Connections

When they collaborated on the Bombay Dreams musical a few years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber declared Rahman to be ‘the new Rachmaninov.’ Time magazine followed up by calling him ‘the Mozart of Madras.’ Frankly, there was nothing in the rather banal soundtrack to Bombay Dreams to justify either claim – and there's no supporting evidence to be found in this much better compilation of Rahman's film music either. Which isn't to say that he isn't some kind of genius. It's just that, if he is, it's of a distinctly pop variety: he has far more in common with other virtuosi of the modern studio, such as Damon Albarn or Nitin Sawhney. The thumping, drum-led Indo-pop of ‘Jai Ho!’ from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack and ‘Jiya Se Jiya’ retain their ability to thrill, but the original versions are far superior to the banal club remixes included here as a bonus. Elsewhere, Rahman's love of a sentimental tune is evident on the pianoled ballad ‘Meherbaan’ from the film Ada, ‘Ek Mohabbat’ and ‘Pray For Me Brother, all of which you could imagine Ronan Keating singing. The instrumental ‘Bombay Theme’ indicates that Rahman does also have a more profound understanding of both Indian classical tradition and Western classical orchestration. Overall, however, Connections is an uneven and unsatisfactory hotchpotch rushed out, one expects, for no other reason than to exploit recent sold-out tour dates at Wembley and the O2 arena.