MUSIC COMPOSED BY ME.....:-)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
My latest works
Indha Maan sung by Karl Marx
Mutiny on the Bounty music by Karl Marx
Bounty-A Tribute to Vangelis
Bounty-A Tribute to Vangelis
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
COUPLES RETREAT-MUSIC REVIEW
COUPLE'S RETREAT
Couple's Retreat according to A.R.Rahman is his formal entry into Hollywood. His previous score for Slumdog Millionaire had a more Indianised touch while Couple's Retreat takes a different path slightly embracing Western Classical. Its in Rahman's own way. Its more grand and more symphonic in its structure. Lets get a sneak preview of the songs.
1) Sajna Sajna:
The song(sung by Vince Vaughn??) has everything that one would expect from a Rahman number. Simple, provoking number. A great melody number to start with-this is what "Dreams on Fire" was for Slumdog Millionaire. With the ever appealing piano and well panned chimes section and a mild 'kick' rhythm to accompany, this song is a dream melody. The strings section deserves a special mention. It is mild and not over powering and gives a soothing effect. Though this song reminds another number from "Bombay Dreams" and "Ore Chori-Lagaan", the similarity ends in a single phrase. A very good melody.
2) Kuru Kuru-A.R.Rahman
Wow. This is the vintage Rahman number one was waiting. Rahman actually mentioned in one of his interviews that there is a big surprise in Couple's Retreat. Right!!. Who can expect a full fledged Tamil song in a Hollywood movie?? The wizard is right there with the perfect sounds. With pianos,shakers,neat bass section, guitar plucks and strings, he brings the 80's pop style with reggae right here. Perfect rendition and he rightly brings those whistles towards the end. A great Rahmanish number to a Hollywood movie.
3) Jason and Cynthia Suite:
With neat guitars and strings section, this instrumental has a nice symphonic feel to it. Violins, harps, horns,trombones and Oboes adds majesty to the piece. Its a neat melody and it easily shifts to higher octaves along with cymbals and the hits takes the song to higher crecendos and suddenly timpani section, horns, brass,flutes, solo guitar,bells and pizzicato arrangement project the theme "Sajna Sajna Re" to the fore and again the scale changes and the piece ends majestically.
4) Nana:
On first hearing, one gets the feeling of Carribean beats sweeping our way. With neat calypso beats,bass and trumpets and with an interesting rap section rendered by Blaaze, this is a true native hit number. Rahman's son(Alim Rahman) has done a neat job. He is the one to watch out for in future. Its a true Rahmanish number capsuled in Spanish and Carribean style.
5) Tour of the Villas:
This is another instrumental version of Sajna Sajna with those beautiul strings section.The congo drums(or is it our Kanjira at the start??) along with strings and guitars renders the main theme shifting across the scales. But wait....there is another surprise. In this piece, Rahman brings the Chinese erhu along with the flutes and bass into the main theme. The flute variation and the bassline towards the end along with our tabla is simply mesmerising. Its a mind blowing orchestral piece.
6) Meeting Marcel:
Its sounds like a Chinese meditation piece drawing inspirations from Tai Chi. The previous number had an erhu while this number again starts off with flutes and chants. One has to see the movie to find out if it has any Chinese connection. Suddenly we find aggressive violins, cellos and double bass and it has an indianess' to it.We also find a grand piano(the bass note),horns/orchestral hits/(taikos??) and brass towards the end. Sounds like a serious number.
7) Itinerary:
This lone orchestral marvel is enough to show the world what Rahman is capable of. Even after hearing his brilliant strings work in "Warriors of Heaven and Earth","The Bose" and "Elizabeth", people accuse the Mozart of Asia for his over dependence on synthesizers. This piece rightly shows Rahman's mastery over WCM. With an aggrandized strings section,pizzicato strings, percussions and double bass he has composed a mind blowing waltz. If one closes his eyes and listens to the track, they would think it was composed by a seasoned Hollywood composer. The brass section along with strings section creates magic.
8) Undress:
If the previous one was mind blowing, this is a stunner. Rahman starts with the veena and he brings his favorite Ghatam/mirdhangam, bass and fuses them together and the song ends with a rush of orchestral hits and a perfect manjira/jalra . A perfect fusion number.
9) Sharks:
Its a perfect dark number with all those pianos,hits,violin section and brass falling in place. It seems like an Indian semi classical piece. Suddenly we hear brass, timpani and manjira bit and Rahman's solo high pitched voice at the end. Its a pure situational number.
10) Luau by John O' Brien:
This piece is a true Carribean number. This piece is by John O' Brien. Its all guitars and calypso beats all the way.
11) Salvadore:
This time, Khailash Kher joins hands with Rahman and it looks like a fusion number blending Khailash Kher's voice in Spanish style. It has a deja vu feel to it reminding his previous number "Jumbalaka" from En Swasa Katre".
12) Intervention:
The song starts off with Rahman's voice in the backgroud. Hearing the instrumental from 1.00 minute is pure bliss. He has gained such mastery over the orchestration that the entire strings section sweeps our hearts. Its so pleasing to hear those strings with all those variations along with the melodramatic voice of the music wizard, it ends with horns and pianos.This is easily one of the best pieces in this album.
