Rahman and I

(A post by Benly and a recording by Aishwarya)

It was one August evening in 1992. I was in 3^rd grade.  I was in my school bus on my way back home from school and I heard one of my seniors sing a song that I’ve never heard before.  A few days later I heard my neighbours play the same song. I was hooked on to the song straight away. Must be the reggae beats.  Few days later I heard the same song at my favourite cousin’s place; that song and all the other songs from the same album. It was so different from any Indian film song that I had listened to before. The “sound” was new.

Music has been an integral part of my growing up.  Dad plays about 6 musical instruments and he was part of the local Church choir when he was young. Dad is a huge fan of country music and rock n’ roll and has a huge vinyl collection back home. By the time I was in middle school I knew almost all the songs of Cliff Richard, Neil Diamond, Jim Reeves, and The Beatles by heart. Music was our only entertainment at home back then. Music was in the air.

But the songs that I listened to from my cousin’s place changed my idea of music for me. I realized I could choose the kind of music I want to listen to.  I no longer have to listen to Dad’s favourite songs. For me it was the beginning of something special; a special musical journey.  I wanted to listen to all those songs again. And again. I didn’t have the courage to ask my parents to buy the cassette for me because I thought Mom didn’t like me listening to film music.  So I borrowed the cassette from my cousin and recorded the songs on a devotional song cassette. And then I started hearing stories about the man who was behind these songs. I started reading about him in the newspapers. I started talking to my friends about this magician called A R Rahman. And for the next few years, I kept borrowing his music cassettes from my cousin and kept recording them on devotional cassettes we had at home. His music became a part of my growing up. It shaped my formative years in ways I have no clue about.

It was fun until one day when Dad decided to play one of those cassettes that was hidden in my closet. All hell broke loose. Suddenly I was the black sheep of the family. A lot of drama later, Dad promised to buy me all the cassettes that I wanted. This was because erasing gospel songs from the tape by recording film songs over them was a sin that guaranteed a place for me in hell.

This was when I started keeping track of all A R Rahman releases.  The first cassette Dad bought for me was Rangeela. Dad was kind enough to buy me all the cassettes till I was in the tenth grade. After that I was asked to save up on my pocket money and buy cassettes on my own. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing till date. I had a giant poster of Rahman in my room alongside the posters of Sachin and Dravid. Mom hated me for that. ‘It’s okay to like someone’s body of work but it’s a sin to worship human beings’ has always been her philosophy. But in my defense, Rahman IS God.

Things were different once I was sent to college. I was on my own and I found a bunch of like-minded friends who liked A R Rahman’s music and a bunch that did not like his music.  At first it was tough for me to learn that there are people who hate his music.  I mean, like, what? I was also introduced to different kinds of music. I slowly graduated from Boy bands to Soft rock to all the other kinds of music that I don’t want to categorize under any genre.

This was exactly the time when I started sensing a change in Rahman’s music. He was preparing himself for greater things. But the way he timed it was so perfect. Along with him, he was also preparing fan boys like me for the musical journey that he was taking. Simple melodies slowly became complicated, multilayered tunes. Safe bets became experimental tracks. Familiar sounds slowly became “I have never heard anything like this before” sounds. What he also did was to find directors who let him experiment; who dared him to go beyond what he was doing all those years. There has been mixed reactions to his music ever since. But that’s a risk he was willing to take. And a risk he took. For me, a Delhi6 or a Rockstar is as important as a Roja. Different times, different movies, different situations but it’s how his music fits into the scheme of things like magic and how it transports me to a different world and leaves me in an eternal trance is all that matters.

It’s been more than 20 years now since the first time I heard my senior sing that song in the school van. That 26 years old magician is 47 years old now. Each phase of my life is connected to a Rahman song or album or a bunch of them. That’s how I sometimes remember the days gone by. Childhood was all about Rahman songs, just like how it was all about RK Narayan’s stories or Rahul Dravid’s batting. I have always been a fan boy, which is against Mom’s religious principles. But I think she doesn’t care anymore because deep inside she knows that the man I am today is mostly because of the people I’ve adored all my life.

Thank you Rahman. For the music and for what you mean to me. Happy Birthday! Here’s to another 30 years of Rahman-level music.

PS: Did you guys listen to Kadal songs? My Dad loved the songs. It has Country. It has blues. It has gospel. More importantly, it has soul.

PPS: Turned out to be a VerrSenti post. What is there.

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And here Aishwarya attempts Tum Ho –

Happy Birthday, Rahman.

20 years of A.R.Rahman

Roja released on August 15th 1992, a good twenty years back. And it still seems like only yesterday. To celebrate this 20th year anniversary of A.R.Rahman’s music, we have a post specially for this occasion. A post on Roja by @krtgrphr. 

