Desicritics Category: Media: Music - Composers

Movie Review: Om Shanti Om

Aditi Nadkarni — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:45:25 EST

The film begins with a quick reference to the 70s film Karz where Rishi Kapoor is prancing around the stage looking as adorable as ever, tapping his feet to the memorable notes of "Om Shanti Om". In the cheering crowd is a bell-bottom clad Om Prakash Makhija (Shah Rukh Khan), his eyes brimming with dreams of becoming a superstar in Bollywood.

He is, however, only a junior artiste, living in a small shanty near the studios with his very filmy mother Bela (Kirron Kher). While Om's fun friendship with Pappu (Shreyas Talpade) keeps his spirits high, the highlight of his young life is his love for superstar Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone).

The good-hearted and sentimental Om wins Shantipriya's friendship while rescuing her from a fire on the movie set and thus begins a love-story that somehow trickles into the after-life.

In the first half of the movie, Shah Rukh Khan does as good of a job as his ridiculous costumes would've allowed of playing an awkward, dreamy eyed and even comical junior film artist. Something tells me that not only were the art directors going for a 70s Bollywood look, the sets and gawdy costumes were probably meant for a theatre musical. Shreyas Talpade as Pappu and Shah Rukh Khan compensate for the flawed and utterly humorless script with their comic timing and spontaneity.

Kirron Kher goes back and forth between playing a very filmy mother and trying to salvage a neither-here-nor-there, undeveloped character which teeters dangerously at times towards being annoying. The villain Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal) lacks the sleazy and wicked countenance that would've been fitting for the bad guy of a film showcasing a typical Bollywood masala. That being said, I would rather have Arjun Rampal be a quiet and scheming old man with a pony tail or a painfully thin moustache than a lover boy hopping around in chick flicks.

The first half of the movie has some very funny moments. The parody of South Indian cinema, references from old Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan's naive and unaffected persona made for some very entertaining episodes. Somewhere along the line however the audience is left wondering whether director Farah Khan couldn't make up her mind about whether she wanted to make a Bollywood masala parody, a homage to Bollywood hits of the 70s or an actual contemporary commercial film that would belong to any of today's Hindi cinematic genre. As a result at times during the film when one is laughing, it isn't really at the well-written dialogue or at the humor shown by the characters but more or so at the farsical depiction of 70s Hindi cinema.

The first half unwittingly mocks some of the biggest stars of the yesteryears and while that is minimally funny, on scrutiny seems like a distraction from the film's lack of an original plot.

Debutante Deepika Padukone is undoubtedly the star of Om Shanti Om. Her astonishingly restrained, graceful and confident performance as both Shantipriya the 70s heroine in the first half of the film and her look-alike Sandhya a.k.a Sandy in the second half. While Ms.Padukone bears some resemblance to Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra in terms of looks, her acting skills thankfully puts her several glorious notches above both these contemporary heroines. Very few actresses manage to hold their own amidst the melodramatic performances, theatrical dialogue and crazy dance numbers that define practically all mainstream Bollywood films.

Stealing the show from the flamboyant King Khan also is no ordinary task. Ms.Padukone accomplishes all this with remarkable ease in her very first Bollywood endeavor. It is safe to say that with Deepika Padukone's arrival Bollywood's commercial scene has a new swiftly rising star on the horizon.

The scene where female fans will finally be able to ogle at Shah Rukh Khan's well-toned body and get to see a masculine form flaunted instead of the usual heaving bosoms, is oddly refreshing. His comic timing in this film is vaguely reminiscent of his uninhibited performance in Chamatkar all those years ago.

Shah Rukh Khan's own dazzling success in an industry teeming with starlets is an inspiration to many a struggling Bollywood actor who arrives in tinsel town without a Bolly-baap to usher him in. And hence the periodic cracks about having to be a Kapoor or a Kumar to be successful in Bollywood are apt.

The music is lilting and pleasant and quite a happy distraction when the plot stagnates at times. Particularly meoldious are Ankhon Mein Teri and Agar Main Kahoon. My personal favorite however was the picturisation of Dhoom Tana which uses some very nifty graphics to incorporate actors from the golden years into Deepika Padukone's foot tapping dance sequence. The numerous and noteworthy guest appearances in the catchy title song Deewaangi were very welcome sights and reminded one of the immense talent in the industry and sadly how little scope at times there is that calls for it.

The second half of the movie is dragged to a point where the recurring dialogue Yeh picture abhi khatam nahi hui starts to seem like a malicious jab mocking the worn audience. A masala Bollywood package should not have to compromise on entertainment value just to make the three hour stretch. While the 70s film Karz fit right into the times, Om Shanti Om sorely sticks out for having an obsolete “rebirth” storyline. Also, it is about time Farah Khan demonstrated some directorial prowess instead of letting King Khan deliver the film from flopsville. A quick comparison between the song and dance routines versus actual sequences within the film will reveal that Farah Khan in spite of donning the director's hat is still more of a choreographer than anything else.

A very rich Bollywood history generously allowed plenty of scope for the director to borrow from for this film and while originality is not one of its strongest areas, entertainment most definitely is. In the end, that is probably what tipped the box office in Om Shanti Om's favor.

Music, Web 2.0, and YOU

Jo — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:58:29 EDT

Not so long ago, a singer or a musician had to put in a lot of efforts just to be heard by the public. Forget being the main vocalist or even a chorus singer, It was a long and tedious process to at least get his/her voice heard by a prominent music director. People still send their demo CDs to the music production companies, recording labels, music directors and other famous names in the music industry hoping that they would get a music deal out of it. But a large chunk of them goes straight to the bin before even being opened. Rumors also have that some singers offer apartments, villas or gifts as such while some others offer themselves to the music directors just to get a chance to sing and thus open up their path to fame.

Then came the Time Magazine person of the year - Web 2.0. It began a revolution through music sharing websites, music blogs etc and people from even the small cities of the world began to post their voices/music online, releasing their own albums online, communicating straight with their audience, touring the world, making fans, fame and even money.

Jonathan Coulton's is one such story. He quit his job as a computer programmer to become a full time musician. Then he written and recorded a song every week and posted it to his blog. He called the project "Thing a Week" and did this experiment for one year.

He’d always wanted to be a full-time musician, and he figured the only way to prove to himself he could do it was with a drastic challenge. “I learned that it is possible to squeeze a song out of just about anything,” he said. “But it’s not always an easy or pleasant process.” Given the self-imposed time constraints, the “Thing a Week” songs are remarkably good.
By the middle of last year, his project had attracted a sizable audience. More than 3,000 people, on average, were visiting his site every day, and his most popular songs were being downloaded as many as 500,000 times; he was making what he described as “a reasonable middle-class living” — between $3,000 and $5,000 a month — by selling CDs and digital downloads of his work on iTunes and on his own site. [NY Times - Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog]

He also takes time to individually respond to his fans and his fans help him with ideas for song writing, and some even made videos for his songs.