13) The Waterfall:
A very youthful melody, it again brings the main theme "Sajna Sajna" to the fore. It is a very short piece again with the soulful flute, strings and a solo guitar.
14) Jason and Cynthia-Piano Theme:
In this piece, Rahman brings a Vangelis feel into it by bringing in his trademark electric piano and slowly the horn section with violins elevate this lilting number to new heights. It has a Mandarin feel to it. Sounds like a pathos number.
15) Animal Spirits:
The song starts off with a neat assemblage of strings, percussions, flutes and it easily embraces the WCM and reminds us of the vintage Rahman of Uzhavan days. Again Sajna Sajna is played and it suddenly takes a serious route and transforms into a routine symphony number and again towards the end the tempo picks up and it ends on a happy note. A delight to hear.
VERDICT:
Even when I was hearing the album, Sajna Sajna became my favorite though i would rate "Dreams on Fire" higher. Its a typical appealing Rahman theme number. The music wizard is an exponent in composing themes and he again has delivered the goods here.And hats off to the orchestrator Kaz Boyle. Then there is our own tamil number "Kuru Kuru" and a lot of orchestral pieces. Its pure magic from Rahman. Now one has to wait for the movie(sad thing to note that its a second grade movie)to see if they could do justice to his music.
A must buy for any A.R.Rahman fan.
A must buy for any A.R.Rahman fan.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
BLUE MUSIC REVIEW
1) Chiggy Wiggy-Kylie Minogue,Sonu Nigam;additional vocals:SuzzaneThe album starts in a truly pop style with sensous vocals by Kylie. The song has brilliant basslines and a neat beat with various FX effects thrown in..A truly bombastic song. The song however loses steam after Sonu Nigam enters into the track where dholaks comes into prominence and the song lacks the punch. The idea is great but Sonu Nigam's voice lacks that power. Perhaps a Rang De Basanthi title number styled song would have made a difference.
A complete fusion between pop and Bhangra.This song is already a hit.
Rating: 8/10
2)Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai-Sukwinder Singh,Shreya Ghoshal
Wow...This is a true Rahmanish song with the trademark guitar strumming.Sukwinder sounds sensous and melodic and the entire track sounds like a pure jazz/blues styled song with carribean beats. Shreya Ghosal sings her heart out. The first interlude is stunning with great basslines and wind instruments. Watch out for the stunning piano throughout the song and the subtle strings section. Its heartening to see Sukwinder in this avatar. The second interlude is nicely done with all soft synths and pads..Only that "Soya Saa" chorus is distracting. Neat cymbals throughout and pianos make this song a memorable number. Very addictive.
Rating: 10/10
3)Fiqrana-Vijay Prakash,Shreya Ghoshal
Vijay Prakash stuns with his vocals. Its a great party number. Its a surprise how Farhan Akhtar turned down this song. Vijay Prakash' vocoded vocals,basslines and the electric guitar/flamenco guitar riffs throughout enhances the effect. Sometimes it sounds like a Lucky Ali styled song..May be the vocal part sometimes make me think so. Though the song loses steam in between, Vijay rescues it with his high crecendo singing. The song has its own highs and lows. The beat arrangement is not path breaking but it has a nice melody interwoven throughout...Nice but not path breaking.
Rating: 8.5/10
4)Bhoola Tujhe-Rashid Ali
The prelude signals something stunning is going to happen..Wow..The song starts off like a true Broadway styled opera musical..Strings section,harp and percussion sounds out of the world and Rahman fuses Western Classical Music into its interlude. Then the horns follow with guitar strumming and now enters Rashid Ali of JTYJN fame. The neat timpani hits along with strings section is simply stunning.The French Horn in the interlude brings a jingoistic feel to the song. If this song is made as a BGM in any Hollywood movie, he would win another Academy Award.Watch out or the strings variation at the end. A stunner straight from the wizard's heart.
Rating:10/10
5)Blue Theme-Blaaze,Raqeeb Aalam,Sonu Kakkar,Jaspreet Singh,Neha Kakkar,Dilshad
Rahman is a master in composing themes and he has composed an another winner. An bombastic electrifying track with lot of efects thrown in. The beat arrangement brings out the vintage Rahman along with the electric guitar and synth squelch styled bass. Again this track has an underlying Bhangra style. He has fused it again here. A neat track..Should look great with visuals. Suddenly the song picks tempo...But the BLUE chorus turning into "BULUE" is a bit of gamble..Rahman is known for experimentations and this has surely worked out...Finally at the end we hear under water bubble effects bringing the main theme to the fore.
Rating:8/10
6) Rehnuma-Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal
Rahman's penchant for jazz continues. Almost all his experiments in Jazz/Blues were hits. Right from "Vennila Vennila","Hello Mr.Ethirkatchi","Sillunu oru kadhal" and "Jaane Tu", he has consistently given amazing numbers in this genre. Rahman loves waltz too.Jazz gives a composer a chance to experiment and our wizard just relishes it. Particularly the point where the singer reaches higher crescendos, its magical..The track seems as if it was composed for a James Bond movie... (Is Rahman experimenting for his much rumoured James Bond movie??)...Only he knows the answers....The percussions and guitars in one of the interludes followed by the strings section is mindblowing...The west must hear this track....Spellbound by the track.
