My Name Is Khan (soundtrack)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

My Name Is Khan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the six-song soundtrack for the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. Composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, it was released on 6 January 2010 (5 January in overseas markets) and recorded in 2009 at SEL Studio in Mumbai. The lyrics were mainly written by Niranjan Iyengar, with Javed Akhtar contributing to one song, though his name does not appear in the film’s credits. The vocals feature Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Richa Sharma, Shreya Ghoshal, Adnan Sami, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Rashid Khan and Suraj Jagan.

In the film, the music sets the mood and is heard as background rather than being performed on screen with lip-sync. The songs lean toward a melodic, soulful sound with Sufi influences and avoid party-style numbers. The soundtrack fits the film’s themes of heart, guts and hope. The project followed the trio’s successful collaborations with Dharma Productions on Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Wake Up Sid.

Sony Music India released the album as part of a long-term deal with Dharma Productions. The overseas release came a day earlier than the Indian release. An iTunes version added four extra tracks from Karan Johar’s previous films. A deluxe edition with lo-fi flip versions of “Sajdaa” and “Noor-E-Khuda” was released on 12 February 2023.

The soundtrack received positive reviews for its melodic, soulful approach. Critics noted that it supports the film’s themes and mood, though some viewed it more as background music than a collection of strong stand-alone songs. It has also earned several awards and nominations, including Filmfare, IIFA (two wins) and Mirchi Music Awards (two wins), with the Screen Award for Best Music Director going to Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.

Commercially, the soundtrack was a success, with Billboard reporting around 150,000 units sold in India within four days of its launch. The song “Sajda” was highlighted by the Indo-Asian News Service as one of the 10 greatest Bollywood songs of 2010.