Rangoon is the soundtrack album to the 2017 Hindi-language film of the same name directed, co-produced and composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, starring Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut in the lead roles. The album featured 12 tracks composed by Bhardwaj with lyrics written by his recurrent songwriter Gulzar and Lekha Washington, who also contributed two tracks. The album was released on 18 January 2017 through the T-Series label.
Background Vishal Bhardwaj composed the film soundtrack and score, with lyrics written by his norm lyricist Gulzar. To make the film realistic, Bhardwaj used a live orchestra in recording the songs instead of using junior artists playing musicians. The film score was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Actress Lekha Washington had written lyrics for two English songs, "Be Still" and "Shimmy Shake", in her maiden songwriting stint.
Release The album was preceded by the song "Bloody Hell", which was released in a music video format on 11 January 2017. The soundtrack was released through T-Series on 18 January.
Reception Vipin Nair of The Hindu noted that Bhardwaj and Gulzar's collaboration had "always reserved its best for [the latter] own movies" and felt Rangoon to be "another such work of brilliance". Manish Gaekwad of Scroll.in noted that the soundtrack "bear[s] Bhardwaj's indelible stamp" with him experimenting with several musical styles and genres as well as Gulzar aiding him through the lyrics which are "equally dazzling and overwhelming at times". He concluded that the album "requires repeat listening to catch up with the composer-lyricist duo who stridently march to their own beats."
Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog reviewed, "Vishal at his usual, unorthodox best in Rangoon." Ashwin Vinayan of Deccan Chronicle wrote "Vishal has reiterated once again, why he's amongst the best musicians the industry has hosted" calling the album "worth savouring". Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama noted that though it takes time to get used to the period-era soundscape, it becomes immersive when listened on loop further adding that "this one is set to find greater appreciation after it has been seen and heard in the film."
Swetha Ramakrishnan of Firstpost added that the soundtrack "has something for every kind of listener" and would work for avid listeners of Bhardwaj's music. However, Suanshu Khurana of The Indian Express felt that the music "lack[ed] the gloriousness the past records by this lyricist-composer duo has had" which led to the album being "acceptable, just not edgy enough". Uday Bhatia of Mint wrote "The music, by Bhardwaj, with lyrics by Gulzar, has old-timey touches but makes no real effort to sound as if it's from that era".
Track listing
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Awards Mirchi Music Awards28 January 2018 Best Song Producer (Programming & Arranging) Clinton Cerejo and Hitesh Sonik — "Hawayein" Best Background Score Vishal Bhardwaj
Personnel Credits adapted from T-Series:
Music: Vishal Bhardwaj Music producer: Ketan Sodha, Clinton Cerejo, Hitesh Sonik, Dipanjan Guha Music assistant: Mayukh Sarkar Recording: Salman Khan Afridi (Studio Satya, Mumbai); Chris Parker (Angel Recording Studios, London) Mixing: Salman Khan Afridi (Studio Satya, Mumbai); Steve Fiztmaurice (The Pierce Room, London) Mixing assistance: Charles Wong Mastering: Christian Wright (Abbey Road Studios, Mumbai) Musicians Choir: Neisha Mascarenhas, Marianne D'cruz Aiman, Shazneen Arethna, Rishikesh Kamerkar, Suhas Sawant, Vikas Joshi, Rajiv Sundaresan, Deepti Rege, Mayuri Patwardhan, Archana Gore, Pragati Joshi, Aditi Prabhudesai, Aparna Ullal, Arun Ingle, R. N. Iyer, Mandar Apte, Nitin Karandikar, Vivienne Pocha, Neuman Pinto, Bianca Pinto, Crystal Sequeira, Thomson Andrews, François Casstellino, Asif Ali Baig, Mahesh Kumar Rao, Nazim Khan, Subhan Sultani, Sonu Khan Choir arrangements: Rajiv Sundaresan, Neuman Pinto Guitars: Ankur Mukherjee Acoustic guitar: Mayukh Sarkar Flute: Ashwin Srinivasan Viola, violin: Suresh Lalwani Strokes: Tapas Roy Saxophone: I. D. Rao Harmonium: Firoz Shah Shehnai: Sanjeev Shankar Dholak: Mohd. Yusuf, Hafeez Khan Sharafat Khan, Raju Sardar, Navin Sharma Tabla: Musharraf Khan, Sanjiv Sen, Navin Sharma Rhythm arrangements: Sanjiv Sen Orchestra Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra conductor: Simon Hale Orchestra leader: Perry Montague-Mason Orchestra contractor: Isobel Griffiths Assistant orchestra contractor: Lucy Whalley Violins: Natalia Bonner, Emil Chakalov, Frances Dewar, Alison Dods, Jonathan Evans-Jones, Lousia Fuller, Richard George, Ian Humphries, Patrick Kieman, Boguslaw Kosteeki, Jenny Lewisohn, Perry Montague-Mason, Steve Morris, Tom Pigott-Smith, Warren Zielinski Violas: Max Baillie, Nick Barr, Bruce White Cellos: Ian Burdge, Nick Cooper, Martin Loveday, Chirs Worsey Double bass: Richard Pryee, Chris Laurence Trumpets: John Barclav, Tom Rees-Roberts French Horns: Richard Bissill, Philip Eastop, Martin Owen, Laurence Davies Tuba: Owen Slade Tenor trombones: Richard Edwards, Ed Tarrant Bass trombone: Roger Argente
References