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His theme track for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) has not gone down well with both fans and politicians. While the song’s online popularity is nowhere near that of Shakira’s Waka Waka , which he had famously claimed his tune would surpass, politicians and CWG officials now want the Rs 5 crore-track “recomposed”.

Swagatham aka Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto is a mid-tempo song sung by Rahman with distortion guitars, bhangra beats, very 70’s style sitar riffs and a bit of English rap thrown in. However, the composition, which critics say has neither the pace nor the punch of Waka Waka , or the rousing quality of Maa Tujhe Salaam , has disappointed.

Ever since he posted links to the tracks on his social networking pages, Rahman has been flooded with unsavoury comments. “We expected something better,” is the general refrain while others have been kind enough to say, “It will grow on you.”

Though experts say with more promotional activities the track it is likely to pick up, the CWG committee is unhappy with the result. Soon after the launch of the track on August 28, Vijaykumar Malhotra, board member of CWG organising committee (OC) claimed, “We had expected a better song from a composer of Rahman’s status. He has given some very good songs like Maa Tujhe Salaam but this song is not that impressive.”

Former sports minister Shahnawaz Hussain said, “I respect Rahman for what he has achieved but the track simply does not excite me. No one in the OC likes it except perhaps Suresh Kalmadi. It is nowhere close to Waka Waka and has failed to lift the sagging spirits of the CWG.”

Hussain said he was provoked to demand a re-composition of the theme track only because Lalit Bhanot, organising secretary of the CWG kept insisting that people would begin liking Swagatham if they keep listening to it. “Either it is good music or bad. There is no middle way to evaluate the appeal of a Rs 5 crore track, he can surely re-compose it,” said the Bhagalpur MP.

At the same Delhi’s political circuit is buzzing with questions over why Rahman was given the sole responsibility to compose the theme track. “Not all Rahman scores become a hit, do they?” say sources requesting anonymity. Incidentally, the launch of the theme song was delayed as the OC had asked Rahman to make changes. “I think it won’t be good to release the theme song without making the necessary changes,” Rahman had earlier said.

Veteran jazz musician Louis Banks who has composed several theme tracks for popular shows and events, says, “Rahman’s work has always been controversial. But if you are truly inspired, it takes ten minutes to compose a tune. Given that it took him six months to compose it, I guess something must have gone wrong somewhere!”

Despite several attempts Rahman remained unavailable for comment.

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This post was submitted by Harshit Agrawal.