Thugs of Hindostan (soundtrack)

In late 2016, the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy was brought on board to compose music for the film.^[1] But the team opted out of the project, a year later, due to scheduling conflicts and script changes, resulting in the demand of newer songs. Shankar Mahadevan added "It was a never-ending schedule with the film, and they were increasing it [even further]. First they said [that] the shooting would be for six months. Then, they made some changes in the script, and then they increased it to a year, and then a year and a half. We couldn’t afford to take out that much time for it."^[2] As the trio were also working on the music of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019), they felt it difficult to handle two high-profile projects simultaneously, resulting in their exit from the project.^[3] They recommended Ajay–Atul's name to the producers and Aamir, as the composers had a highly successful career post Sairat (2016) and has been a part of high-profile projects, including Shah Rukh Khan's Zero (2018).^[3] The duo then composed four songs for the film, written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.^[4] John Stewart Eduri composed the film score.^[4]

The first song "Vashmalle" was released as a single on 11 October 2018.^[5] It is a dance number pictured on Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan;^[6] Aamir noted that he "was so excited to do a song with Mr Bachchan, that for the 1st time in my career I have enjoyed dancing!"^[7] The song "Suraiyya" was released on 17 October 2018.^[8][9] It is a dance number pictured on Katrina Kaif.^[10] The third song "Manzoor-e-Khuda" was released on 25 October 2018,^[11][12] along with the soundtrack album.^[13]

Vipin Nair of The Hindu wrote "The Thugs of Hindostan soundtrack — barring ‘ Vashmalle ’ where the composers really get going — is sadly a mish-mash of an album. Given that the composers and lyricist Bhattacharya are collaborating with the same director who got Vishal-Shekhar to deliver the brilliant Tashan ten years ago (yes yes, he also did Dhoom 3 after that), I had higher expectations for the film’s score."^[14] Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama wrote "For a biggie like this, one expected an epic score. However, leave aside being epic; there isn't much to even celebrate quantity wise since there are just three songs in there. A disappointing score."^[15]

Rachit Gupta of The Times of India called the music the most disappointing aspect of the film, stating, "The songs just don't have the spark you'd expect from a film featuring Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Amitabh Bachchan."^[16] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote "both the musical score (Atul-Ajay) and the dance moves smack more of kitschy Bollywood rather than evoking any sense of genuine time and place."^[17] Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today wrote "The songs in the film exist only because Katrina Kaif exists. Ajay-Atul's music is thoroughly underwhelming."^[18] Hannah Rachel Abraham of The Week wrote "The repetitive, soap opera-esque score by John Stewart Eduri and mostly forgettable music by Ajay-Atul do not help much either."^[19]