Then there is Jamison Young, an Australian musician who is giving away his music for free using Creative Commons license, but making big money and bigger album sales.

Now, this may sound contradictory but Jamison says that by giving away his music free as downloads, it vastly increases the number of people who listen to his music and they in turn refer to their friends. This spreads word about the album and quite a few of them buy the album off the store shelves. He says the money he makes this way is higher than the pittance that big record labels give him. This is actually a good technique to give a fighting chance against the more established artists. [Via]

Indian musicians/singers are also not letting these opportunities slip. When I started music blogging in 2005, there were no other music blogs that I have been aware of. Today, there are 81 music bloggers in the India music blogosphere. Most of them are amateurs, but the list also includes playback singers who have made it big or small in the mainstream industry as well. And the list is growing.

Music in the web 2.0 era has also given birth to some unique ideas and concepts. BlogSwara is one as such. While many of the music bloggers resort in doing the cover versions of popular filmy album songs, BlogSwara gets these musicians to come up with fresh and original music.

This community acts as a common platform for amateur musicians to showcase their talent before the world by producing music and share it over the internet. BlogSwaraalso has a website with the same name. It is also a free-music movement where visitors/listeners can download the mp3 files of the songs. There are 63 people involved with BlogSwara to the date and more and more musicians keep joining this venture. What is more interesting is that most of these musicians work 'together' online. They have songs in various Indian languages - Malayalam, Thamizh and Hindi. BlogSwara is going to publish their fourth album online by next month.

Regional blogging world is also coming up with their own creative, collaborative blogs of their own. Lalithagaanam is a group blog where bloggers post their poems, others compose it and sometimes orchestrate it and post the completed song in their blog.

Total Mukti is another group, started by two IIT-K students and they are now publishing their music online. They also invite other amateur or professional musicians to work with them. They say that their past experience in the team with both music and IT industry makes them believe that music and technology have lot of common passions, goals, vision and excitement to share in their own different ways.

It is time to scrap those TV shows that usually claim to pick up the best singing talent and ends up with choosing the good-looking, charming or dancing people than the best singing ones. I think the lessons on Internet, blogging, web 2.0 etc has to be taught to the less-privileged, poor but talented class - those who do not have any godfathers, or know enough people to do the SMS campaign to win. That would make Web 2.0 more meaningful when it changes the lives of ordinary people.

Down Melody Lane: Reconnecting with Music for the Soul through Hrishikesh Mukherjee films

Kavita Chhibber — Sun, 7 Oct 2007 13:46:05 EDT

It is true that while film is a visual medium, Indian cinema is often defined by the music it presents within its realm. I don't know about others but each time I come out of a cinema hall, the first thing I hum is the music.

I have to admit though that in recent years I'm beginning to fast forward a lot of movie songs in films because of the poor quality of lyrics or melody.

Today the mediocrity of most music that is being churned out is camouflaged by heavy orchestration, a lot of hoopla and hype and many companies are spending mega bucks to promote their albums. And yet most singers worth their salt know what works what doesn't.

When I asked Asha Bhosle what she thought of today's music and singers, she had said, "Not much really. In those days apart from having great musicians we had amazing songwriters, that is why those melodies are evergreen. Today for how long are you going to listen to songs like "Kambaqht Ishq" and "Ishq Kamina?" In addition, television has given mediocre music an extended lease on life. A song is aired, you can see it is average, but when it is aired repeatedly, you start accepting it, but it never ceases to amaze me how people with such limited knowledge of music or little talent can go and release albums at the drop of the hat!"

Sonu Niigaam who has become quite choosy about what he wants to sing adds that, "The world has changed and marketing is playing a big role in music economics. These days there is lesser and lesser focus on integrity, talent and hard work. If you can market yourself well, you can be a star,"

When I asked the legendary Manna Dey who can still give a youngster a run for their money, at 87 why he was not singing in films, he answered "Can you single out one composer today who is the caliber of the musicians of my times or knows what he is doing? Whatever is happening in the field of music is very unhealthy. Thanks to music videos anyone and every one can become a singer, so one good thing has happened, even if they don't know how to, every one sings! When there are songs like Main to Seeti Baja Raha Tha, Bhelpuri Kha Raha tha, Tujhe Mirchi Lagi to Main Kya Karoon, ("I was eating bhelpuri and whistling and if you thought the chilies were too spicy what can I do?") what do you expect? Even regional music is cloning itself on Bollywood music."

That is why it has been such a pleasure to revisit Hrishikesh Mukherjee's life and work and do this segment on music from his films.

I have been speaking to various actors, singers, writers and people like you and me, and the thing that stands out so clearly is how while everyone talks of Hrishi da's editorial and directorial talent, in the same breath they also reverently mention the stellar music in his films.

He is perhaps one director, whose films had music flowing like a river of rich, enchanting, timeless melody into the ocean of visuals, coloring the canvas of his films in warm, uplifting hues. From the stellar unforgettable music of Anuradha by Pandit Ravi Shankar, to the heart melting lyrics and melodies of "Anupama," to the mesmerizing music of "Abhimaan" and "Anand," and who can forget the soulful "Jeevan se lambe hain bandhu, yeh jeevan ke rastey", or the heartbreaking "ik tha bachpan" from "Ashirwad" - Hrishi da's films had outstanding music. Who can forget the unforgettable number from "Namakharam" - "Main Shayar badnam" and the impish "Aayo kahan se ghanshyam" from "Buddha mil gaya"? Indeed every Hrishikesh Mukherjee film was sprinkled with gems that were embellished with good lyrics and soulful melodies.

Many people don't know that Hrishikesh Mukherjee and his brother Kashinath Mukherjee were very accomplished sitar players and the whole family comprises of academic super achievers.

His son Pratip had mentioned to me that "Baba won the gold medal at a competition for young sitarists. Vilayat Khan Sahib and Amir Khan taught his brother and Baba would meet Vilayat Khan Sahib all the time." Pratip would make cds of classical music and Hrishi da would listen to those cds while the dialysis was going on, in the last months of his life. Towards the end Pratip introduced him to Shujaat Khan's folk music. "His CD Lajo Lajo was played even at our daughter Priyanka's wedding. In fact when I took the CD to him, being a hard core classical music lover he was hesitant and said - are you sure I should listen to it? When he did he was hooked. He also listened to other CDs of Shujaat Khan's singing all the time and just fell in love with his singing."