Rating:10/10
7) Yaar Mila Tha-Udit Narayan, Madhushree
Starts off like a Raghav number. Frankly I was reminded of another tamil number "Rosu Rosu Rosu" that had Dhanush and Tamannah in the lead...But the similarity ends there..A pure fun number..Finally Madhushree joins hands with Udit Narayan and the result is amazing..The song has an amazing mischevious bassline throughout.The synthesized shennai/sawlead/AnalagonDarkMoon pad with occassional piano strikes and "tha tha thina chorus" is very addictive.
Rating:9.5/10
A complete fusion between pop and Bhangra.This song is already a hit.
Rating: 8/10
2)Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai-Sukwinder Singh,Shreya Ghoshal
Wow...This is a true Rahmanish song with the trademark guitar strumming.Sukwinder sounds sensous and melodic and the entire track sounds like a pure jazz/blues styled song with carribean beats. Shreya Ghosal sings her heart out. The first interlude is stunning with great basslines and wind instruments. Watch out for the stunning piano throughout the song and the subtle strings section. Its heartening to see Sukwinder in this avatar. The second interlude is nicely done with all soft synths and pads..Only that "Soya Saa" chorus is distracting. Neat cymbals throughout and pianos make this song a memorable number. Very addictive.
Rating: 10/10
3)Fiqrana-Vijay Prakash,Shreya Ghoshal
Vijay Prakash stuns with his vocals. Its a great party number. Its a surprise how Farhan Akhtar turned down this song. Vijay Prakash' vocoded vocals,basslines and the electric guitar/flamenco guitar riffs throughout enhances the effect. Sometimes it sounds like a Lucky Ali styled song..May be the vocal part sometimes make me think so. Though the song loses steam in between, Vijay rescues it with his high crecendo singing. The song has its own highs and lows. The beat arrangement is not path breaking but it has a nice melody interwoven throughout...Nice but not path breaking.
Rating: 8.5/10
4)Bhoola Tujhe-Rashid Ali
The prelude signals something stunning is going to happen..Wow..The song starts off like a true Broadway styled opera musical..Strings section,harp and percussion sounds out of the world and Rahman fuses Western Classical Music into its interlude. Then the horns follow with guitar strumming and now enters Rashid Ali of JTYJN fame. The neat timpani hits along with strings section is simply stunning.The French Horn in the interlude brings a jingoistic feel to the song. If this song is made as a BGM in any Hollywood movie, he would win another Academy Award.Watch out or the strings variation at the end. A stunner straight from the wizard's heart.
Rating:10/10
5)Blue Theme-Blaaze,Raqeeb Aalam,Sonu Kakkar,Jaspreet Singh,Neha Kakkar,Dilshad
Rahman is a master in composing themes and he has composed an another winner. An bombastic electrifying track with lot of efects thrown in. The beat arrangement brings out the vintage Rahman along with the electric guitar and synth squelch styled bass. Again this track has an underlying Bhangra style. He has fused it again here. A neat track..Should look great with visuals. Suddenly the song picks tempo...But the BLUE chorus turning into "BULUE" is a bit of gamble..Rahman is known for experimentations and this has surely worked out...Finally at the end we hear under water bubble effects bringing the main theme to the fore.
Rating:8/10
6) Rehnuma-Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal
Rahman's penchant for jazz continues. Almost all his experiments in Jazz/Blues were hits. Right from "Vennila Vennila","Hello Mr.Ethirkatchi","Sillunu oru kadhal" and "Jaane Tu", he has consistently given amazing numbers in this genre. Rahman loves waltz too.Jazz gives a composer a chance to experiment and our wizard just relishes it. Particularly the point where the singer reaches higher crescendos, its magical..The track seems as if it was composed for a James Bond movie... (Is Rahman experimenting for his much rumoured James Bond movie??)...Only he knows the answers....The percussions and guitars in one of the interludes followed by the strings section is mindblowing...The west must hear this track....Spellbound by the track.
Rating:10/10
7) Yaar Mila Tha-Udit Narayan, Madhushree
Starts off like a Raghav number. Frankly I was reminded of another tamil number "Rosu Rosu Rosu" that had Dhanush and Tamannah in the lead...But the similarity ends there..A pure fun number..Finally Madhushree joins hands with Udit Narayan and the result is amazing..The song has an amazing mischevious bassline throughout.The synthesized shennai/sawlead/AnalagonDarkMoon pad with occassional piano strikes and "tha tha thina chorus" is very addictive.
