Infamous bollywood composer A.R. Rahman never ceases to amaze and every time you hear his music, it gets better and better. Here too the maestro lives up to his expectations thus proving once more why he is the king of melody.
After the period charm in the 1990s, Rahman peps up the proceedings in the millenium with lots of funky numbers and international projects like Loyd Webber's Bombay Dreams musical, and a Chinese movie "warriors of heaven and Earth". The emphasis is on blends of pop, folk, Western classical and Latin.below is a retroperspective of Rahman's early work and lesser known ventures....his upcoming ventures include the next LOrd of the Rings trilogy
ROJA
Who can forget the soundtrack that launched this great composer?...some ten years ago ,during the fall of 1992 saw a strange soundtrack circulating in music shops and radio waves..
Everything about the album looked unusual and came as fresh air when most Indian songs were cheesy and laughable.Strange songs, strange arrangement, strange chorus with crystal clear digitised sound
Mesmerised by the title song, music buffs felt compelled to buy the cassette (no CDs then),or do one have to mention it was still the era of the DOS and 386 computer?
The singers were new and so was the then unknown composer.. Was this a usual Indian movie for which the songs have been made?, everyone wondered. .Soon it got the whole nation dancing to its tune...The magic had begun!.. A.R.Rahman who later became the musical storm of India
Roja's achievement is significant because the new trend it started
in the degenerating commercial indian music spawned a whole generation of new composers and movies had to be restructured to accomodate this new kind of trend
May Maadham
Released in Aug 1994 ,This movie is relatively unknown and was acted by unknown actors as well...It had a new story structure presentation
which at the time was still experimental in India..But it featured ARR's music which seem to be the dominant aspect of the whole affair
This movie was one of the greatest flops but is remembered for the great
music composed by ARR. The soundtrack is an exceptionally rendered piece of perfection ahead of its time and Rahman
has given a great soul to the songs. The lyrics are awesome and so is the
composition of instrumental variations which seems the highest for any ARR album yet
ARR's varied use of keyboard, piano,
violin and a dozen other intruments which disintegrates in fluid transitions is simply mindblowing..The sound effects synthesis and recording were simply out of this world
yet to this day!
[b]Duet
A soundtrack which appeared without much hype in mid 1994 proved to become one the year's biggest hits. A collaborative effort of 2 titans.. Basedon a movie about 2 brothers falling for the same girl,
Kadri Gopalnath, the famous indian saxophonist, for the first time collaborates with ARR to give what seem to be mostly sax oriented romantic numbers revolving around a love triangled theme
Kadri and his magical saxophone together with ARR's technical prowess gave this albums songs an outstanding effect and the outcome is simply awesome. The tempo and duet of Saxophone versus the other instruments as well as the singing is simply superb.
While one may think the saxophone won over the other instruments,
the clear winners are the listeners. as they are treated with an exceptional gem of a musical piece. One of the early greats by AR Rahman
Thiruda Thiruda
Many would clearly remember the initial
introduction and raves this album had back in 1993.
No other ARR album had so much hype,
in my opinion. The unique sounds were simply awesome and While this film
may be the worst of ace director
Mani Ratnam who made the latest blockbuster YUVA(2004)
its songs by Rahman will be remembered in Indian
filmdom for its great uniqueness and
innovation embedded to it by the great master.
An exceptional piece of music by ARR.
as he gave the song the much-needed soul to complete his legacy after the initial success of ROJA.
A great soundtrack to relish with and probably the one of the most remembered of ARR's work
DAUD
Somewhere around 1997 ARR released this quiet experimental high tech venture , an ingenious craft of fusion music relies heavily on technical wizardry.
This music is cool and racy, Great usage of wind instruments, percussive beats and an amazing tempo. complimenting the film's title; that is pronounced 'Daur',
meaning 'Run' or 'Generation'..As the title suggests , the music sounds like a futuristic interlude to what's going to come in the millenium from ARR..This is a classical example of Rahman's abiding trick : stun listeners with voices and sounds they hardly expect...Something seems strange with this release, though all other ARR cds sounds great regardless of the type of equipment you play the music on,
Daud can only be appreciated using a good audio system due to the high use of synthesized sound and the recording seems to be deliberately made that way..Sources suggested that Rahman was reportedly upgrading his studio at the time and maybe this could a test of new equiment.Unfortunately , all the bells and whistles could not save this album from its ultimate demise..Overshadowed by the excellent Vande Mataram at the time..Rahman had outdone himself
It failed to click with the masses but
Nevertheless will be really interesting because the music is very different from what ARR used to do at the time.
a genius, and that assertion is undebatable!
Dil SE
This 1998 effort ,a path breaking pathos and music that called for a radical departure by ARR.Utilising a middel eastern aesthetic .The songs made for a dark terrorist themed movie has simple beats in the background and the tunes had the
full essence of somberness or melancholy and a certain intensity in them.
Like Rahman´s previous musical landmarks, the songs of Dil Se flow out of the soundtrack in
epic proportions. In parts, typically Rahman-esque and in parts, typically (for Rahman) innovative
Simple percussions at the background all through the songs carry the pathos feel without any flaw in it.
this is as one of the simplest compositions ever by ARR with least number of instruments but yet powerfully elevates the mood of situation for which the song is scored in the movie. The lyric is as equally powerful as the music and blends well with the tune.On the whole, Dil Se... the album is not an experience to be missed.
Vande Mataram
High techno cum patriotic soundtrack of 1997 with varied songs and mood-invoking theme music pieces,
which was released at the right time when India
was celebrating her golden jubilee year of independance.
It is a path breaking soundtrack with powerful lyrics and vocals by ARR himself.
It starts with a powerful chant of ARR followed by
Vande mataram chorus with strong percussions and
electro stuffs in the background. The electric guitar
used in the background evokes the electrifying power
of the word Vande mataram (Hail India). Use of instruments like nadhaswaram,
flute, tabla's etc at right places gives traditional feel and in right
proportion in such a techno patriotic combination elevates the album to even greater heights. The songs are highly complex to an extent that even now you can hear a new sound somewhere in a given song with each song in tte album made to reflect themes like youth, patriotism, sadness and
melancholy..The soundtrack was an official SOny contract which put the composer on the international scale..Seems that Sony had been watching Rahman all the while
Sangamam
This album of 5 songs was released in 1999 for a low budgeted movie which revolves around rural village oriented story..There is nothing special about the story which was recycled from old Tamil movies..
However the commercial viability of the movie was put to test as it does not have any commercial elemtns
Rahman came as the saving grace for it is a big plus for the movie.
Rahman went for an all out traditional With a strong indian classical base music which was unlike a
anything he had done before.The music went down well with the older
generation and critics hailed it as one the best tribute to a bygone
era in Indian classical music.The whole listening experienece almost feels like digitally remade piece of music from a vintage vinyl
