Academy Museum to Delve into Indian Music with RRR, Lagaan, Slumdog Millionaire Soundtracks

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to celebrate the music of Indian cinema through a program exploring the soundtracks of RRR, Slumdog Millionaire, and Lagaan. The event, scheduled for May 18 at the David Geffen Theater in Los Angeles, will feature live tabla performances.

Hyderabad: The Academy Museum is set to celebrate Indian cinema music and explore the soundtracks of RRR and Lagaan. The Academy Museum's programme is scheduled to delve into Indian cinema soundtracks from films such as RRR, Slumdog Millionaire, and Lagaan. It will also feature live tabla performances, as well as information about the movies' Oscar wins and nominations.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has planned a programme to study "musical tapestries" generated by the outstanding soundtracks of three celebrated Indian films: RRR, Slumdog Millionaire, and Lagaan. The lecture will take place on May 18 at the David Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles, according to the museum's official site, which is affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Academy Museum's official statement read, "Join us in celebrating Indian cinema and Academy Award history through an immersive exploration into the music mastery of RRR (2022), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), and Lagaan (2001). This programme delves into the musical tapestries woven by the acclaimed soundtracks of three groundbreaking films, each celebrated not only for their cinematic excellence but also for their musical innovation, and how they resonated with audiences worldwide."

The talk will be followed by a live tabla performance by dance company Bollypop and Sadubas (a collaboration between classical tabla musician Robin Sukhadia and electronic music producer Ameet Mehta), who will recreate the music from all three films, as per the release. Talking about the films, SS Rajamouli's RRR was a pre-independence fictitious drama centred on two real-life Indian revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR), set in the 1920s. The film grossed over Rs 1,200 crore at the global box office and became the first Indian film to win an Oscar for best original song for its Telugu track Naatu Naatu.

Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan, starring Aamir Khan, was the last Indian film to make it to the final five nominees for best foreign language film at the Oscars. It lost to No Man's Land in 2001. Danny Boyle directorial British production Slumdog Millionaire was set in Mumbai. The 2008 film received eight Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, and best original song for AR Rahman and Gulzar. Rahman received another Oscar for Best Original Score. Resul Pookutty, an Indian sound designer, shared the prize for best sound mixing with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp.

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