Rahmania, so far, has been a blog with opinions and thoughts in the written form. To add a new dimension, we decided to have a new tab ‘From the fans’. We have compiled a list of covers of Rahman’s songs. We plan to add more over time. Put aside some time of your day to give them a listen and take a journey through the last twenty years.

Here is a cover of Vellai Pookal by Aishwarya for Rahman, one of the tracks in the ‘From the Fans’ tab.

Reliving Aayitha Ezhuthu

A post by Aishwarya

2004 was one of those landmark years for me. It was probably the only year when I truly enjoyed school. I had also just become a crazy Rahman fan.

2004 was also a landmark year for Rahman. I realized this only a few days ago when I was counting the number of albums he released that year. The year started off with Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, then came Aayitha Ezhuthu and New. In Hindi, there was Swades, Meenaxi and Yuva. Apparently Lakeer was released in 2004 too, but I still haven’t given it a proper listen. I find it amazing that there were so many albums, and that they were of very high quality too.

(Collage using images from http://www.goodmorningmidnight.com/yuvapage3.html, by Viju)

In this post I will focus on Aayitha Ezhuthu. I absolutely loved the movie. I’ve read comments where people say the movie had more style than substance. But hey, I really enjoyed the style and technical part of it. But the movie would not have been half as stylish and interesting if not for the music and background score.

I remember very distinctly the excruciating wait for the soundtrack of AE to release. 10-20 second snippets of the songs were put up on a website. I would listen to Dol Dol repeatedly, and wonder who is screaming in this strange song titled ‘Yaakai Thiri’. I would visit the official website of the film every other day. And then the album finally released. I had the cassette and played it every night for a month right before going to sleep.

Today it struck me that AE is similar to Thiruda Thiruda’s music in some ways – the amount of technology used. And that I’ve never heard songs like those earlier. That is why AE stands out for me. Unlike Kangalal Kaidhu Sei or Meenaxi that came out the same year, AE sounds extremely synthesized. But it works and came together quite well in the movie.

All six songs are distinct in their own way but the album seems to end very soon. Hey Goodbye Nanba is one of the most experimental songs I’ve heard – it meanders a lot in 5 minutes but doesn’t lose its way. The highlight are the voices of Sunitha Sarathy and Shankar Mahadevan. They make a very fresh pair which translates onto the screen as well.

Jana Gana Mana is when things turn electric. This song is all about the energy. The chorus remains addictive and a favourite. More and more instruments are introduced in the song as the seconds pass by. Also the glass-breaking and the dog barking sounds! And Rahman sounds wonderful. Have you all seen the unplugged version of the song? Rahman played it during an interview which I remember was aired on Tamil New Year in ’04. I watched the whole programme although I had an exam the following day.

The third song Sandai Kozhi is ruined by Madhusree. It has great lyrics but she makes it very difficult for me to enjoy them. I think this is the only song that is free of computer generated sounds. It is a good break from the heavily charged Jana Gana Mana.

The album picks up (a lot of) pace with Dol Dol, the most addictive song of all. It is only 4 minutes long but manages to pause in between for a breath and start again with a vengeance and finish on a high.

Nenjam Ellaam is an interesting duet. It is a slow paced long and takes its own time to unfold. Adnan Sami and Sujatha are perfect for it. I love how the song goes back and forth quickly between the singers. The album ends with the fantastic Yaakai Thiri. I still don’t understand the meaning of all the words but I prefer this to the Hindi version..”hone do dil ko, fanaa” just doesn’t cut it for me. Anyway, the aalap in the end of the song ends the album perfectly. My sister and I spent hours learning the aalap and I doubt we would ever forget it. Yaakai Thiri is unfortunately let down by the video with guys in shades and vests rapping the aalap.

It has just dawned on me that Rahman has sung three songs in the album, including the background vocals for Sandai Kozhi. Every song has a new sound and it isn’t often we hear an album so out of the ordinary.

Aayitha Ezhuthu will forever hold a special place for me not only because of the music and the film but also for reminding me of my innocent younger days when I requested the radio station to play Yaakai Thiri even when I had the cassette and the song on the computer.

P.S.: There might be a second part to this post..with more description and fangirlish writing.

Rockstar. Finally.

Yes, this is delayed. It has been over a month since the soundtrack of Rockstar released. I’ve had a lot of time to listen to all the songs carefully and you know, “let them grow” on me. The album released after a long harrowing wait, and I could barely contain my excitement as one promo after the other emerged. And to find out there were 14 songs in total!                                         

It is definitely one of Rahman’s more memorable albums in recent times. Initially I found it redundant to listen to Mohit Chauhan sing every other song, but I am actually liking it now.