When I shared that with Shujaat Khan he was deeply touched and told me that to have a man who is considered not only among the greatest film directors but also the greatest human beings say that about his music meant more to him that any amount of success, fame or money he could have made. Shujaat pointed out that what really stood out in his mind was the fact that the lyrics and melody of songs in Hrishi da's films were went hand in hand. Often you will see good melody but poor lyrics and at others good lyrics not supported by good music. Hrishi da was the rare film maker whose film songs had both, says Shujaat Khan. He singled out songs from Anand and Main shayar badnaam from Namakharam as his personal favorites.

Pandit Ravi Shankar recalls that when he met Hrishi da he took to him immediately because of his warmth and loving nature. " He called me Robu da,' recalls Ravi ji and added that the making of Anuradha was such a pleasure, also because of the presence of lyricist par excellence Shailendra, and the nightingale of India Lata Mangeshkar. I actually got the eternal romantic Ravi ji to admit first time on record that he had the biggest crush on Lata ji when he met her. "She looked so beautiful and her voice just killed me," said Ravi ji, admitting that he was really attracted to her. He says even today when he hears her voice on the phone he misses a heart beat, and that he knows no one who has enthralled millions of listeners for so many years. "Lata will be Lata. There is no one like her."

The recording for those four evergreen songs from "Anuradha" was done in two days, and he recalls Lata ji climbing four floors without a lift to come to see him and they all sat there together - Lata Ji, Raviji, Hrishi da and Shailendra to put together the lyrics and compositions for " Kaise din beetey, Kaise beeti ratiyan, sanware, saanware, jane kaise sapnon mein kho gayi ankhiyaan and hai re who din kyon na aaye. The composition for Anuradha has been consistently ranked among the finest in the last 100 years of film music.

I have to thank Pt Ravi Shankar's lovely wife Sukanya who not only made sure this interview happened in spite of a very short notice and their hectic travels across the globe, but she is the one who mischievously told me about Ravi ji's crush on Lata ji . Sukanya ji loves Lata ji just as much, and of course we both had a field day teasing the maestro!

Lata ji has the same kind of love and affection for Ravi ji and told me that Anuradha remained her personal favorite as well when it came to songs from Hrishi da 's film. Lata ji's association with Hrishi da began in the 50s when he was the editor and writer for the great Bimal Roy's film Do Beegha zamin. When Hrishi da directed his first film Musafir, Lata ji sang a duet with the legendary Dilip Kumar in it and after that she has sung for every one of Hrishi da's films.

While her association with Hrishi da was limited to meeting at work, Lata ji says she knows that he had deep love and admiration for her, and he would come to wish her even when she was recording for someone else and he happened to be visiting the studio. She loves every one of his films because she saw a social message and something positive, something good emerging out of each movie. Lata ji said Anuradha has special memories for her because the story revolved around music and the life of a singer who left a high profile career for love and marriage with an idealistic doctor. He chose to live in a village as she struggled with being a home maker and sacrificing her love for music. The story touched Lata ji's heart and the fact that two of her favorite people, Ravi ji and Hrishi da were an intrinsic part of it made it even more memorable.

While Ravi ji loves "Kaise din beetey" from the film Lata ji said "Jaane kaise sapnon mein kho gayi ankiyan" was a very tough song to sing and her favorite number from the film is "Hai re who din kyon na aye." She said she can recall very vividly even now how Ravi ji sat with her and listened as she rehearsed and told her how to sing each line and at the end of it he patted her back and told her it went off very well. Lata ji also talks about the deep understanding Hrishi da had of music. "Music was his life; He often talked about various ragas with me, asking if I had learnt a particular raga or what something in a raga meant and so on." Lata ji recalled how for "sanware sanware", Ravi ji had recorded the music and left for the US. It was Hrishi da and she who went to the studio and recorded the song without anyone else being there. That was due to his depth of understanding music.

The legendary Manna Dey mentioned how Bade Ghulam Ali and Amir Khan visited the Mukherjee home and that he was the proud possessor of some rare recordings given to him by Hrishi da's younger brother Dwarkanath or Chotu, as Manna Dey fondly called him, to cherish and enjoy. Manna Dey said he would meet Hrishi da during recordings and he was introduced to him by R.D. Burman. But as he got to know Hrishi da he realized what a terrific sense of humor he had. Manna Dey was also very impressed by his films and said he loved watching all of them.

At one point of time Manna Dey wanted to make a film and he used Hrishi da's movies to learn from them. Manna Dey talked about the song "Jeevan se lambe hain bandhu, yeh jeevan ke rastey," from Hrishida's film "Ashirwad". He said while it was music director Vasant Desai who gave him that song to sing, the amazing way Hrishi da filmed the sequence, moved Manna Dey to tears. The legendary singer regrets the fact that ill health slowed down Hrishi da and that he passed away so soon. There was a lot he had to offer the world. "He never made films like the other Bbollywood people. Hrishikesh had his own stamp. He used his music for his films. He didn't use his films for his music." It is a very telling statement, because today it seems to be the opposite.

Singing superstar Sonu Niigaam thoughtfully sent me an email reminding me that he started his career officially in the Bombay film industry with a song in Hrishi da's last venture, a TV serial called Talaash. In spite of a hectic schedule, and having been away from home for several months, Sonu who had just reached Bombay, came out of a recording studio just to do his segment on this web cast. Sonu told me the film Ashirwaad had been his personal favorite, 'I have seen this film at least 10 times and cried each time." Sonu said he considers it a lucky omen that he began his career with a song for Hrishi da and as he consolidated his position in the film industry he began to understand and value Hrishida in so many different ways. His biggest regret was the fact that by the time he arrived in the industry Hrishi da was not keeping good health and was not making films. "Otherwise I would have sat at his door and asked him to let me work in one of his films."

Sonu says he firmly believes whatever Amitabh Bachchan is today as an actor is because of the roles that Hrishi da gave him. He was so lucky to have such a strong foundation, says Sonu, to have such a superb teacher so early on his career. "Today if Amitabh Bachchan is taken as a serious actor, and the depth that you see in his performance are all due to Hrish da. Had he just worked with Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai, he would never have been taken that seriously." Sonu said personally if he could he would have loved to do Ashok Kumar's role in Ashirwad.

Lata ji made my day when she told me that the song I liked the most in "Abhimaan" - "Nadiya kinare" was also a personal favorite of hers. I asked Ravi ji jokingly did he regret not doing more films with Hrishi da and with his usual humility he laughed and said "Not really because Hrishi da ended up doing such stellar work with S.D. and R.D Burman."

