Jab Tak Hai Jaan (soundtrack)

Development

The soundtrack marks the first ever collaboration of director Yash Chopra with composer A.R. Rahman and lyricist Gulzar. In May 2011, A. R. Rahman was signed to compose the music as well as the background score of the film. The first song of the soundtrack was completed in December 2011. By February 2012, Rahman told in an interview with The Times of India that he had completed three songs for the film. Rahman summarized about the soundtrack album quoting,"It's a combination. They wanted to do my kind of songs at the same time they wanted the old charm and soul of music that Indian audience would love and which I wanted to do for a long time."

Overview

The Punjabi lyrical song Challa was picturised on the lead character Samar Anand (played by Shahrukh Khan). The song was prominently shot at Trafalgar Square, Canary Wharf, Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges, set in London. At the promotion of the film he stated, "I love ‘Challa’ – its a Punjabi, Sufi kind of song. Doing it was different for me, to play the guitar in the way its supposed to be strummed." The song also featured Katrina Kaif alongside Khan. The song portrays daily routine life of the character Samar who resides in London. The lead actor specially learnt the guitar chords of the song so as to portray authenticity while strumming it. Released as a single track prior to the music launch, it met overwhelming positive reviews over the internet, especially on YouTube. Several media reports claimed opening notes and guitar strummings of the song to be loosely inspired from Eagle-Eye Cherry's song Save Tonight. However, these allegation were shot down by the singer Rabbi Shergill claiming that the two songs that shared acoustic guitar, bass and tempo, nonsensical insinuations had come up.
The song Saans was attributed as ‘The Breathe of Love’ by Khan when it opened up as video promo on the day of music launch. Rahman stated that initially the patch version of the song was composed with dummy lyrics. He added that the song highlights traditional beats but has an edge to it. According to the plot of the film, the song needed tautness that is exemplified by the tensed violins. In the film, Samar helps Meera (played by Katrina Kaif) in reviving her maternal bondings where in she knows more on love through her mother. This makes Meera reciprocate her feelings to Samar, expressed as song Saans. The reprise version of the song is positioned when the characters Meera and Samar converge post 10 years.
Ishq Dance and Ishq Shava both dance oriented numbers were sequentially queued in filming where the former was shot with the leading duo and nearly eighty freestyle dancers in an underground club where as the latter on board a barge on River Thames, London, essentially keeping the Tower Bridge as the backdrop during the night. The music composer stated that instead of trance or dubstep genre, he fused tribal and contemporary with acoustics. The song also involves more of strummed Spanish guitars in its preludes.
A solo performance in the film by Meera is song Heer Heer. Initially the song was recorded as patch, to be featured only in the film. However, lyricist Gulzar insisted Rahman to record it as a complete track after adding more lines to the folk poetry. In the film, Meera learns Punjabi and the song through Samar. She performs the song to impress her father and depict that though being in London, her roots are still into her Indian culture. On the counterpart, the song also relates the heartfelt situation between her and Samar. The straight Punjabi lyrical track implicitly refers the folklores of Mirza Sahiban and Heer Ranjha where the lyricist claimed to plank imagery in several lines of the song.
Song Jiya Re vociferates character name Akira (played by Anushka Sharma) in the song. Lyricist Gulzar stated that the song was much character oriented which is described so in its lyrics. The song was extensively shot in the landscapes of Ladakh and Kashmir. Akira's further documentary filming journey with Samar begins post this song. Singer Neeti Mohan made her debut as a playback singer through this song in the soundtrack.
Often regarded as the swan song, the title track Jab Tak Hai Jaan marks the union of the lead characters and was planned to be shot with profligate budget in the Swiss Alps. The demise of the director led to its filming cancellation and then the song was placed at the closing credits of the movie.
The poem Jab Tak Hai Jaan written by Aditya Chopra and recited by Shahrukh Khan was featured in the opening credits of the film. Several reports stated, the theatrical trailer that incorporated this song claimed to be reminiscent of the song Apertura of film The Motorcycle Diaries, especially the use of Charango in the music.

Marketing

On 11 September 2012 when the film opened up with its title, part of the lyrics of the poem Jab Tak Hai Jaan penned by Aditya Chopra were released before the launch of the soundtrack. On 27 September 2012, that marked the film director's 80th birthday, Shahrukh Khan paid homage to Chopra in an event pertaining to his film where the song Challa was deciphered. Chopra stated it to be his favorite pick from the album and even recited few lines of it. The video promo of the first song of the soundtrack album, Challa sung by Rabbi Shergill in Punjabi language was released on 1 October 2012 garnering over a million views within a day of its release. The first trailer of the film also incorporated instrumental part of the song Challa. The making of the song Challa song was also released officially on 5 October 2012. Later, it was also made available as a complete track for digital download.A small portion of the song Heer Heer sung in Punjabi by Harshdeep Kaur was leaked on the internet on 7 October 2012. The video promo of second song Saans was launched on 9 October 2012 in an event held at Ball Room, Taj Land Ends, Bandra, Mumbai. The romantic number was launched in presence of Khan and Katrina Kaif web conferencing the event over Skype where Khan attributed the song as The Breathe of Love.Initially, the event was supposed to have the actress but her shooting schedules for Dhoom 3 in Chicago, she made such appearance. The video promo of the song Jiya Re highlighting Anushka Sharma featuring Khan was released on 17 October 2012. The complete soundtrack album was released on 9 October 2012 on YRF Music. The video teaser of Ishq Shava was released on 26 October 2012 and Heer Heer on 6 November 2012.