Rockstar begins with the wonderful Phir Se Ud Chala. The song picks up pace in the second half and takes a totally different turn. Mohit Chauhan has sung it with the reckless abandon that is required. Ths song makes me think of nature and freedom. Perfect way to start the soundtrack and your day. I don’t know why I don’t like Jo bhi main much. It’s just a good chill out song. Is it the electric guitar in the background at 2:36? Whatever it is, I love it. Then comes the song I was hooked to from the promos – the wonderfully sung Katiya karoon. As expected from an Imtiaz Ali film, there is a Punjabi type song in Rockstar too. Katiya Karoon is such a fun girly song.

Rahman adds another song to his long list of Sufi tracks. Sure, Kun Faaya Kun doesn’t match up to Arziyan, but it’s still almost 8 minutes of bliss. The first one minute is pure divine – the harmonium + Rahman + Javed Ali. And the other highlight is the portion from 4:58 till the end, where the intruments fade into the background and Chauhan’s voice rises above everything. And then the guitar kicks in at 5:45. whoa. Having never been a fan of Javed Ali, I thought he sounded amazing in this song.

Sheher mein is the most addictive track of the album. It is almost a throwback to the 90s. Mohit Chauhan’s laidback style of singing totally works. I believed it was sung by Karthik only after listening to it repeatedly for a week. The next song Haawa Haawa is just incredibly catchy. The chorus, accordion, and mainly the guitar make the song hard to skip. Both Sheher mein and Haawa Haawa should be fun to watch on screen.

Aur Ho is a favourite. I love pretty much everything about it – Alma Ferovic’s vocals and the flute that add an edgy and eerie tone, the song’s constant restlessness. It is easily one of Chauhan’s best.

Naadaan Parindey was the first song that appealed to me when I heard Rockstar for the first time. The chorus got me hooked instantly. It is almost six and a half minutes long but the time just flies. I can’t believe how fresh Rahman’s voice sounds here! After much racking of brain, I finally know what the intro of the song reminds me of – Khoon Chala.

Tum Ko and Tum Ho have the same tune but, I, being the genius, didn’t find out until much later. They are vastly different versions though. Remember the two versions of Ishq Ada from Ada? except for the basic tune, everything else was different. We see Kavita Krishnamurthy singing for Rahman after a 6 year break (Main Vari Vari in 2005.) I prefer her version to Chauhan’s slightly dull Tum Ho. The sarangi and tabla in Tum Ko make the track stand out. It is also great to hear Kavita again.

Everyone must know Sadda Haq by now. I don’t get why it’s receiving so much flak. Although it’s a little repetitive, I love it!

Tango for Taj and The Dichotomy of Fate are the two instrumentals. While piano, accordion, violins and claps dominate the former, and the shehnai and the guitar dominate latter. Rahman used shehnai successfully in the instrumental version of Yeh jo des hai tera years ago, and does it again in The Dichotomy of Fate. The instruments come together beautifully in the track.

Rockstar is a rich layered album. The songs convey two emotions – love and freedom. I may sound like a fangirl, but considering the current form of SEL, Vishal-Shekhar et al, I doubt anyone else would have been able to do a better job than Rahman. He’s broken free and has covered a variety of genres. As the case has always been, Rahman performs the best when he’s given enough freedom to explore and experiment. Rockstar is certainly isn’t his best, but I am quite happy with it and looking forward to more.

 

Shauk Hai & A Cover

A reworked version of an old post from my other blog, and a classy cover version of the song by Aishwarya.

‘Kaash ye zindagi Khel hi khel mein kho gayi hoti...’ – How true? If only life were a child’s play….

This has been one of the regular Google talk status messages in the past few years. It’s from a track from the movie Guru called Shauk Hai, that did not make it to the audio CD’s or Cassettes, but did come out in a A.R. Rahman Special MP3 CD by Sony.

A subtle one, featured on Vidya Balan mainly in the movie, is rendered by a heavenly voice, Soumya Raoh (of Unn Siripinil fame), and she breezes through this song. It’s one of ARR’s simplest songs ever, mainly accompanied by keyboard notes. The interlude 2:36 – 2:57 is ARR at his best. The song never fails to amaze me, and I am tempted to repeat the track several times, each time I hear it. The ‘subah ki roshni’ has a nice outburst, proving that ARR is a musical genius once again.

I could go with a lot of adjectives for this one – soft, gentle, subtle, tender and so on, but nothing could capture the entire essence of the song. The yearning of Vidya Balan to lead a normal life is very well conveyed in this song.

At times, I feel that the song did not get enough attention as the other songs in the movie. But, I am sure there is a silent majority that loves this song. I’d say that the song is exclusive to those fans. There is no full video on this one, as in many Maniratnam movies’ songs. It appears in parts and the picturization of the song fits in well in the movie.

Here’s a cover version by Aishwarya: http://soundcloud.com/tragickingdom/shaukhai

The Original: