The album, “Songs Inspired By The Film The Beatles And India” features a diverse cast of Indian artists (Vishal Dadlani, Kiss Nuka, Benny Dayal, Dhruv Ghanekar, Karsh Kale, Nikhil D’Souza, Anoushka Shankar, Farhan Ahktar, Soulmate and many others) all bringing their own musical styles, as well as contemporary and classical Indian influences and techniques to the record. The album features Beatles’ songs written during their stay in Rishikesh, India including “Mother Nature’s Son,” “Revolution,” “Sexy Sadie,” “Dear Prudence,” “Child of Nature” among others. It also includes songs from their incredible catalogue which were colored by their earlier leanings to the magical sounds of India.
The hypnotic, lyrical soundtrack for “The Beatles and India” was written by award-winning composer Benji Merrison and recorded at Abbey Road Studio 2, the legendary home of The Beatles recording sessions, Budapest, Hungary and Pune, India. Both a classically trained composer and a skilled music producer and engineer, Benji has scored music for projects across film, television, installations and events. His distinctive musical voice is in high demand and he is known for SAS: Red Notice, Forces of Nature with Brian Cox, Dynasties, General Magic.
The award-winning film, “The Beatles And India,” is a unique historical chronicle of the enduring love affair between The Beatles and India that started more than half a century ago. Rare archival footage, recordings and photographs, eye-witness accounts and expert comments along with location shoots across India bring alive the fascinating journey of George, John, Paul and Ringo from their high octane celebrity lives in the West to a remote Himalayan ashram in search of spiritual bliss that inspires an unprecedented burst of creative songwriting. It is the first serious exploration of how India shaped the development of the greatest ever rock band and their own pioneering role bridging two vastly different cultures. “The Beatles And India” was directed by Ajoy Bose and co-directed by Peter Compton. The film was produced by Reynold D'Silva (Renoir Pictures / Silva Screen Productions) with executive producers Adam Greenup and Keith Ferreira. The documentary won Best Film Audience Choice and Best Music at the 2021 UK Asian Film Festival.
“As with his 2005 book The Beatles In India, Ajoy Bose’s directorial debut (co-director Peter Compton) suspends current censoriousness to catapult us to a world where it wasn’t unforgivable to get things wrong about other cultures as long as you were trying to get it right… Over 50 years later, what survives is gratitude on all sides that the Beatles and Indian musicians, teachers and fans they met got to be part of each other’s story.” - Uncut
The album is available from Amazon and may be streamed at Apple Music and Spotify.
“...impressive… Rich in content, scope and its use of archive footage and interviews with the Fabs and the other major players in this saga, this is a world apart from anything resembling your stereo typical Beatles documentary.” - Shindig
CD 1: Songs Inspired By The Film
01 Tomorrow Never Knows (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Kiss Nuka
02 Mother Nature’s Son (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Karsh Kale / Benny Dayal
03 Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon) Performed by Soulmate
04 Across The Universe (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Tejas / Mali
05 Everybody’s Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey) (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Rohan Rajadhyaksha /
Warren Mendonsa
06 I Will (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Shibani Dandekar / Neil Mukherjee
07 Julia (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Dhruv Ghanekar
08 Child of Nature (John Lennon) Performed by Anupam Roy
09 The Inner Light (George Harrison) Performed by Anoushka Shankar / Karsh Kale
10 The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Raaga Trippin
11 Back In The USSR (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Karsh Kale / Farhan Ahktar
12 I’m So Tired (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Lisa Mishra / Warren Mendonsa
13 Sexy Sadie (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Siddharth Basrur / Neil Mukherjee
14 Martha My Dear (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Nikhil D’Souza
15 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Parekh & Singh
16 Revolution (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Vishal Dadlani / Warren Mendonsa
17 Love You To (George Harrison) Performed by Dhruv Ghanekar
18 Dear Prudence (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) Performed by Karsh Kale / Monica Dogra
19 India, India (John Lennon) Performed by Nikhil D’Souza
CD 2: Original Score - Composed by Benji Merrison
01 Main Titles
02 Diminutive Yogi
03 Crazy Trailblazer
04 Selling Like Hotcakes
05 A Few Lessons
06 Something Very Grateful
07 Rishikesh Bridge
08 Jai Guru Dev
09 A Simple Existence
10 Old Ashram
11 The Prayer Room
12 50 Years Ago
13 Feeling and Heart
14 All Of India
15 Birthday Party
16 Spiritual Teacher
17 A Dealbreaker
18 Secrets Revealed
19 Down To Kerala
20 Small Gift To The World
21 End Credits
Available October 29, 2021
