EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Chithra and Unnikrishan's Tamil song composed by AR Rahman in the 90s was in the rough cut for Disney's Million Dollar Arm.
Academy award winning composer AR Rahman was pleasantly surprised to hear his 90s composition in the rough cut of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm. The song “Unborn Children” sung by K. S. Chithra and Unnikrishnan fell into the movie perfectly by pure coincidence. The song features during the end credits, showing the two young boys playing in their village
“When I watched the rough cut of the movie, the song was in it,” he said. “I asked them, ‘Do you want the song?’ They felt good about it, so I decided to keep it,” Rahman told Lankareporter.
“Strangely, without knowing the meaning of the song, which talks about how we should go to an unopened forest and be the unborn children and without understanding the lyrics, they managed to match-up the scene beautifully, showing two boys Rinku and Dinesh in their younger years.”
Rahman performs at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009. (Photo Credit: © 2009 A.M.P.A.S. - Michael Yada, Photographer)
The soundtrack has seven original songs, artists Iggy Azalea, KT Tunstall, Sukhwinder Singh and Canada’s Raghav Mathur collaborated with Rahman for the film. Kendrick Lamar also recorded a song that was featured in the film.
It was second occasion where a Tamil song was featured in a Hollywood film. In 2008, Rahman’s Tamil song “Yaro Yarodi” featured in the film Accidental Husband.
Rahman says the touching human story of Million Dolllar Arm was the perfect choice as his first Disney movie. The Academy award winning Indian maestro composed the film’s soundtrack.
Based on a true story, sports agent JB Bernstein (played by Jon Hamm) in a last-ditch effort to save his livelihood he envisions a contest to find the next great baseball fast pitching ace in cricket-mad India. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a Major League Baseball star, JB travels to India to conduct “The Million Dollar Arm” contest.
Culture clashes and shocks ensue as JB tries to get his business rolling in India. In turn, two boys who win the contest struggle adapt in America after leaving their tiny villages in India.
“This film is about having faith and respecting fellow humans. I like this layered film; it is about an exchange in mentalities and educating ourselves to go into higher level of human consciousness,” Rahman said.