Rating:9.5/10
BACKING VOCALS: AAJ DIL GUSTAKH HAI:
BENNY DAYAL,HENRY KURUVILLA & SHI MILLHOUSE, RAVEN MILLHOUSE
"BHOOLA TUJHE" YERI VOICE KAVITHA BALIGA
BACKING VOCALS "YAAR MILA THAA"
SHI MILLHOUSE & RAVEN MILLHOUSE
COURTESY OF GREYOLOGY MANAGEMENT
ADDITIONAL VOCAL SUPERVISION BY SRINIVAS
MUSICIANS: "AAJ DIL GUSTAKH HAI" & "BHOOLA TUJHE"
GUITAR: SANJEEV THOMAS
TRUMPET: KISHORE SODHA
SHENNAI:BALESH
DHOLAK: CHINNA PRASAD
MANDOLIN:SEENU
STRINGS: CHENNAI STRINGS ORCHESTRA
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING:T.R.KRISHNA CHETAN, HENRY KURUVILLA, DEEPAK.P.A
STRINGS SECTION CONDUCTED BY V.J.SRINIVASA MURTHY
RECORDED IN:
CHENNAI PANCHATHAN RECORD INN.,A.M.STUDIO
SOUND ENGINEERS: S.SIVA KUMAR,DEEPAK.P.A,KANNAN GANPAT,SURESH PERUMAL,VIVIANE CHAIX,MOHAMMED SAFIULLAH
BLUE FROG SOUND LABS SOUND ENGINEER JOSEPH GEORGE
NIRVANA STUDIO SOUND ENGINEER PUNEET SAMTANI
LONDON(KYLIE MINOGUE) PHIJ ADAMS
MIXED AT PANCHATHAN RECORD INN,AM STUDIO-DEEPAK P.A. AND K,J,SINGH
MIXED BY TAL HERZBERG AT RECORD PLANT(HOLLYWOOD)
MIXING ASSISTANT: GHAZI HOURANI
MUSICIAN FIXER: SAMIDURAI
MUSIC CO-ORDINATED BY NOELL JAMES AND FAIZUDIDN T M
MASTERED BY ADITYA MODI AND SHADAB RAYEEN AT PREMIER DIGITAL MASTERING STUDIOS(MUMBAI)
ALL SONGS PRODUCED BY A R RAHMAN
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Video links for my karaoke songs!!!!!!!!!
1) Kaadhal Kaadhal-Kaadhal Konden
2) Valayal Karangalai-Thottaal Poo Malarum
Enjoy!!!!!!!
2) Valayal Karangalai-Thottaal Poo Malarum
Enjoy!!!!!!!
My latest 2 songs
After a long time, I have sung two songs on a trot. The links are as under.Hope people will like it..
1) Valiyal Karangalai-Thottaal Poo Malarum
2) Kaadhal Mattum Purivadhillai-Kaadal Konden
1) Valiyal Karangalai-Thottaal Poo Malarum
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2) Kaadhal Mattum Purivadhillai-Kaadal Konden
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Ilayaraja releases Agsharam
The Maestro released Agsharam a private album of the violin duo Ganesh-Kumaresh...The excerpts from his speech are as under:
Though at the first reading it seems a normal sentence but there are every chance that his statement could be misinterpreted. We as ARR fans only hope he said it in right spirit..
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Pottu Vaitha Oru Vatta Nila
This time, I have sung the song "Pottu Vaitha Oru Vatta Nila" from the movie "Idhayam". Hope people will enjoy.
Both the youtube link and the song uploaded in esnips are as under:
mp3 song in esnips:
Both the youtube link and the song uploaded in esnips are as under:
mp3 song in esnips:
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Saturday, August 1, 2009
Hi friends!!!
This time I have sung a song from En Swaasa Kaatre..The song is Chinna Chinna Mazhai sung by M.G. Sree Kumar. Fabulous Rahmanish tune. It purely reflects the Rahmanish sound of early 90's. Great beats with stunning saw leads....
CHINNA CHINNA MAZHAI THULIGAL
Hope you all enjoy..
The above song can also be accessed in esnips.
This time I have sung a song from En Swaasa Kaatre..The song is Chinna Chinna Mazhai sung by M.G. Sree Kumar. Fabulous Rahmanish tune. It purely reflects the Rahmanish sound of early 90's. Great beats with stunning saw leads....
CHINNA CHINNA MAZHAI THULIGAL
Hope you all enjoy..
The above song can also be accessed in esnips.
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Friday, July 31, 2009
Video songs with my voice-Pure fun
Friends!!! It all started with one of my friends trying out a karaoke number. I also followed suit. Later I became addicted to it. Then I sang more than 15 songs on a trot...It was pure fun...Then the job became monotonous....So spice up things, I thought of adding my voice to the visuals...
It was more challenging and it was more fun....I recorded using Audacity. In mid 80's songs, karaoke could not be created so I sang all along with the singer and then increased the gain of my voice and decreased the gain of the original song...
1) Poo Vaasam
2) Poove Sempoove
3) En Iniya Pon Nilave
4) Kaadhal Vaithu
5) Vaanam Arugil Oru Vaanam
Enjoy the day
It was more challenging and it was more fun....I recorded using Audacity. In mid 80's songs, karaoke could not be created so I sang all along with the singer and then increased the gain of my voice and decreased the gain of the original song...
1) Poo Vaasam
2) Poove Sempoove
3) En Iniya Pon Nilave
4) Kaadhal Vaithu
5) Vaanam Arugil Oru Vaanam
Enjoy the day
Latest additions to my list
1) Poo Vaasam
2) Poove Sempoove
3) Eeramaana Rojaave
4) En Iniya Pon Nilave
5) Vaanam Arugil Oru Vaanam
6) En Swaasathil
7) Kaadhal Vaithu
8) Azhagiya Cindrella
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2) Poove Sempoove
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3) Eeramaana Rojaave
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4) En Iniya Pon Nilave
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5) Vaanam Arugil Oru Vaanam
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6) En Swaasathil
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7) Kaadhal Vaithu
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8) Azhagiya Cindrella
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
MARX ON A SINGING SPREE
On a singing spree
I have sung another set of songs...Hope everyone will enjoy..