Hrishi da's son Pratip says he feels the songs of Anuradha remained Hrishi da's personal favorites till the end, though Swati his daughter in law mentioned that she often heard him sing,' Sun sun sun didi tere liye ik rishta aya hai," from Khubsoorat.

Hrishi da was a very economical director, and as Amitabh Bachchan mentioned in the first segment, he edited everything in his mind. Nitin Mukesh mentioned how for Anand he just told Rajesh Khanna to keep walking on the beach. A flummoxed Rajesh Khanna did as he was told. When he saw the actual song Zindagi kaisi hai paheli, he was astounded. Hrishi da had added so much more to that walk-the perfect sunset, balloons, and the hustle bustle of the beach that it was a far cry from what anyone could have imagined.

While "Anuradha", "Anand", "Anupama", "Abhimaan" and "Namakharam" were films that were repeatedly mentioned by everyone when they were asked to pick their favorite songs, there are so many gems that shimmer through. Lata ji revived some lovely memories when she talked about two songs she loved from "Alaap", a movie Amitabh Bachchan too is very fond of but it wasn't a commercial hit. "Mata Saraswati Sharada" is such an amazing rendition - just the alaap by Lata ji gave me chills. The second song she loves is "Kahe Manva gaye hamra"... it has such a soft, romantic lilt to it. "Chand Akela" and "Koi gaata main so jaata" are again outstanding numbers. "Anari" is another film which has lovely numbers and Mukesh outdid himself and the music of Shankar Jaikishan was amazing. Look at Asli Nkali - Tujhe jeevan kid or se bandh liya hai, tera mera pyar amar, or Chupke Chupke - every song had the sweetest melody and Sonu chose the fun filled "Saregama" as his personal favorite. The list is never ending.

This segment has been a pleasure to present, because not only did I get to talk to legendary and immensely gifted musicians, I also got a front seat view of the man who made stellar music an intrinsic part of his film making. I'd like to thank Pt Ravi Shankar for talking to me and Sukanya Shankar his lovely wife for making this interview happen at a very short notice in between their hectic traveling, Lata Mangeshkar for being so warm and accessible, and contrary to her serious image, a lot of fun to talk to. Many thanks to Manna Dey who was in the middle of shifting houses and still took the time to do the interview, and Shujaat Khan who was also traveling when I called him. Sonu Niigaam who has such a full plate that I get exhausted just looking at his itinerary. He has been away from home and will be back in the US to perform at Harvard during the ceremonies to swear in Drew Faust Harvard's first woman President. Sonu is the first Indian artist to be invited, ever, at Harvard, and he was not just sweet enough to run out of a recording to do this interview but also sang two songs for me on his cell phone, not really bothering about the logistics. Its shows his warmth and self confidence as a singer, but more than that the love Hrishi da still evokes in the heart of all these artists who are either already legends or on their way to becoming future legends. I'm reminded of Amit ji's last dialogue in Anand "Anand Mara nahin. Anand martey nahin." And Hrishi da lives on in all our hearts, through his stories and the melodies that evoke a song in our hearts and a smile on our lips.

I'll be back next week with more interviews, more memories.

Please click here for "Down Melody Lane": Part II of KavitaChhibber.com's Special Webcast Tribute to Hrishikesh Mukherjee - Listen to Kavita's conversations with the interviewees featured in this article.

Part I: "Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Timeless Stories that Warm the Heart" written by Kavita.

A.R. Rehman - The He-Man Of Indian Music Industry

sufferingsocrates — Wed, 8 Aug 2007 00:14:31 EDT

What drew me strongly to write this post, is this someone called Naresh Iyer. What a break for this talented youngster, who got rejected from the last 25 finalists for Channel V Super Singer contest. But that disappointment turned into joy, and of great hope, with A.R. Rehman, the co-judge for that competition offering Naresh a chance to sing for his next movie.

Now, this singer, who is ruling the roost in Tamil Films, has made another achievement. And what a feather in his cap, apart from the R.D. Burman Filmfare award for emerging singing talent, he bagged the National Award for the best singer at the 53rd National Film Awards, results of which were announced yesterday. Honestly, I was really surprised that he did win the award, not because he isn't talented. But for someone so new, to win the award is still a rarity! Unnikrishnan the now famous singer in Tamil movies also bagged the National Award in his first song itself for, "Ennavale" for the Tamil movie Kaadhalan. Guess who the music director was? A.R. Rehman.

A.R Rehman's contribution to the number of emerging talented playback singers is incredible. In fact, when Kumar Sanu was all over the Bollywood Movies with his own style of nasal crooning (tad different than the now popular nasal twang of Himesh "Da"), no awards seemed to be coming the way of Udit Narayan. Unfortunately for Kumar Sanu, his honeymoon with Bollywood got over by 2000, and he became a struggling singer, and sang for hardly a couple of songs for A.R. Rehman. But Udit was Rehman's choice, very often, and Udit came out with award winning songs like Mitwa, and Yeh Tara, both of which had music direction by A.R. Rehman. Kumar Sanu has had to be satisfied with a world record, 28 songs recorded in a day and an unprecedented 5 Filmfare awards in a row.

Other talented singers Rehman has unearthed are Gayatri Iyer, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Hariharan and most inspiring was reviving the fortunes of Sadhna Sargam who was struggling in an Alka Yagnik domiated Bollywood female playback singers' industry in the 90's (remember, Pehla Nasha?). A list of the contributions by Rehman towards National Award winning singers, gives a fair idea of his knack of giving melodious tunes and talent.

Read as: Year,Singer,Song,Film,Language

2005, Udit Narayan ,Yeh Tara ,Swades, Hindi
2002, Udit Narayan, Mitwa ,Lagaan ,Hindi
2001, Shankar Mahadevan, Yenna Solla Pogirai, Kandukondein, Tamil
Kandukondein
1997, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Thanga Thamarai, Minsaara Kanavu, Tamil
1995, Unnikrishnan, Ennavale, Kadhalan, Tamil

This, apart from the awards Rehman has won for his own music direction. Let's look at that too!

Read as: Year,Movie,Language

2003 A.R. Rahman Kannathil Muthamittal Tamil
2002 A.R. Rahman Lagaan Hindi / English
1997 A.R. Rahman Minsaara Kanavu Tamil
1993 A.R. Rahman Roja Tamil

That means in his 15 years in the Indian Film Industry, Rehman has contributed to national awards in 7 years no less. That is an amazing achievement, even without considering the mind boggling list of other awards like Filmfare etc.

