HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 SOUNDTRACK RELEASES IN INDIA
THE INTERNATIONAL SMASH HIT INSPIRES SHANKAR EHSAAN LOY TO COMPOSE ‘AAJA NACHLE’ AND TWO MORE LOCAL TRACKS
Mumbai, 26 October, 2007: Times Music today releases the highly-anticipated soundtrack from the hit Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical 2" providing kids, tweens and families in India the opportunity to experience songs from the sequel, each re-recorded in Hindi with Indian instruments, plus three songs created just for the Indian marketplace, each produced by leading Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and remixed by DJ Suketu.
While the High School Musical 2 movie soundtrack embodies everything young, energetic and inspiring, the inspired tracks take a further step and bring local elements with added zing and desi flavour. The three inspired songs from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy include ‘All for one (Aaja Nachle)’, ‘Ud Chale’ and ‘Chhoti Si’ which were sung by Raja Hasan, Shilpa Rao, Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal Dadlani, Raman Mahadevan, Neumon Pinto and others.
While the rocking ‘Ud Chale’ captures the spirit of indian tweens, ‘All for one (Aaja Nachle)’ is a complete Bollywood style track with bhangra beats, hip hop and electric guitar. To add to the flavour, ‘Chhoti Si’ is all about friendship. Music videos of these songs are choreographed by the likes of Bosco-Ceasar.
The themes of High School Musical 2 – believe in yourself, express yourself and stay true to yourself – and the storyline, are carried through the lyrics specially written for the movie. Together the songs tell of the highs and lows of summer for Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Sharpay, Chad, Taylor and the rest of the East High School Wildcats in the singing, dancing, comedy and romance-filled movie sequel.
A team of young, enthusiastic singers including Naresh Kamath, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shweta Pandit, Neuman Pinto, Hrishikesh Karmerkar and Satya Hinduja came together to render the re-recorded movie soundtrack in Hindi with great passion and complete heartiness.
In the US, the soundtrack rewrote chart history once again with its spectacular debut at No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.
The album is packaged as a twin CD for a special price of Rs. 195.
High School Musical 2 is set to debut in India early December this year. Ratings of its premiere in the US were stellar; eclipsing the records set by the original movie and now stands as the most watched basic cable telecast of all time. Since its U.S. premiere, the movie has been seen by over 69 million people worldwide.
Speaking at the press conference today on behalf of the music trio, Shankar Mahadevan exclaimed, “We are thrilled to be a part of High School Musical 2. It is a unique experience for all of us to create ‘inspired songs in Hindi’ for an international hit album. Every song tells a story about teamwork, believing in yourself and following your dreams.”
“The messages and the music of High School Musical 2' have crossed all boundaries and we’re thrilled that such leading Indian artists Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy were inspired to produce some brilliant songs for the local soundtrack which I have no doubt kids and families will thoroughly enjoy,” said Antoine Villeneuve, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Walt Disney Television International (India).
Adarsh Gupta, COO, Times Music exulted, “It’s great to be involved with a first time endeavor such as High School Musical 2, where we are putting out fully localized content inspired by an International Feature Film, with original compositions by the likes of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The journey has been a lot of fun for us and this is only the beginning!”
About Times Music: The Times of India Group, India's largest Media conglomerate made its entry into the Music industry in January 1998 with the launch of Times Music, its music promotion and distribution division. Times Music broke into the business of music with a clear brief; to create albums that appeal to every category of music listener and to each strata of society. At present, over 500 Times Music albums are available through a nationwide network of retail stores in the genre of spiritual, classical, sufi, ghazal, lounge, international, remixes and film music.
About Disney Channel: Disney Channel offers an unparalleled blend of quality Disney entertainment and distinctive programs that kids love and families trust and enjoy. This includes Disney’s movies and series, sitcoms, family dramas and live action adventure stories. The channel’s multi-genre programming is designed to meet hitherto under-served needs of India’s tweens, kids and family audiences, by addressing specific entertainment genre gaps.