1) Kanden Kanden-Madura
2) Maanaa Madura Maamara Kilaiyile
3) Konja Naal Poru Thalaivaa
4) Poongaatrile
5) Elangaathu Veesuthey
Have a fun day
1) Kanden Kanden-Madura
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2) Maanaa Madura Maamara Kilaiyile
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3) Konja Naal Poru Thalaivaa
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4) Poongaatrile
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5) Elangaathu Veesuthey
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Have a fun day
Saturday, July 11, 2009
My new avatar as a singer
Here I have tried to sing a few songs which I will be updating as and when I sing a song..
The song links are as under:
1) Poove Poochoodava
2) Pillai Nilaa
3) Raja Raja Chozhan Naan
4) Raasaathi Unna Kaanaatha
5) Puthu Vellai Mazhai
The song links are as under:
1) Poove Poochoodava
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2) Pillai Nilaa
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3) Raja Raja Chozhan Naan
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4) Raasaathi Unna Kaanaatha
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5) Puthu Vellai Mazhai
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First disappointment from Youtube
Hi all!!!
Actually I was composing a new BGM for a clip from Terminator-II Judgement Day. I had finished that hard process and I even I uploaded into youtube. But to my horror, that clip was a copy righted one and I couldn't embed it on my orkut profile or in my blog here... I have provided the link below....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM50SMX4N7g
Actually I was composing a new BGM for a clip from Terminator-II Judgement Day. I had finished that hard process and I even I uploaded into youtube. But to my horror, that clip was a copy righted one and I couldn't embed it on my orkut profile or in my blog here... I have provided the link below....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM50SMX4N7g
Thursday, July 2, 2009
URGENT REQUIREMENT: VINTAGE RAHMAN OF THE 90'S
A.R.RAHMAN as i spell his name, I could sense the vibration within me as memories flash up before....Those childhood memories, those songs and those excellent times will never come back.. The musical genius came in at a time when i was doing my 5th standard...those formative years, both in education as well as my extra curricular activities...
I can still remember that day, when we all went for the Roja movie(Our visit to the cinema theatre with my father,mother and sister was a rarity..we don't go to theatres). Something struck me while watching the movie. Previously I had watched "CHINNA GOUNDER" and the rich aura of sounds and the traditional heard before orchestration and the hero's charisma did something to me. But this was different. Roja right from the scene in forests while the security forces fight the terrorists(I could still remember the blue filter added to that scene), I was caught in total awe. The song, the entire plot of the movie captivated a lot of hearts, as the movie set the entire country ablaze. The music wizard A.R.Rahman came into prominence.
Even then I didn't recognise the genius. All my school friends discussed about the movie Roja and were heaping praises on the handsome ArvindSwamy rolling over the national flag....Oh....So much patriotism and jingoism thrown in...Neverthless it was one of the best Mani Ratnam's work...
I could still remember those days when i use to return back home and there was a house with a huge stereo set and they use to play "PUDHU VELLAI MAZHAI" and somehow that song became one of my favorites till date. Then I persuaed my father to buy a Roja cassette(no CD's those days). It was a dually recorded with ROJA on one side and SOORIYAN on another side. Then we saw KIZHAKU SEEMAIYILE...I admired that movie and shed a few tears in the theatre, loved the music that deep penetrated my heart.
The next A.R.Rahman movie i saw on theatre was "KADHALAN". I really loved the music and I was terrified with the music (that Sumo style music) that came whenever they shown Raghuvaran. I was enquiring about the music director with my dad and came to know it was one called A.R.Rahman. I realised I had become a hardcore A.R.Rahman fan.
I used to search franatically for Rahman's news in magazines... Movies came with much fan fare,hit followed by a hit, I can remember those times, when i fought with my parents as who is the best...Is it Illayaraja or A.R.Rahman????My parents were great fans of Maestro. I used to follow the news that used to come in the newspapers and magazines about A.R.Rahman and his projects.
In 1994,when KADHALAN got released, MAY MADHAM also got released and it also had some stunning music. I really loved that MARGAZHI POOVE song(Its still my all time favorite). Due to some unknown reasons, that movie and that heroine Sonali Kulkarni became one of my favorites. MAY MADHAM had an interesting peppy BGM too. I really liked the dubbing voice that was given to the heroine(Only recently I found out it was actress Rohini's voice).
I think I am totally going off radar from the topic. The reason for elaborating on the movies were the role played by Rahman's music. It was a binding force, a magnetic pull that enthralled the audience, brought sheer joy and brings back those memories. Well its the thing of the past. After 2001, sadly i have only a few memories may- be a child in me had grown up.
A.R.Rahman still delivers his magic but that old magic has gone or may be has added so many textures to his music that I cannot understand it.
A little insight into his musical albums may throw some light: The albums are purely weighed on hit factor as none of the wizard's albums may be termed sub standard..May be a few non tamil works. I have considered only pure tamil works. I have not considered hit movies like Uyire as they were hindi movies with hindi cast but dubbed in tamil.I have left all of his brilliant hindi works too...and off course International Projects too...so that it is purely confined to Tamil fan's affinity towards his music.
