I was happy for all the nominations the film had received. And I felt people in India will continue to be proud of this film. I was feeling very gloomy and I was very upset before the nominations were announced. I could not understand why and how some people had made the film controversial. I was deeply disturbed by the controversies. I was hurt. I knew the film was made with good intentions, and it shows in every scene in the film.

I always believed that this film is about goodness triumphing over evil. It sent out the message that life was indeed worth living and that all of us can come out of the darkness.

I also knew the film was about pure love and that it also celebrated the human spirit. There is a lot of negativity around us but here is a film that showed that people can actually overcome the divisions among ourselves and go beyond the things that are hurting us. It is a film all Indians can relate to and we ought to be proud that we are associated with it.

Director Danny Boyle says he just could not believe how excited you were when he offered you the film.

(Laughs). I was very exhausted when he met me over a year ago. I thought I was not going to do a film for a few months. When I saw the rough cut of Slumdog Millionaire, I knew I had to do the film. He wanted me to do a few songs but I said I wanted to do more.

Like what?

He had wanted some old songs to be used in the film. For instance the Choli Ke Peeche number. I offered to create my own version and that is how Ringa Ringa came into existence. And I was going to do the background score, too.

And how many days did all this take?

This is one of the fastest works I have ever done for a film. The songs and the rest of the score were done in just about 15 days.

Image: A R Rahman and the Slumdog Millionaire cast and crew, with the Golden Globes they won.

Download: Slumdog Millionaire ringtones

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