Danny Boyle says he first thought about asking Jack White to compose the music for Slumdog Millionaire but zeroed in on AR Rahman — who won an Oscar for the film - on the recommendation of a crew member.

The ace filmmaker says he couldn't see or hear how the team could use the hit song Jai Ho in the movie. "I first thought about asking Jack White to write the music for Slumdog Millionaire, but I was already in India preparing the film and a member of the crew kept saying, 'You really must meet Mr AR Rahman, he truly is the Mozart of Madras, and he will change your life," says Boyle, who won the Oscar for best director for the film in 2009. After that "titanic recommendation", Boyle met "this gentle, unassuming man and my life did indeed change".