ALBUMS BEFORE 2001
1)Roja
2)Pudhiya Mugam
3)Gentleman
4)Kizhakku Cheemayile
5)Uzhavan
6)Thiruda Thiruda
7)Vandicholai Chinraasu
8)Duet
9)May Madham
10)Kadhalan
11)Pavithra
12)Karuththamma
13)Pudhiya Mannargal
14)Bombay
15)Indira
16)Love Birds
17)Indian
18)Kadhal Desam
19)Mr. Romeo
20) Anthimanthaarai
21)Minsara Kanavu
22)Iruvar
23)Ratchagan
24)Jeans
25)En Swasa Kaatre
26)Padayappa
27)Kadhalar Dhinam
28)Sangamam
29)Jodi
30)Mudhalvan
31)Taj Mahal
32)Alaipayuthey
33)Kandukondain Kandukondain
34)Rhythm
35)Thenali
36)Star
37)Parthale Paravasam
38)Alli Arjuna
39)Kannathil Muthamittal
ALBUMS POST 2001:
1)Baba
2)Kadhal Virus
3)Parasuram
4)Boys
5)Enakku 20 Unakku 18
6)Kangalal Kaithu Sei
7)Udhaya
8)Aayitha Ezhuthu
9)New
10)Anbe Aaruyire
11)Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
12)Varalaru
13)Sivaji: The Boss
14)Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
15)Sakkarakatti
Blue indicates hit(in my most humble opinion).
Pre 2001->Total Movies->39--->Hits----->33
After 2001->Total Movies->15--->Hits--->11
Hit Ratio pre 2001--->84.6%
Hit Ratio Post 2001--->73.33%
The results may be still lower post 2001 if I consider all his dubbed works and hindi works. So Rahman's hit ratio has fallen from 2002. Most of his movies also flopped big time in Box Office which in turned pulled down his music also like KADHAL VIRUS.
Post 2001, only 7 movies were declared hits in Box Office while the remaining bombed at the Box Office that brought down his music that brings his movie hit ratio to 46.6%.So where was he actually lagging ???...
It was a combination of factors ranging from choice of wrong movies, weaker script sense and emergence of new music directors. Before 2001, Rahman had to contend only with Illayaraja,Yuvan Shankar Raja and Deva and to some extent VidyaSagar. Rahman had already built his unique sound and people were used to it. So whatever gems Rahman tuned became collosal hits while other people like Deva tried to recreate his style but with very little success.
Off late I can sense that Rahman's catchy music has taken a backseat whereas his class and repertoire has increased. He has experimented with more artists and he has gone to the next level whereas an ordinary fan like me wants the vintage ARR of the 90's.
After 2001, many music directors like Harris Jayaraj came into prominence and each and everyone tried to replicate the Rahmanish sound with great degree of success. Harris' MINNALE was a pure Rahman sounding album. And several other MD used Rahman's absence(thanks to BOMBAY DREAMS) and regrouped together while Yuvan came with all guns blazing. YSR,HJ,Imaan,Vidyasagar all produced good music and most importantly most of the movies became great hits.
Yuvan's rise up the ladder was phenomenal and he delivered hits with higher frequency. By the time, you could sense a YSR hit, it was followed by another. Vidyasagar worked out numbers that combined the genius of both the maestro and the Mozart of Madras. And slowly Rahman moved towards west and increased his works in Hindi as he got more challenging subjects in the North whereas Rahman's mentors were semi retired and some of the projects took so much time that they eventually got shelved...There are innumerous examples. Sometimes Rahman would dedicate a lot of time for a particular project and the audio will scorch the charts but the movie would be a damp squib(e.g) KADHAL VIRUS, DELHI6 and SAKKARAKATI.
As an average ARR fan, I would like to see an album with his pure vintage 90's style. Sometimes I would confuse myself that ARR has become more and more complex and has added more layers to his songs, complicating the song structure and i even feel the sharpness and crystal clearness in his sound has gone down barring Delhi 6 recently.
Is A.R.Rahman composing complex melodies??
Yes and no. He has done the most complex scores off late from WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH to ELIZABETH. In my opinion SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was an average score. Was not ELLA PUGAZHUM better than JAI HO.. the former was a winner hands down.
The songs of the vibrant young Rahman was melodic, beat oriented and was simply catchy. If one was asked to compile Rahman's greatest melodies I am sure almost 70% of the numbers would be from his old movies. His ROJA was trendsetting. His melodic number AZHAGU NILAVU, THAAYUM NEEYE from PAVITHRA were not only soaken in melody but also far complex semi classical numbers far matured beyond his age. PUTHIYA MUGAM was a stunner, KS and KARUTHAMMA proved that he can compose folk tunes as well. Here also he presented thr rustic folk in his own style. He didn't follow the Maestro's or Deva's style.
UZHAVAN was an under rated album but each and every song was an experience-full of earthern melodies. TT defined another new sound to Tamil Film music. KONJAM NILAVU was a pure rock number that only Rahman can deliver.DUET was an absolute classic as it showcased his geniusness in compositional techniques. MAY MADHAM was a youthful album.