Critical response

The soundtrack of Jab Tak Hai Jaan received generally positive critical reception. At the poll conducted by Indiatimes, the song Saans won the title of "Most Romantic Song of the year 2012".

Anand Vaishnav of Indiatimes praised the album and wrote, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan’s score may not be the game-changer Rahman fans would have expected, but it’s got its heart in the right place. And is a welcome break from all the noise (in the name of experimentation) that one is subjected to on the music-charts." DJ Munks of BizAsia Showbiz gave it 8 out of 10 stars and said, "The album is inventive and does not reflect a typical sound heard in Rahman’s music but has clear signs of ownership of Chopra, clearly indicating he had a major influence on it. The album keeps away for popular commercial music but creates a unique niche for itself with genuine hard work and talent reflecting in the songs." Abid of Glamsham gave the album a 4/5 rating and wrote, "The compositions maintain the class and ingenuity of the maestro Rahman and at the same time reflect the old world traditional charm of the Chopras, incased in some truly superb lyrics by master craftsman, Gulzar." Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated Jab Tak Jai Jaan turns out to be a mixed bag and while none of the songs is the kind that one turns away from (it can't be imagined that way in any case, given the team involved), there are only a few which make you come back to them. Vipin of Music Aloud noted, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Has its ARR-special moments, but for a film touted as Yash Chopra’s 50th year special and his first venture with A R Rahman (along with Gulzar, that too!), the soundtrack is underwhelming.". Koimoi gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and said, "Music of Jab Tak Hai Jaan leaves the listener with diverse emotions as it appeals on some levels while also leaves some voids. Since it’s an A R Rahman album, experimentation does rule." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare thought that the album was appealing even though it was not vintage Rahman. Siddharth K of Musicperk stated, "A fitting finale for Yash Chopra!". Anand Holla of The Times of India wrote, "Though not as free-spirited as Rockstar, Jab Tak Hai Jaan is engaging; an adorable, even if somewhat syrupy, soundtrack in its own love-struck space." Sukanya Verma of Rediff wrote, "Save for a few inspiring notes, even a die-hard Rahman fan will admit to feeling underwhelmed with what Jab Tak Hai Jaan has to offer." Behindwoods stated, "Rahman has given an album which oozes with passion and would be a treat for the romantics. It’s a nice parting gift for the legendary Yash Chopra who is directing his last film."

After the second day of release, the album reached the number one spot on the Top 10 World Albums chart on iTunes, making it the third Indian album to achieve this feat after Enthiran and Rockstar. Notably, all three were composed by A. R. Rahman.

Track listing

The track list of the album was first revealed on 8 October 2012 on the website Rahman360.

Album Credits

At Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai: Suresh Permal, Srinidhi Venkatesh, Hentry Kuruvilla, T. R. Krishna Chetan, P.A. Deepak, Jerry Vincent. R. Nitish Kumar

At AM Studios, Chennai: S. Sivakumar, Kannan Ganpat, Pradeep

At Panchathan Hollywood Studio, Los Angeles:: Tony Joy

At YRF Studios, Mumbai: Shantanu Hudlikar, Abhishek Khandelwal, Sarit Chatterjee

At Nirvana Studios, Mumbai: Abhinav Verma

Mixed By Shantanu Hudlikar, R. Nitish Kumar And T. R. Krishna Chetan Mastered By Chris Athens At Chris Athens Masters

"Challa Tah main" - Drums: Ranjit Barot, Percussions: Faizan Hussain & Nishad Chandra, Guitars: Keba Jeremiah, Bass: Keith Peters

"Saans" - Flute: Naveen Kumar

"Ishq Shava" - Guitars: Joel Shearer, Oud, Mandolin, Saz: Tapas Roy

"Jiya Re" - Guitars: Chandresh Kudwa, Bass: Keith Peters

"Heer" - Guitars: Keba Jeremiah

"Saans (Reprise)" - Percussions: Sanket Naik, Darshan Doshi, Arun Solanki

"Jab Tak Hai Jaan" - Dholak: T. Raja, Y. P. Prasad, M. Lakshmi Narayanan, Flute: Navin Iyer, Kiran Kumar

"Ishq Dance" - Drums: Ranjit Barot, Percussions: Faizan Hussain & Nishad Chandra

Kids Chorus Vocal Arrangement on the song "Challa" By "The Gleehive" conducted by Celeste Lourdes Cordo
Vocals produced By Clinton Cerejo