| | | | Balles of the ball: Alice Patten and Aamir Khan in RDB | Khalbali, Lukka Chuppi from Rang De Basanti and Chan Chan from Water have made it to the Oscar longlist. With these, A R Rahman is up against the likes of Sheryl Crow who sang Real Gone for the animation film Cars and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell who rendered the growling title track You Know My Name for the latest Bond flick Casino Royale. Currently, 56 songs are being considered in the category. "They've chosen the best songs from my film," says Rang De Basanti director Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra in a telephonic interview from Malaysia. Mehra has just returned from Los Angeles after a round of campaigning for the film. He reveals that the first screening enjoyed an impressive 80-member turnout in Los Angeles with three more lined up there and one in New York. | | | Water way to go: Lisa Ray and John Abraham | "They don't know names of movies but they are talking about the India film at BAFTA (LA)," says Mehra. And Mehra's only too pleased to discuss his two longlist entries for the Best Original Score. "The lyrics are the voice of the film. When someone leaves the theatre they have 'thodi si dhool,' 'lukka chuppi' and 'khalbali' on their lips. I am fortunate to have worked with Prasoon and Rahman for the music," he says. McCann Erickson's South East Asia head and lyricist Prasoon Joshi recalls the fervour of Khalbali. "I wanted one word to sum up the song and was struggling a lot before I came upon Khalbali. It's a pure Hindi word – no Urdu or Arabic references here and we were very happy." He mentions how the word 'Ziddi' in the same song was used to describe the situation in the film where the freedom fighters refuse to drink even a drop of water in jail as well as Rahman's stubbornness sometimes. Both Joshi and Rahman admit locking horns over lyrics. "That's why it's great working with Prasoon," mentioned Rahman in an earlier interview, "Creativity is about give and take." Interestingly RDB is the quickest score that Rahman composed – in just over a month. "Initial tracks which included six to seven songs took two weeks. Khalbali was first recorded fully in Arabic in London, and I sent it to the team over the internet. Rakeysh said that we should do it in Hindi so that it grows on people and it was his idea that I sing," he said. Lukka Chuppi took a week. "Lataji is more than just a voice. The whole awe of motherhood is summed up in that song because she brings a range of emotions to it. She's still the same extraordinary singer," said Rahman of the track picturised on Waheeda Rahman, "I thought I would sing along with her like a son's reply to a mother's voice." Joshi says he received several SMSes from homesick NRIs who were moved by Lukka Chuppi. "They told me how they visited their mother back home after they heard it. The song's filled with irony because it speaks of a son playing a hide and seek game and can never be found by his mother," says Joshi. It's been a great year for singer-composer Sukhwinder Singh who also co-wrote the lyrics for Water. "The song is based on Krishna raas leela. The energy is such that it doesn't require a rhythm," he says. Final nominations will be announced on January 23 next year and the awards ceremony will be held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 25, 2007. Last 10 winners of Best Original Song 2005 It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp from Hustle and Flow
2004 Al Otro Lado Del Rio from the Motorcycle Diaries
2003 Into The West from The Lord of The Rings: return of the King
2002 Lose Yourself from 8 Mile
2001 If I Didn't Have You from Monsters Inc
2000 Things Have Changed from Wonder Boys
1999 You'll Be in My Heart from Tarzan
1998 When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt
1997 My Heart Will Go On from Titanic
1996 You Must Love Me from Evita | 
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