Guru (soundtrack)

Guru is the soundtrack to the 2007 film directed by Mani Ratnam. The soundtrack was released on 18 November 2006. Guru's music is composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics provided by Gulzar.

Overview

Like many of Rahman's soundtracks, Guru comes with a variety of songs. The songs vary in their musical style, from the Turkish inspired "Mayya Mayya" to the folk-ish "Ek Lo Ek Muft", the love ballad "Tere Bina" and rain-themed song, "Barso Re".

The song "Tere Bina" is dedicated to the memory of Pakistani qawwali singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan since it was the 10th anniversary of his death. Gulzar also adapted the lyrics of "Ay Hairathe" from the lyrics of Hazrat Amir Khushroo's "Ay Sarbathe Aashiqui". Rahman personally trained Egyptian singer Maryem Tollar to sing "Mayya", a song which Rahman wrote while on Hajj in Makkah. After he heard a man near a river who was continually repeating "maya maya maya" (water in Arabic), he told Gulzar to incorporate the word into the tune he had created while touring in Toronto, Canada.

A. R. Rahman

Allah-Rakha Rahman ( pronunciation , born A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967) is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist. Rahman's works are noted for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. Among his awards are two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. Rahman's body of work for film and stage has given him the nickname of "the Mozart of Madras", and Tamil commentators and fans call him Isai Puyal (English: the Musical Storm).

In 2009, Time included Rahman on its list of the world's most influential people. The UK-based world-music magazine Songlines named him one of "Tomorrow's World Music Icons" in August 2011.

With an in-house studio (Panchathan Record Inn in Chennai) Rahman's film-scoring career began during the early 1990s with the Tamil film Roja. Working in India's film industries, international cinema and theatre, Rahman is one of the world's all-time best-selling recording artists. In a notable two-decade career, he has been acclaimed for redefining contemporary Indian film music and contributing to the success of several films. Rahman has become a notable humanitarian and philanthropist, donating and raising money for a number of causes and charities.