Rehman is still so young, one wonders where all this music wizard can go. He is one person who can take Indian Music places, and he already has been. It almost seems tough to imagine an Indian Music industry without Rehman. It is indeed a privilege to be in the same era as his, and getting to listen to amazing Indian music which is in sync with modern tunes.

My Personal Pancham Favourites

Aditya Pant — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:08:52 EDT

Today is Rahul Dev Burman’s 68th birthday. I wouldn’t say that RDB is my favourite Hindi film composer, for no one can displace Madan Mohan from that exalted position in my mind. However, I have always found myself drawn towards his compositions.

There is something about RDB’s compositions that is distinctly unique – deceptively simple tunes embellished with truly innovative arrangements. I can’t think of any other music composer who would have experimented as much with a wide variety of sounds and genres; a composer for whom pushing the envelope became second nature.

On his 10th death anniversary 4 years back, I had tried to put together a list of my top 25 RDB compositions. This seems to be a good time to reproduce that list.

For a composer who produced musical gems with alarming regularity, picking 25 top compositions is quite an arduous task. Yet I tried to put together a list of some of my personal favourites (in no particular order). They might not be the most popular RD songs, but to me they represent RD’s amazing range as a composer. I must add that my personal bias in favour of Lata Mangeshkar (12 songs) and Gulzar (9 songs) may be evident in this list.

Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye (Chhote Nawab): RD’s first film as an independent composer had this gem by Lata Mangeshkar. Based on Raag Malgunji, this song clearly exemplifies RD’s mastery over classical music.
Thodi Si Zameen (Sitara): A beautiful duet with amusing lyrics by Gulzar . The way Lata Mangeshkar sings the line baajre ke kheton mein kauve uraenge, especially the child-like amusement she expresses while saying the word Kauve, makes me want to listen to this song again and again.
Aapki Aankhon Mein (Ghar): RD adapted Raag Kedar to come up with one of the most evocative romantic duets by Lata and Kishore. With her trademark expression, Lata Mangeshkar adds coquettish charm to the word badmaashiyon.
Is Mod Se Jate Hain (Aandhi): Songs from Aandhi have to figure in my list of RD favourites. This was clearly the best to come from the RD-Gulzar combination.
Roz Roz Aankhon Tale (Jeeva): A great song utterly wasted in an eminently forgettable film.
Chura Liya Hai (Yaadon Ki Baraat): A classic in its own right. Innovative orchestration and great vocals make this song so popular even today.
Do Lafzon Ki Hai (The Great Gambler): Romance at its best. The visuals of Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman romancing on a gondola in Venice still remain fresh in my memory
Mera Kuchh Samaan (Ijaazat): Undoubtedly Asha’s best song with RD. The fact that RD could compose such a beautiful melody around free verse is a clear indication of his mastery.
Khamosh Sa Afsana (Libaas): Sad that this film never got a proper theatrical release. The soundtrack boasts of four Lata gems, each better than the other
Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Hamara (The Burning Train): RD composed many qawwalis which were more popular than this one, but this one is my favourite for its unique orchestration and Sahir’s wonderful words.
Humein Tumse Pyar Kitna (Kudrat): I prefer the semi-classical version by Parveen Sultana than the more popular one by Kishore.
Bhini Bhini Bhor Aayi (Dil Padosi Hai): Just listen to this wonderful composition in Mian Ki Todi, and visuals of dawn break come up instantly. The visuals you associate with most film songs are the director’s vision, but being a non-film song it is RD’s music that paints the visuals in this song.
Saawan ke Jhoole Pade (Jurmana): Set to the melodic strains of Raag Pahadi, this is one of my favourite Lata songs.
Chingari Koi Bhadke (Amar Prem): All the songs from Amar Prem were masterpieces, but the evocative visuals
Kuchh Na Kaho (1942 A Love Story): RD did not live to savour the resurgence of success, but this soundtrack will always figure among his best scores.
Chaandni Re Jhoom (Naukar): A delightfully melodious Lori by Lata and Kishore, did not get its due.
Huzoor Is Qadar (Masoom): One of the best male duets ever.
Duniya Mein Logon Ko (Apna Desh): How can this list not have a song sung by RD himself.
Suraj Ka Jo Kiran Se Nata (Hungama): A rare Lata-Mukesh melody, which never got its due. Few people have heard it even today.
Tumne Mujhe Dekha (Teesri Manzil): Although RD’s association with Kishore Kumar was more fruitful, this song saw the RD-Rafi combination at its best.
Main Shayar Badnaam (Namak Haram): The pathos in this song is unrivalled. It moistens my eyes each time I hear it.
Kya Jaanoon Sajan (Baharon Ke Sapne): RD made innovative use of the multi-track singing in this song, giving an impression of two voices overlapping. This effect was used again in Qatra Qatra in Ijaazat.
Kahin Karti Hogi (Phir Kab Milogi): Anamika’s horrific version of this song might have been more popular, but just listen to the original for its simple yet timeless melody.
Jaane Kya Baat Hai (Sunny): I’ve always felt that RD gave his best melodies to Lata than Asha. Check this one out.

Misrallaneous: Flamenca - A Marriage of Spanish and Oriental Music

Kim — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:03:34 EDT

For the last few months, the only "local" music I've listened to or heard were of the Lebanese Music Video variety, which at its best is comparable to an "Item Number" and at its worst is worse than those Punjabi videos on ETC.

Fortunately this entire imagery associated with local music has been completely replaced by an infinitely superior quality and variety of music. Flamenca Cairo, a group of nine instrumentalists and a vocalist perfomed to a full house at the El Sawy Cultural Center last Friday.

The group was founded by Wael Khedr (who is also the Lead Guitar/Guitar Soloist) in 2003 with traditional Flamenco music and some Latin themes. It was slowly developed to have more oriental flavor with the addition of some oriental instruments. Now, Flamenca has several unique pieces of music where this marriage between flamenco and oriental music is clearly evident.

Amr Darwish plays a mean Electric Violin. The jugalbandis between him and Wael were outstanding.

Raaft Farahat plays an instrument called the Kawla which is an Arabic Flute.

Yamen Abdallah plays the Qanon which sounds like a Santoor - reminiscent of water trickling down a slow waterfall.

Omar El Toudy on Keyboards looked so much like those Senior Masterjis who play the keyboards in desi orchestras. Sameh Ismael and Sherif Kamal are the percussionists, who play a wide variety of instruments some familiar, some not so familiar and some completely tangential like the stool that Sherif was sitting on. Saief Eldawla on the Drums and Moustafa Geuida on Base Guitar completed the instrumental part of the ensemble.

