Aaj Ki Raat

Aaj Ki Raat (English: Tonight!, Hindi: आज की रात) is a 2006 Hindi song from the Bollywood film soundtrack for Don: The Chase Begins Again, a remake of the 1978 film Don. The track is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar.[1] The song was later used by AR Rahman in the Academy Award–winning 2008 soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire.

"Aaj Ki Raat"
Single by Alisha, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Sonu Nigam
from the album Don
LanguageHindi
English titleTonight!
Released27 September 2006 (2006-09-27)
Studio
  • Purple Haze Studios
  • Panchathan Record Inn
  • AM Studios
Length6:11
Label
Composer(s)Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyricist(s)Javed Akhtar
Producer(s)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Development

The track falls into the genre of 1980s retro-disco. According to the script of the movie, the song was to be included with Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar dancing at a private underworld party. Director Farhan Akhtar suggested using a retro rock number. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy got together with director Farhan Akhtar, who himself was a music enthusiast, to come up with the track which had elements of music styles they listened to in the late 1970s and 1980s. The song fits well in the movie, as the movie in itself is a retro story presented in a modern style.[2]

Ehsaan stated that the song was influenced by the synthpop music of the late 1970s and 1980s, including musicians such as Ultravox and Cerrone.[3]

Live drums were used for the song and Ehsaan experimented with thin guitar riff's to get the twanginess of The Ventures & The Shadows.

The song was performed by Alisha, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Sonu Nigam.

Reception

The song was well received by the critics. It was featured in the 10 Dances that Made You Flock the Theatres list of Bollywood Hungama. It also did well in the music charts[4] and climbed up later on.[5] The Don soundtrack album became one of the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums of 2006, with 1.5 million units sold in India.[6]

Music video

Background

Synopsis

The song is illustrated with Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar. The song features three of the stars dancing to the tunes of Aaj Ki Raat in an underground night club where the plot takes an interesting twist. Choreography of the song is done by veteran choreographer Saroj Khan.[7]

Slumdog Millionaire

A version of the song was included in the Academy Award-winning soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire (2008) by A. R. Rahman.[8] The song features in the climax of the film, when the gangsters and mafia boss Javed dance to the tune while "Aaj Ki Raat" plays on the TV, though it shows the music video of Rahman's "Fanaa" from Yuva (2004) being played.[9] The Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack album sold over 2 million units worldwide.[10]

gollark: I did German at school, but never really cared enough to get actually good at it in general, and I also did Latin and Ancient Greek but how would you *use* those utter beeoforms.
gollark: The only language I speak *well* is English.
gollark: That is an idea, however I do not speak Swedish.
gollark: What if term rewriting but English?
gollark: Idea: idea.

References
  1. "Don - The Chase Begins Again : Soundtrack listing and details". Google.co.in. 20 October 2006. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. "Displaying a topic". Shankarehsaanloy.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  3. "Displaying a topic". Shankarehsaanloy.com. August 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  4. "Top 10 Hindi Film Songs on Planet Bollywood". Planetbollywood.com. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  5. "Top 10 Hindi Film Songs on Planet Bollywood". Planetbollywood.com. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  6. "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.
  7. "Saroj Khan gets sentimental about DON". Bollywoodhungama.com. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  8. "A. R. Rahman uses 'Choli Ke Peeche' track from Khalnayak in Slumdog Millionaire". Bollywoodhungama.com. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  9. "Review of Slumdog Millionaire - Slumdog Millionaire". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  10. "'Slumdog Millionaire' soundtrack sells 2 million units". Neapolitan Music. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
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