he described it as a film about the riots and said that he (Menon) needed to "(make what came before) the riots as beautiful as possible". So, Menon suggested shooting in the rains to achieve the effect. They shot the interiors of homes in Pollachi in Tamil Nadu and the exteriors were shot in Kasaragod, and Kannur village in Kerala. The song "Kannalane" was shot at Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, and "Uyire" was shot at Bekal Fort. The demolition of the Babri Masjid was shown onscreen through newspaper headlines and photographs, as the Censor Board did not want the makers to show the actual destruction. Themes and influences Mani Ratnam described Bombay as "a positive film about communal harmony". He said the Bombay riots were not the main focus of the film, but "a helpless, innocent man caught up in violence not of his own making." The film is the second installment in Ratnam's trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including Roja (1992) and Dil Se.. (1998). Bangalore Mirror compared it to the theme of the 1990 movie Come See the Paradise. Soundtrack The soundtrack album for Bombay was composed by A. R. Rahman, in his third collaboration with Mani Ratnam after Roja and Thiruda Thiruda. The lyrics for the Tamil version were written by Vairamuthu, except for the song "Antha Arabi Kadaloram", which was written by Vaali. The soundtrack of the film became one of the best-selling Indian music albums of all time, with sales of 15million units. The soundtrack was included in The Guardian'''s "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" list, and the song "Kannalanae" sung by K. S. Chithra was included in their "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" list. "Bombay Theme" has appeared in various international films and music compilations, while the songs "Kannalanae" and "Bombay Theme" have been sampled by various international artists. Release Bombay was released on 10 March 1995. The Telugu-dubbed version was released on the same day. It was previously scheduled to release in January 1995, during Pongal. The film caused considerable controversy upon release in India and abroad for its depiction of inter-religious relations between a Muslim woman and a Hindu man. The film was banned in Singapore and Malaysia upon release. Two homemade bombs were thrown at the house of Mani Ratnam, who had to be hospitalised with shrapnel injuries. Reception Box office The