Ahmed Samir intermittently provided vocals to the instrumental pieces. What a voice! Powerful and controlled. Although I could barely understand a word of what he was singing, I could feel the strong emotions and sentiments behind them.

The whole ensemble just blended together so beautifully. It has been a long time since any music has actually touched me. Flamenca's music was moving, it actually spoke to every member of the audience. So the repeated requests for an encore and the standing ovation that followed at the end was no suprise at all.

You can dowload and listen to some of their music on their site. http://www.flamencacairo.com/

Image Sources:These pictures have been taken from the Flamenca website http://www.flamencacairo.com/ and through Google Image Searchhttp://images.google.com/

[Editor's Note: This is the first article in Kim's new column about life in Egypt, Misrallaneous.]

Music Review: Michael Fahres The Tubes Minimal Minimalism

Richard Marcus — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:46:50 EST

In the mid to late 1970's some of pop music's more cerebral performers began experimenting with minimalist compositions. Brian Eno and Robert Fripp produced a series of albums of what they called "ambient" music. Perhaps the two most well known of their albums were Music For Films and Music For Airports

Their experiments had only minimal effect on pop music with only the Eno produced Talking Heads' albums Fear Of Music and Remain In Light showing any sign of the "less is more philosophy". And even in those instances it was only a matter of instrument choices, some production effects, and the feeling of willingness to experiment that distinguished these recordings from their contemporaries.

By no stretch of any body's imagination could either of those two albums be referred to as minimalist. But they, along with the sparser production values beloved of the punk movement, were a product of the movement. It was through the aforementioned works of Eno and Fripp; other projects that Eno did with David Byrne, lead singer of the Talking Heads, ( My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts), and trumpet wizard Jon Hassell (Fourth Possible World) that the minimalist movement was brought to wider popular attention in North America.

Now they weren't flying off the shelves, but people who probably wouldn't have otherwise, were buying the music of Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, and John Cage. Who knows how many times the music was listened too after its first spin, but at least people had heard of them and now knew what to expect when they hear those name and the words minimalist music. (For a good background primer on minimalist music, give a listen to this online show about the music.)

Once you feel comfortable with the idea of minimalist music and have an idea of what exactly it is you are supposed to be listening to and for, Michael Fahres CD The Tubes is as good as place as any to start experiencing the genre. The title track is one of three short compositions on the disc, and along with "Sevan" and "Coimbra 4 Mundi Theatre" will give you a good overview of the different forms minimalism can take.

Michael Fahres was born in Germany in 1951 and began studying electronic music in 1973. Since that time he has gone on to establish himself as one of the most prolific composers of new music. On the The Tubes we get to hear some fine examples of that experience at work.

On the first piece, "Sevan" he has worked primarily with Armenian singer Parik Nazarian around the shores of Lake Sevan in Armenia. Scattered around the shoreline of the lake are giant pipes that are a left over from a Soviet era attempt at replenishing the water level and clearing the pollution from the lake. With the fall of the Soviet block these pipes were simply abandoned to become part of the problem it had been hoped they would alleviate.

The sound scape that Fahres creates by recording the voice of Nazarian singing while standing in one of these giant pipes not only evokes the desolation of the area, but created in my mind's eye the image of the lake abandoned by humans and a grey body of water with the gaping mouths of the enormous pipes surrounding it sucking the remaining life out of her. A wee bit dramatic I realize, but when you hear the sound of that voice echoing and reverberating in the metal of the pipe you'll understand.

In contrast to the man made sound of the first piece, the title track "The Tubes" aims at emulating an amazing natural phenomenon that has occurred on the island of El Hierro, the smallest and most Western of the Canary Islands. For thousands of years molten lave poured in streams into the sea. It has solidified into huge hollow rock formations; caves and tubes.

Through these naturally occurring pipes the waters are forced by the winds created by the sea. These winds also "play" the caves and pipes like a human would play a flute. Using the virtuosity of trumpeter Jon Hassel and didgeridoo of Mark Atkins he recreates the sounds of the island.

In the breathiness of Hassel's muted trumpets one can hear the sound that the flutes nature created on El Hierro being played by the driving wind. The didgeridoo of Mark Atkins contributes something more nebulous; not a clear match in my head like the trumpet, but more an atmospheric tension; the sound of the earth groaning beneath all of the tensions exerted on her by the dormant volcano, the sea, and the wind.

The final piece is more of a collage of sound then anything else, and is a little bit of a let down after the power of the early compositions. In Coimbra 4 he has taken elements of a recoding done by R. Murray Shafer and Carlos Alberto Augusto that involved 1700 musicians and sound makers who performed through out the Portuguese town of Coimbra one afternoon.

Sitting in his studio in Utrect listening to recordings of that event and he built a collage of the sounds that caught his ear as being most representative of life in the village juxtaposed with the music. So all of sudden you will be listing to music, and the sound of a school yard full of children will be heard rising up through it or a baby's cry will push through somewhere else.

Of the three pieces this on seemed the least interesting and with the least amount of justification. It was more an act of interpretive self-indulgence then creation to me. Of course I don't think much of sampled house music either which is the same thing.

Aside from that, the first two pieces of Michael Fahres The Tubes are well worth a listen. They are not easy to listen to, but they are more then worth the effort of trying to appreciate what the composer has done. Think of them as representations of the geographic areas in sound, and try picturing the place in your head. If you come up with something then the composer has done his or her job.

Rahmania!

Qalandar — Mon, 1 Jan 2007 07:20:26 EST

I had never listened to a Tamil song when I walked into a Tower Records store on Manhattan's Upper West Side in the summer of 2002 -- not because I didn't want to but because the thought that this was something I might enjoy doing had never occurred to me.

Tamil film songs -- and more generally, Tamil or any other "regional" cinema -- were simply invisible to me. More broadly, Indian films and the music associated with them were pretty invisible in New York, patronised almost exclusively by the city's large desi population, itself segmented into audiences for one's "own" language. The "India" section of the "World Music" category at mainstream music stores and chains like Tower Records or Virgin consisted of the usual suspects: Zakir Hussain, Ravi Shankar, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (often misclassified with Middle Eastern music), and other assorted classical musicians. One might also have found various lounge and club refugees, straddling the border between ambient music and traditional song, the "world" part of their music consisting of allegiance to a global -- and often rather generic -- club/lounge musical culture.