IRUVAR is one of Rahman's best work till date. Who has bettered that track.??No one can... Not to mention other masterpieces like AP,SANGAMAM,KKKK,TAJ MAHAL,KADHAL DESAM,KADHALAR DHINAM etc. Most of the scores for the PRE 2001 movies were haunting. They had that surprise factor. But I feel that Rahman's work in the post 2002 was great but didn't have that emotional factor may be due to exposure to more electronica and many good works by other composers.
Sometimes I feel Rahman's style post 2002 is slightly disinteresting like rap by BLAAZE. I still feel BLAAZE was a good rapper but he has gone stale now or people are getting used to it. ASLAM MUSTAFA and SURESH PETERS are more catchy than BLAAZE. VINNAI THAANDI VARUVAAYA also has a BLAAZE rap and its not sounding Rahmanish. His other biggies RAVANAN and SULTAN are in making for a long time that people are starting to lose interest in those subjects.
YES URGENT REQUIREMENT: VINTAGE RAHMAN OF THE 90'S
I can still remember that day, when we all went for the Roja movie(Our visit to the cinema theatre with my father,mother and sister was a rarity..we don't go to theatres). Something struck me while watching the movie. Previously I had watched "CHINNA GOUNDER" and the rich aura of sounds and the traditional heard before orchestration and the hero's charisma did something to me. But this was different. Roja right from the scene in forests while the security forces fight the terrorists(I could still remember the blue filter added to that scene), I was caught in total awe. The song, the entire plot of the movie captivated a lot of hearts, as the movie set the entire country ablaze. The music wizard A.R.Rahman came into prominence.
Even then I didn't recognise the genius. All my school friends discussed about the movie Roja and were heaping praises on the handsome ArvindSwamy rolling over the national flag....Oh....So much patriotism and jingoism thrown in...Neverthless it was one of the best Mani Ratnam's work...
I could still remember those days when i use to return back home and there was a house with a huge stereo set and they use to play "PUDHU VELLAI MAZHAI" and somehow that song became one of my favorites till date. Then I persuaed my father to buy a Roja cassette(no CD's those days). It was a dually recorded with ROJA on one side and SOORIYAN on another side. Then we saw KIZHAKU SEEMAIYILE...I admired that movie and shed a few tears in the theatre, loved the music that deep penetrated my heart.
The next A.R.Rahman movie i saw on theatre was "KADHALAN". I really loved the music and I was terrified with the music (that Sumo style music) that came whenever they shown Raghuvaran. I was enquiring about the music director with my dad and came to know it was one called A.R.Rahman. I realised I had become a hardcore A.R.Rahman fan.
I used to search franatically for Rahman's news in magazines... Movies came with much fan fare,hit followed by a hit, I can remember those times, when i fought with my parents as who is the best...Is it Illayaraja or A.R.Rahman????My parents were great fans of Maestro. I used to follow the news that used to come in the newspapers and magazines about A.R.Rahman and his projects.
In 1994,when KADHALAN got released, MAY MADHAM also got released and it also had some stunning music. I really loved that MARGAZHI POOVE song(Its still my all time favorite). Due to some unknown reasons, that movie and that heroine Sonali Kulkarni became one of my favorites. MAY MADHAM had an interesting peppy BGM too. I really liked the dubbing voice that was given to the heroine(Only recently I found out it was actress Rohini's voice).
I think I am totally going off radar from the topic. The reason for elaborating on the movies were the role played by Rahman's music. It was a binding force, a magnetic pull that enthralled the audience, brought sheer joy and brings back those memories. Well its the thing of the past. After 2001, sadly i have only a few memories may- be a child in me had grown up.
A.R.Rahman still delivers his magic but that old magic has gone or may be has added so many textures to his music that I cannot understand it.
A little insight into his musical albums may throw some light: The albums are purely weighed on hit factor as none of the wizard's albums may be termed sub standard..May be a few non tamil works. I have considered only pure tamil works. I have not considered hit movies like Uyire as they were hindi movies with hindi cast but dubbed in tamil.I have left all of his brilliant hindi works too...and off course International Projects too...so that it is purely confined to Tamil fan's affinity towards his music.
ALBUMS BEFORE 2001
1)Roja
2)Pudhiya Mugam
3)Gentleman
4)Kizhakku Cheemayile
5)Uzhavan
6)Thiruda Thiruda
7)Vandicholai Chinraasu
8)Duet
9)May Madham
10)Kadhalan
11)Pavithra
12)Karuththamma
13)Pudhiya Mannargal
14)Bombay
15)Indira
16)Love Birds
17)Indian
18)Kadhal Desam
19)Mr. Romeo
20) Anthimanthaarai
21)Minsara Kanavu
22)Iruvar
23)Ratchagan
24)Jeans
25)En Swasa Kaatre
26)Padayappa
27)Kadhalar Dhinam
28)Sangamam
29)Jodi
30)Mudhalvan
31)Taj Mahal
32)Alaipayuthey
33)Kandukondain Kandukondain
34)Rhythm
35)Thenali
36)Star
37)Parthale Paravasam
38)Alli Arjuna
39)Kannathil Muthamittal
ALBUMS POST 2001:
1)Baba
2)Kadhal Virus
3)Parasuram
4)Boys
5)Enakku 20 Unakku 18
6)Kangalal Kaithu Sei
7)Udhaya
8)Aayitha Ezhuthu
9)New
10)Anbe Aaruyire
11)Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
12)Varalaru
13)Sivaji: The Boss
14)Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
15)Sakkarakatti
Blue indicates hit(in my most humble opinion).
