Sivaji Soundtrack

Despite being critically acclaimed for his work in Anniyan, Harris Jayaraj was not selected for Sivaji. AVM Productions and Rajinikanth demanded that India's top music director should be involved in the project and A. R. Rahman was signed up as the music director. A. R. Rahman was paid two Indian Crores for the project, making him the highest paid Indian music director.[123] A.R. Rahman re-recorded the background music in London.[124][125] The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and some choral singers have rendered out moments in a background track.

[edit] Unofficial Versions
Sivaji became a major anticipated project several rumours arose regarding the soundtrack. Vairamuthu confirmed early on that he had written a song called, Vaa..ji Vaa..ji Sivaji. No other major details about any other song was mentioned. Rumours went around that certain singers had sung in the project, including Rajinikanth. However on October 11, 2006, the source, Behindwoods.com, mentioned that they had received credible information that Sivaji contained seven songs, five of which were set to be in the audio, with the other two being situational songs. Surprisingly, they also mentioned the five songs which were in the album. Vaa...ji Vaa...ji Sivaji[126] was mentioned to be the opening song of the film. They also reported that a philosophical song titled, Unpeyar Ennada[127] was in the film. Another song titled, Jee Boom Ba[128] was mentioned as its picturization was to be filmed in either foreign locations or in Karnataka featuring the lead pair. A song called, Talla Dimi Takka Dimi Pucha..[129] was supposed to contain Japanese lyrics and was set to be filmed in Japan, however the Sivaji crew did not travel to Japan during the shoot. The final song mentioned was, Adaal Udan Pesadha Di... En Salangaiku Bhadil Solladi..[130] and it was mentioned as a remix from another film titled Vanjikottai Valiban, Behindwoods.com claimed that this song would occur in the climax sequences of the film. However none of these songs barring Vaa..ji Vaa..ji Sivaji. were in the actual soundtrack[131] On March 22, 2007 a huge dilemma occurred over the illegal release of three preliminary tracks on the internet.[132] The songs Vaa..ji Vaa..ji En Jeevan Nee Sivaji, sung by Hariharan and Madhushree[133] Sahana Saaral Thoovudho sung by Udit Narayan and Sujatha[134] and finally a song titled, Oru Koodai Sunlight rendered by Tanvi, Shaggy and Blaaze were available on the internet.[135] However despite the uproar caused, they were dismissed as scratchings for the picturization. Later the tracks were offiically released with Chinmayi instead of Sujatha, in Sahana and Suresh Peters added to the group of singers in Style (Oru Koodai Sunlight).[136]

Official Version

The official audio of Sivaji released in India and overseas on 2nd April, 2007.[137] Unlike, other major films, no pooja was held for the event and the soundtrack were released to the shops straight away. The audio cassette cover had an image of four Rajinikanth's on its cover while the CD version of the soundtrack had an image of the lead pair on its cover.[138] The first song in the album, is Balleilakka, which supposedly will feature Rajinikanth dancing with Nayanthara, who is making a guest appearance in the film. It is set to picturize him dancing and singing while returning to Tamil Nadu from the United States of America, with the backdrop of paddy fields. Over four hundred dancing extras will be used in the song including Pulikali artistes from Kerala. The songs lyrics were penned by poet, Na. Muthukumar and the song was sung by, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who like he did in Amarkalam has sung without stopping for nearly two minutes. The other singers are, Rahman's elder sister, Reihana and Telugu language singer Benny.[139]
The second song in the abum, is entitled, Style which is sung by Rags, Tanvi, Blaaze and Suresh Peters. The song was previously titled, Oru Koodai Sunlight and was picturized in Bilbao, Spain. The song praises Rajinikanth's style and hero qualities.[139] The lyrics were penned by poet, Pa. Vijay. The third song is Vaa..ji Vaa..ji Sivaji, which was picturized at Hyderabad's Ramoji Film City, with sets at a cost of three Indian Crores. Reports claim the song picturizes Rajinikanth in knee-length warrior clothing as the King of Egypt and Shriya Saran as Queen. The song penned by Vairamuthu, has renowned singers, Hariharan and Madhushree singing.[139]
The fourth song in the album is Athiradee and is sung by A. R. Rahman and Sayonara with lyrics written from poet, Vaali.[139] The fifth and sixth songs of the album are titled, Sahana and Sahara - one being a peppy rendition and the other being a soulful rendition of the same number. Singing the peppy rendition is Hindi language singer, Udit Narayan with Chinmayi while the soulful rendition singers are Vijay Yesudas with Gomathishree, both songs have the lyrics written by poet, Vairamuthu, who was praised by Rajinikanth personally for his effort.[139] The final song in the album, is a situational theme song entitled, The Boss sung by Naresh Iyer, Blaaze and Raqueeb Alam, with lyrics from Na. Muthukumar and Blaaze.[139]