Nothing wrong with any of that, of course, but what was unusual about this trip to my neighbourhood Tower Records store was that the "India" section included an album called Mondo India -- AR Rahman. Clearly designed for an audience unfamiliar with Indian film music, and with explanatory liner notes, the CD contained about ten Rahman songs -- from Tamil films like Sangamam, Iruvar, Alai Payuthey, Thenali, and the odd Hindi song from Zubeidaa. Needless to say I bought the CD, and the sounds in my apartment have never been the same, bearing witness to a continuing love affair with Tamil (and Malayalam, and to a limited extent Telugu) cinema and its music, by now encompassing not only every Rahman album in whatever language, but also the work of other contemporary composers, such as Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj, Devi Sri Prasad, and of course the ageless grand-daddy of them all, Ilaiyaraja.

But it's worth returning to the thought that first struck me when "Varaga Nathi" from Sangamam started playing: how could this music possibly be heard across cultural barriers? Or more accurately: what about this music rendered it accessible not only to Hindi and Urdu-speakers like me but to people who had never heard a film song, let alone ones in languages they didn't understand? It is often noted that Rahman's strengths are great orchestration and outstanding production values, almost as if his technical wizardry were somewhat of an interloper in the realm of "pure" film music. But the truth of the observation about Rahman's technical wizardry, far from diminishing the extent of his achievement, highlights it. For Rahman took what was essentially a tunefying art, traditionally dependent upon legendary vocalists like Rafi, Yesudas, Mukesh, Kishore, Lata, Asha, S. Janaki and others to imbue a pleasing tune with musical unforgettability, and in his best work transformed it into a piece.

That is to say, Rahman saw himself -- perhaps always but doubtless increasingly so from the mid-1990s onward -- not as a creator of songs but as a maker of music. The songs shaded into soundscapes, and the characteristic multi-layered feel rendered the best of them susceptible to a sort of auditory archaeology: each layer possessed its own musical logic and instrumentation, and the net effect was a smorgasbord of sound. If the above sounds like something one might say for a classical or other "high brow" musician rather than the guy who gets Vasundhara Das to croon so sexily in "Hey Hey Enna Aachi" from Kaadal Virus, it is so by design. For Rahman is no "mere" purveyor of songs -- and not because there is anything slight or trivial about Indian culture's vast heritage of popular, film or folk songs -- but because, by this late date, "tunefication" is played out, perhaps exhausted, but certainly brought to its logical conclusion by Rahman's illustrious predecessors. Faced with the prospect of mere repetition and replication of a great tradition, it is not surprising that Rahman chose to adopt a different path.

The primacy of "music" over "song" goes a long way toward explaining Rahman's growing acclaim among far-flung audiences. Some have posited a Western sensibility on Rahman's part -- at odds with some imagined Indianness -- but it would be fairer to say that Rahman's focus on a musically "total" experience straddles the (always problematic) divide between "high-brow" and "popular" music. The latter is far more likely to be culturally specific, inaccessible to those who are unfamiliar with the language or cultural context; the pleasures of the former are more difficult, but at the same time the combination of musical virtuosity and the comprehensive nature of the experience offered is impressionistically appealing, even to those (like me) who have no firm grounding in classical music. It is thus no surprise that Indian classical musicians have acquired a far more substantial audience in the West than Bollywood music ever has. (Bollywood's recent profile in the West is partly a result of people like Rahman, and cannot meaningfully be said to be a cause of Rahman's growing, albeit niche, appeal.) The qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is an even better example of a difficult yet holistic -- and utterly compelling -- musical form in rhythmic sync with contemporary tastes beyond just those of "native" audiences. Rahman partakes of this ethos, and while he is not the first of India's popular composers to do this -- R.D. Burman comes to mind, and also Ilaiyaraja -- he is the most consistently devoted to it.

And then there is the question of Rahman's cosmopolitanism -- the open texture of his music, inviting in newer ears rather than shutting them out. He is truly a "world" musician, but minus the banality -- devoid of personality -- that the term implies. This catholicity itself shows that he has imbibed an awful lot, indeed more than from any other source, from the traditions of Indian popular (especially film) music, which have always been open to sounds, beats and tropes from all over the world. And in fact I would go so far as to say that "open" is too closed, too definitive a word -- in that it purports to demarcate cleanly an inside and an outside -- given that what we have is a process of creative appropriation, whereby that which might once have been imagined as foreign ends up being the ne plus ultra of Indianness.
Rahman encapsulates this tendency nicely, though his technical virtuosity, his facility for "clean" sounds combined with raw and distinctive vocal medleys, puts him in a class apart. He ranges effortlessly through qawwali (filmi ones, as in "Noor-un-Aala" from Meenaxi, but also Arabicised ones, as in "Zikr" from Bose), neo-classical mélanges (as in the song "Alai Payuthey" from the film of the same name, or in certain tracks from Sangamam; add "Chhodo Mori Baiyyan" from Zubeidaa and it is clear that Hindustani or Carnatic, all are equally grist for his mill), folk (the rest of the songs in the amazingly rich Sangamam), lyrical ballads ("Ye Jo Des Hai Tera" from Swades), transcendent genre-benders (such as "Anaarkali" in Kangalal Kaidhu Sei; a remixed version of "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from Dil Se opens the proceedings in Spike Lee's The Inside Man), instrumentals (Rahman's haunting Bombay instrumental recently showed up in the Hollywood film Lord of War), the melodious (just about anything in Karuthamma), the singular (the unforgettable "Raasaathi" from Thiruda Thiruda, and more urgently -- but less radically -- the "Mangal Mangal" triptych from Mangal Pandey, the album itself a primer on masala music), the exotic ("Mayya Mayya" from Guru), the pop ("Vande Mataram" from the album of the same name), the frankly foreign (Warriors of Heaven and Earth), heck even un peu de Mozart (midway through "Veerapandi Kottayilae" from Thiruda Thiruda).

Just about everyone may find something recognisable in Rahman's music, a hook to latch on to, and it is hard not to attribute at least some part of Rahman's popularity to his alchemist's ability to take what we already know -- or think we do -- and transmute it into something rich and strange. And there's a recording studio analogue to this too: Rahman loves to take singers "out" of their comfort zone (for instance, by using Hindi/Urdu singers like Udit Narayan and Adnan Sami in Tamil songs for films like Ratchagan, Boys and Aayitha Ezhuthu; and equally by having several Tamil singers sing in Hindi). Be it in the sounds or in Rahman's choice of vocalists, if the man has a musical schema, it is to hold up a mirror -- in which one beholds oneself in the image of another, not oneself so much as another.

ARR: The Urban Legend

DesiGirl — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:26:53 EST

'Chinna Chinna Aasai' sang Minmini almost 15 years back, heralding a new era in Indian music. The world sat up to take notice of this new sound. A brand new star was born.

