Sarsariya” and “Mohenjo Mohenjo” can be heralded as the high-octane energetic numbers, with “Sindhu Ma” and “Tu Hai” being more mellow and subtle."[35]

Audience response

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"Tu Hai" was widely praised for its soulful vocals by composer Rahman himself and Sanah Moidutty. [36] The tracks "Tu Hai" and "Sarsariya", topped the national charts, in all music and video platforms.[37][38]

Album credits

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Backing vocals

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Nakash Aziz, Dilshaad Shaikh, Isshrath Quadhre, A. R. Raihanah, Arshad Khan, Sayantan Bhattacharya, Rehan Khan, Arun Haridas Kamath, Mohammad Arshad, Abhijit Patil, Shashaa Tirupati, Aditi Paul, Meenal Jain, Prajakta Shukre, Aisha Saiyed, Aravind Srinivas, Narayanan Ravishankar, Saisharan, Sathyaprakash, Shenbagaraj, Santosh Hariharan, Sowmya Mahadevan, Maalavika Sundar, Pooja Vaidyanath, Soundarya, Veena Murali, Vishnupriya, Deepthi Suresh, Anu, Srisha, Amina, Anushya.

Instruments

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  • Guitar – Keba Jeremiah
  • Indian Percussions – Lakshminarayanan, T. Raja, Kumar
  • Flute – PMK Naveen Kumar, Kareem Kamalakar
  • Ravanhatha – Chandan
  • Ethnic Strings – Tapas Roy
  • Kora – Ishaan Chhabra, Keba Jeremiah

Production

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  • Composer – K
  • Mixing – Suresh Permal, Jerry Vincent
  • Mastering – Suresh Permal
  • Mastered for iTunes – S. Sivakumar
  • Musicians coordination – Noel James, Vijay Mohan Iyer
  • Musicians' fixer – R. Samidurai
  • Music production assistant – Jerry Vincent
  • Additional programming – Ishaan Chhabra, T. R. Krishna Chetan, Jerry Vincent
  • Choir conductor – Arjun Chandy
  • Chennai strings orchestra and Sunshine orchestra conductor  – V. J. Srinivasamurthy
Sound engineers
  • Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai – Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Srinidhi Venkatesh, Vinay Sridhar Hariharan.
  • AR Studios, Mumbai – R. Nitish Kumar, Hari Krishnan
  • AM Studios, Chennai – S. Sivakumar, Kannan Ganpat, Pradeep Menon, Krishnan Subramanian, Manoj Raman, Karthik Mano
  • Panchathan Hollywood, Los Angeles – Tony Joy, Kevin Doucette
  • Enzy Studios, Mumbai Engineer – Julian Mascarenhas

References

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  1. ^ "Mohenjo Daro (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by A. R. Rahman on iTunes". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Ashutosh Gowariker: The tallest structure in Mohenjo Daro was two-storey high". The Times of India. January 28, 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Mohenjo Daro' To Be Released On August 12". News18. May 18, 2016. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "Rahman to compose for Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjo-daro". The Times of India. February 15, 2014. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "Javed Akhtar back in action with Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro". www.moviecrow.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  6. ^ "Ashutosh Gowariker loves the process of creating music: A R Rahman". Radiocity. August 11, 2016. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  7. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (June 17, 2014). "Rahman & Gowariker join hands for Mohenjo-Daro : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ashutosh Gowariker: Rahman's music helped 'Mohenjo Daro' look exotic". January 17, 2017. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
  9. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (December 19, 2014). "Javed Akhtar turns lyricist for Mohenjo-Daro : Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  10. ^ "Javed Akhtar returns to lyrics writing for Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro". Bollywood Life. December 19, 2014. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "Before release, Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro has earned Rs 60 crore". August 8, 2016. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "A R Rahman First Thought Mohenjo Daro Would be a 'Boring Documentary'". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  13. ^ "Ashutosh Gowariker Has Got Interesting Musical Sensibilities: AR Rahman". News18. August 11, 2016. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "AR Rahman croons a romantic number for Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro". www.moviecrow.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  15. ^ "Meeting AR Rahman was a dream: Sanah Moidutty". Deccan Chronicle. July 16, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  16. ^ "ATTAGIRL! Sanah is the voice behind three of AR Rahman's songs in Mohenjo Daro". Deccan Chronicle. July 15, 2016. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  17. ^ "In Mohenjo Daro's Title Song, a Trip to the Middle East With Hrithik". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  18. ^ Razvi, Sabika (July 20, 2016). "Watch: Hrithik's Killer Dance Moves in 'Mohenjo Daro' Title Track". TheQuint. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  19. ^ "Watch: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde's Sarsariya from Mohenjo Daro". Hindustan Times. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "What is a tiled blue swimming pool doing in a Mohenjo Daro song?". July 6, 2016. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  21. ^ Gaekwad, Manish (July 7, 2016). "Soundtrack review: Many dead notes in AR Rahman's score for 'Mohenjo Daro'". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  22. ^ "Listen to 'Mohenjo Daro' Audio Jukebox". www.moviecrow.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  23. ^ T-Series [@TSeries] (July 6, 2016). "Rediscover your love for music as the #MohenjoDaro music comes to life. Audio jukebox LIVE" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Tu Hai from Mohenjo Daro out: Hrithik Roshan and Pooja Hegde dance around the Great Bath". India Today. July 6, 2016. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  25. ^ "WATCH: Mohenjo-Daro first song 'Tu Hai' released". 6 July 2016.
  26. ^ "Hrithik unveils the title track of Mohenjo Daro | SpotboyE". www.spotboye.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  27. ^ "Watch: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde dance to Sarsariya, the new Mohenjo Daro song". Firstpost. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  28. ^ "Chaani's Day Out: Finally Free of That Headdress in Mohenjo Daro Song". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  29. ^ "A. R. Rahman - The Official Site". www.arrahman.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  30. ^ Ghosh, Sankhayan (July 20, 2016). "Music review: Mohenjo Daro". mint. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  31. ^ "Mohenjo Daro music review: AR Rahman spins magic with Hrithik Roshan, watch videos". July 30, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  32. ^ "Mohenjo Daro music review: A R Rahman's music will take you back to the historic era! | India.com". www.india.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  33. ^ "Review: Rahman Lets His Music Do the Talking in 'Mohenjo Daro'". TheQuint. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  34. ^ "Mohenjo Daro music review: A Stretch of Imagination". July 16, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  35. ^ S, Aishwarya (July 9, 2016). "Music Review: Mohenjo Daro". Urban Asian. Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  36. ^ "Mohenjo Mohenjo: Hrithik Roshan dances and woos Pooja Hegde in Mohenjo Daro title track". India Today. July 20, 2016. Archived from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  37. ^ "Here's why A.R Rahman thought Hrithik Roshan's 'Mohenjo Daro' will be boring". www.indiatvnews.com. July 13, 2016. Archived from the original on July 15, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  38. ^ Sarkar, Prarthna (August 4, 2016). "Interview: 'Sarsariya' singer Shashwat Singh on 'Mohenjo Daro' album, being Hrithik Roshan's voice and more". www.ibtimes.co.in. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
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