From Bollywood to Hollywood

A couple of days back I was watching a DVD of the recent Nicholas Cage flick, Lord of War. It turned out to be an average thriller about weapons sales across the world, with a rather cynical (but perhaps reasonably accurate) portrayal of how weapons are stolen to anyone who can pay, and where the weapons come from. The highlight of the movie (to me) was Eamonn Walker’s portrayal of Andre Baptise, an African warlord, and dictator of Liberia (based on the real life former tyrant of that poor African country, Charles Taylor).

But there’s one scene that caught me completely by surprise. Cage is flying in some serious weaponry to Liberia, and his plane is tailed by Interpol agent Jack Valentine (Ethan Hunt...yikes, Hawke (thanks Patrix)), who forces him to land, and then cuffs him and leaves him stranded in the wilderness.

The soundtrack starts playing as Cage sits silently on a box. It sounds uncannily familiar, but only for a moment.

I realize I’m listening to a tune I know very, very well, from an old favorite movie of mine.

It’s the theme music from Mani Rathnam’s Bombay.

Then, at the end of the movie where the credits appear, I see A.R. Rahman’s name, and a clear statement of permission from Universal Music.

Excellent.