A R Rahman burst through like a breath of fresh air with Mani Ratnam's Roja and changed the way Tamil and slowly rest of India's music sounded. Ilaiyaraja had ruled the South till then as the undisputed king among the composers. There was none to beat him, no one even to come near him. If the 'maestro' decided to do the score for your movie, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you are going to have a hit on your hands.

Raja's sounds were mostly grounded in a rural background - the harmonium famously was at the composer's fingertips at any given time. That doesn't mean that his songs were only of the typical folk song variety. His music for Mani Ratnam's hit 'Dalapathi' was phenomenal. He has composed some of Tamil industry's most famous songs - 'Ilamai ennum poongatru', 'Idhu oru pon maalai pozhudhu', 'Raja raja sozhan', to name a few.

Most of his contemporaries also went along the same route - Shankar Ganesh, Deva (who was more like a poor man's Raja), Gangai Amaran etc. Ilaiyaraja did not really have any real competition - he ruled alone and he ruled long. Till a 25 year old genius burst into the scene.

A slight difference of opinion between Mani Ratnam and his favourite composer urged him to look for a composer elsewhere, latched onto the young Rahman who was busy composing ad jingles and the rest, as they say, is history. His choice of instruments, the arrangements he used, the different tones and tunes he produced - everything was as different from the prevalent music of the day as the proverbial chalk is from cheese. The public lapped it up eagerly and were soon hungry for more.

He followed Roja with some memorable songs from Thiruda Thiruda, Gentleman, Pudhiya Mugam, May Maadam, Karuthamma, Duet,Indira, Bombay, Rangeela and more recently, Taal, Lagaan, Boys, Rang De Basanti and Guru. He was the first ever music composer to win the coveted Rajat Kamal Award at the National Film Awards for his debut effort. He has gone on to win this award thrice more, for Minsaara Kanavu, Lagaan and Kannathil Muthamittal - the most by any music director.

The awards he has won, the global recognition he has achieved, the wide range of projects he's been a part of is too many to list. More than anything, what he has single-handedly done is changed Indian background music forever. Till he came onto the scene, filmi music was primarily used to give the audience a break from the onscreen action. With his advent, that changed completely - a movie's soundtrack became as important as the movie itself. Cassette sales soared and became an indication of how the movie would fare at the box-office.

Above all, Rahman introduced the Indian audience to a brand new, urban sound. Till then, most of our music was of the folksy, villagey type and the disco numbers all sounded a bit same-y. Rahman blew that whole scene out of the water and brought in new sounds - techno, electric, big orchestra arrangements that sounded like nothing like what we had heard before.

With Alaipayudhey, he introduced the audience to the new, sexed-up version of the normally staid Hindu wedding mantras. When he sang 'Mangalyam', blended it with those awesome beats and merged it so beautifully with the theme song Enrendrum punnagai - the effect was a thing of sheer beauty. For the first time ever, it it became cool to sing mantras!

But sounding quintessentially urban didn't mean that the man couldn't do villagey music. He sure could and did, in his own inimitable style and the resultant sound is normally something we've never heard before. I am, of course, talking of Then merkku paruva-k-kaatru from Karuthamma here. Even Kummi Adi is a typical village number, Rahmanified as it is!

I shall not be remiss in not mentioning his foray into Punjabi bhangra. Though he has said a lot of times that he felt comfortable with Tamil music, as he did not understand Hindi, he has composed some absolute gems for films like Rangeela, Taal, Bombay, Dil Se and more recently Rang de Basanti. The title song of RDB, sung by Daler Mehendi sounded absolutely fresh and completely different from the usual bhagra songs one often hears. Of course I do not listen to bhangra music much but to me, they always sounded the same - till ARR and the Ting ling ling ling.

Meanwhile, Rahman's assistants branched off on their own and took the new Rahmanish sounds with them whilst some of the new ones on the horizon were inspired by it and started emulating the same. Harris Jayaraj (Minnale, Kaakha Kaakha, Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu), Praveen, Vidyasagar, Bharadwaj, Devi Sri Prasad were all part of this new brigade. Though all of them have gone on to make some great music scores, there is none to touch ARR, none to match his attention to detail.

The consummate professional that he is, he clearly differentiates between what is played on screen and what you slip into your CD player, unlike the other music directors, whose screen music is no different from the on they release on CD or tape. This makes his music sound that much crisper when you listen to the audio whilst the video has a special extra bit going for it. A classic example of this is his recent Kummi Adi from Sillunu Oru Kaadal - while the CD version starts with a big bang, in the movie there is a slow, folksy interlude before the actual song.

Rahman also has a special music interlude for any crunch / special situations in the plot. Oftentimes, this would be the chorus part of the main romantic song of the movie. In the aforementioned movie, the main part of the song Munbe Vaa was the background vocal for the Gautham - Aishu wedding scene, the same song that they sing during happier times.

These might seem insignificant but attention to little details like this is what sets ARR apart. Devi Sri Prasad, in his latest hit Bommarillu would have done better to have picked up these tips from the master and utilised them in his song Laloo Darvaja. Whilst having Jayasudha sing the Krishna bhajan-type number makes sense in the movie and adds to the plot, it slows down the tempo of the song in the CD and breaks up the whole rhythm.

ARR is also the king when it comes to the quality of his music mixes. His music has a slick feel to it that, despite his detractors' pronouncement that his tunes would never stand the test of time, have nonetheless stayed the same through the years. His old hits still sound just as melodious as they did the day they came out. Though Rahman's music take a bit of getting used to, they do grow on you after repeated listens and become impossible to move away from.

The man is not without his particular quirks - one of the most famous ones being his penchant to record at night. He is famous for doing the best part of his recording with the moon; his singers are all well used to getting on the car in the dead of the night and finishing up at the break of dawn. Recently, though, he announced he was going to try to change that habit and carry on his recording work at daytime.

Another of his famous peculiarities is his wish to keep things natural - he is rather taken up by the 'rawness' of a voice. To that extent, he used to make singers out of people with no formal music training whatsoever, depending more on their raw tone of their voice to carry the tune through.

ARR has come a long way from his young Dileep days, when he was struggling to make ends meet. Today, he is one of the most famous music composers in the world. He has taken his music far and beyond the country's shores - collaborating with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber for Bombay Dreams, working on the Chinese film Warriors of Heaven and Earth and even composing the score for Lord of the Rings stage production. He has done all this and more; but to me, he will always remain the man who changed Indian music completely, forever.

His music is everything - slick, beautiful, sublime and timeless. Long may it resonate around the world.