‘Slumdog’ A Hit

Best Picture Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire” is the left-field hit of the season in America and Europe, but it’s done only OK business in India, where it’s set.

Well, it’s done OK in comparison to the usual Bollywood blockbuster.

However, sales of the soundtrack album have been better than expected, according to the Business Standard of India.

Mukash Desai, the CEO of the album’s local label T-Series, told the newspaper the album had already been a “big hit” in terms of FM radio airplay and iTunes downloads. He said he expected a 40 to 45 percent increase in local sales for the physical CD as the movie gains more word-of-mouth attention.

Other music industry sources say that sales could top 100,000 copies per week.

Soundtrack albums by A. R. Rahman, the prolific Bollywood composer who won two Oscars for “Slumdog,” regularly break the 1 million sales mark in India.

In fact, he has reportedly sold more albums in his career than The Beatles, though almost all in Asia.

Apparently, Rahman’s popularity has now spread to the U.K., where the “Slumdog” soundtrack has been a chart-topper since last year.

Music stores in India couldn’t be happier. Some are saying that they sell as many as 30 “Slumdog” CDs a day and expect the number to go up to 50, which is almost unheard of for a non-Bollywood soundtrack.