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

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. That film is 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 became more popular internationally when later used by AR Rahman in the Academy Award-winning 2008 soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire.

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] To ensure that this song fits in line with the 1970's, the track was heavily inspired from 1977 Donna Summer hit I Feel Love.[3][4][5]

Ehsaan stated that the song was influenced by the synthpop music of the late 1970s and 1980s, including musicians such as Ultravox and Cerrone.[6]

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

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[7] and climbed up later on.[8] The Don soundtrack album became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack albums of 2006, with 1.5 million units sold in India.[9]

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.[10]

Slumdog Millionaire

A version of the song was included in the Academy Award-winning soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire (2008) by A. R. Rahman.[11] 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.[12] The Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack album sold over 2 million units worldwide.[13]

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. ^ https://scroll.in/reel/873664/picture-the-song-feel-the-love-in-aaj-ki-raat-from-the-don-remake
  4. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4tSnK7XdDg
  5. ^ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=donna+summer+i+feel+love
  6. ^ "Displaying a topic". Shankarehsaanloy.com. August 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Top 10 Hindi Film Songs on Planet Bollywood". Planetbollywood.com. 21 November 2006. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Top 10 Hindi Film Songs on Planet Bollywood". Planetbollywood.com. 25 October 2006. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "Saroj Khan gets sentimental about DON". Bollywood Hungama. 21 October 2006. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  11. ^ "A. R. Rahman uses 'Choli Ke Peeche' track from Khalnayak in Slumdog Millionaire". Bollywood Hungama. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Review of Slumdog Millionaire - Slumdog Millionaire". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  13. ^ "'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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