My Name Is Khan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. The album featured six original songs composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics written by Niranjan Iyengar and Javed Akhtar (uncredited). The vocals for the songs were performed by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Richa Sharma, Shreya Ghoshal, Adnan Sami, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Rashid Khan and Suraj Jagan. My Name is Khan is directed by Karan Johar, produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan and stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles.
The soundtrack to My Name Is Khan was highly anticipated owing to the trio's successful collaborations with Johar and Shah Rukh. Distributed by Sony Music, the album was released on 6 January 2010 and met with positive reviews from critics with praise directed on its melodic nature and Sufi influences in the compositions and lyrics. It was nominated for various accolades, including the Filmfare, IIFA (winning two) and Mirchi Music Awards (winning two). The trio further won the Screen Award for Best Music Director.
Development Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the film's music and score to My Name Is Khan; they had previously worked with Johar in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) and Wake Up Sid (2009). All the songs are played in the background without lip sync. Due to the themes and political issues in the film, Johar decided to avoid party numbers unlike his previous films, adding that "there's guts, soul and heart in the music".
Besides writing the dialogues, Iyengar additionally wrote lyrics for two songs: "Sajdaa" and "Allah Hi Rahem"; Akhtar was approached to write lyrics for the remaining songs but refused them citing his unwillingness to share credits. But with Johar's persuasion, Akhtar later agreed to write one song though his name not appeared in the film's credits. In a later interview, Akhtar mentioned on his refusal citing that his involvement would take away the attention of the other deserving lyricist; he added that, he had read the songs written by Iyengar and appreciated it.
On 14 June 2009, a burglary happened at the trio's studio in Mumbai, with the computers consisting of unrecorded tunes were stolen. However, their tunes for the film were left untouched.
Release The album was highly anticipated, after Johar's collaboration with Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy had provided successive results, with the music of Kal Ho Naa Ho and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Sony Music India acquired the film's music rights for an undisclosed price, as a part of the long-term deal with Dharma Productions. The soundtrack was released in the overseas markets on 5 January 2010, while it was released in India a day later.
In iTunes, besides the songs from the film, the album further consisted of four additional songs taken from Karan Johar's previous films. A deluxe edition, which consisted of the Lo-fi flip versions of "Sajdaa" and "Noor-E-Khuda", produced by Deepanshu Ruhela and Lo-fi 2307 were released on 12 February 2023.
Reception
Critical The soundtrack received positive reviews from music critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama wrote My Name Is Khan music does not has the romantic nature that is usual in Karan Johar's films, mainly Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and gave it a rating of three out of five stars. Ruchika Kher of Hindustan Times concluded, "On the whole, every song in the album is above-average. The composers have stuck to the theme of the film and the soundtrack has the potential to rock the charts." According to Chris Nickson of AllMusic, "It's Indian music lite, all very classy and polished but ultimately lacking in soul, which is one quality the film appears to possess. More than anything, the ten tracks here function as background music, since they're not especially arresting."
Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com found the music to have strong Sufi feels, opining that "it's neither fancy nor groundbreaking but warm enough to make us like it". Writing for the BBC, Jaspreet Pandohar described the soundtrack as a "mellow, spiritually-uplifting musical experience", while Kumar Saurav of Mid-Day noted "the six-track album is worth occasional listening, but certainly not the soul-stirrer you were expecting".
Upon revisiting the album in 2023, Saaya Vaidya in her column for Film Companion described it as "a masterclass in the art of weaving together songs that explore similar themes. The songs and melodies seem to speak to one another — if one raises a question, another answers it."
Commercial The Billboard magazine reported that it sold 150,000 units four days after its launch in India only and proved to be a commercial success. The Indo-Asian News Service included "Sajda" in their listing of 10 greatest Bollywood songs of 2010.
Track listing
Awards and nominations Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result BIG Star Entertainment Awards21 December 2010 Most Entertaining Song "Sajda" Most Entertaining Singer – Male for "Tere Naina" Most Entertaining Singer – Female for "Sajda" Most Entertaining Music Filmfare Awards29 January 2011 Best Music Director Best Lyricist for "Noor-E-Khuda" for "Sajda" Best Male Playback Singer , Shankar Mahadevan for "Noor-E-Khuda" for "Sajda" Best Female Playback Singer for "Noor-E-Khuda" International Indian Film Academy Awards23–25 June 2011 Best Lyricist for "Sajda" Best Music Director Best Background Score Mirchi Music Awards 27 January 2011 Best Programmer and Arranger for "Noor-E-Khuda" Best song in Sufi Tradition "Sajda" Best Song of The Year – Listener's Choice "Tere Naina" Best Album of The Year – Listener's Choice Song of The Year "Sajda" "Tere Naina" Best Album of The Year My Name Is Khan Male Vocalist of The Year Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shankar Mahadevan for "Sajdaa" Female Vocalist of The Year Richa Sharma for "Sajdaa" Music Composer of The Year Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for "Sajdaa" Lyricist of The Year Niranjan Iyengar for "Sajdaa" Niranjan Iyengar for "Tere Naina" Raag-Inspired Song of the Year "Sajdaa" Best Background Score of the Year Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Producers Guild Film Awards12 January 2011 Best Music Director Best Male Playback Singer for "Tere Naina" Best Female Playback Singer for "Sajda" Best Lyricist for "Tere Naina" Screen Awards6 January 2011 Best Music Director Best Background Music Best Male Playback , Shankar Mahadevan for "Noor-E-Khuda" for "Sajda" for "Tere Naina" Best Female Playback for "Noor-E-Khuda" Best Lyricist for "Noor-E-Khuda" for "Sajda" Zee Cine Awards 14 January 2011 Best Playback Singer – Female for "Sajda"
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