Pre 2001->Total Movies->39--->Hits----->33
After 2001->Total Movies->15--->Hits--->11
Hit Ratio pre 2001--->84.6%
Hit Ratio Post 2001--->73.33%
The results may be still lower post 2001 if I consider all his dubbed works and hindi works. So Rahman's hit ratio has fallen from 2002. Most of his movies also flopped big time in Box Office which in turned pulled down his music also like KADHAL VIRUS.
Post 2001, only 7 movies were declared hits in Box Office while the remaining bombed at the Box Office that brought down his music that brings his movie hit ratio to 46.6%.So where was he actually lagging ???...
It was a combination of factors ranging from choice of wrong movies, weaker script sense and emergence of new music directors. Before 2001, Rahman had to contend only with Illayaraja,Yuvan Shankar Raja and Deva and to some extent VidyaSagar. Rahman had already built his unique sound and people were used to it. So whatever gems Rahman tuned became collosal hits while other people like Deva tried to recreate his style but with very little success.
Off late I can sense that Rahman's catchy music has taken a backseat whereas his class and repertoire has increased. He has experimented with more artists and he has gone to the next level whereas an ordinary fan like me wants the vintage ARR of the 90's.
After 2001, many music directors like Harris Jayaraj came into prominence and each and everyone tried to replicate the Rahmanish sound with great degree of success. Harris' MINNALE was a pure Rahman sounding album. And several other MD used Rahman's absence(thanks to BOMBAY DREAMS) and regrouped together while Yuvan came with all guns blazing. YSR,HJ,Imaan,Vidyasagar all produced good music and most importantly most of the movies became great hits.
Yuvan's rise up the ladder was phenomenal and he delivered hits with higher frequency. By the time, you could sense a YSR hit, it was followed by another. Vidyasagar worked out numbers that combined the genius of both the maestro and the Mozart of Madras. And slowly Rahman moved towards west and increased his works in Hindi as he got more challenging subjects in the North whereas Rahman's mentors were semi retired and some of the projects took so much time that they eventually got shelved...There are innumerous examples. Sometimes Rahman would dedicate a lot of time for a particular project and the audio will scorch the charts but the movie would be a damp squib(e.g) KADHAL VIRUS, DELHI6 and SAKKARAKATI.
As an average ARR fan, I would like to see an album with his pure vintage 90's style. Sometimes I would confuse myself that ARR has become more and more complex and has added more layers to his songs, complicating the song structure and i even feel the sharpness and crystal clearness in his sound has gone down barring Delhi 6 recently.
Is A.R.Rahman composing complex melodies??
Yes and no. He has done the most complex scores off late from WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH to ELIZABETH. In my opinion SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was an average score. Was not ELLA PUGAZHUM better than JAI HO.. the former was a winner hands down.
The songs of the vibrant young Rahman was melodic, beat oriented and was simply catchy. If one was asked to compile Rahman's greatest melodies I am sure almost 70% of the numbers would be from his old movies. His ROJA was trendsetting. His melodic number AZHAGU NILAVU, THAAYUM NEEYE from PAVITHRA were not only soaken in melody but also far complex semi classical numbers far matured beyond his age. PUTHIYA MUGAM was a stunner, KS and KARUTHAMMA proved that he can compose folk tunes as well. Here also he presented thr rustic folk in his own style. He didn't follow the Maestro's or Deva's style.
UZHAVAN was an under rated album but each and every song was an experience-full of earthern melodies. TT defined another new sound to Tamil Film music. KONJAM NILAVU was a pure rock number that only Rahman can deliver.DUET was an absolute classic as it showcased his geniusness in compositional techniques. MAY MADHAM was a youthful album.
IRUVAR is one of Rahman's best work till date. Who has bettered that track.??No one can... Not to mention other masterpieces like AP,SANGAMAM,KKKK,TAJ MAHAL,KADHAL DESAM,KADHALAR DHINAM etc. Most of the scores for the PRE 2001 movies were haunting. They had that surprise factor. But I feel that Rahman's work in the post 2002 was great but didn't have that emotional factor may be due to exposure to more electronica and many good works by other composers.
Sometimes I feel Rahman's style post 2002 is slightly disinteresting like rap by BLAAZE. I still feel BLAAZE was a good rapper but he has gone stale now or people are getting used to it. ASLAM MUSTAFA and SURESH PETERS are more catchy than BLAAZE. VINNAI THAANDI VARUVAAYA also has a BLAAZE rap and its not sounding Rahmanish. His other biggies RAVANAN and SULTAN are in making for a long time that people are starting to lose interest in those subjects.
Rahman's lack of interest in TFM is clearly reflecting in his songs, not his fault at all-he has gone westward. We want some cool dance numbers, may be we need an other MAY MADHAM, KADHALAN or a THIRUDA THIRUDA or atleast a LOVE BIRDS. That will take the Mozart of Madras to an another level where it will bring another revolution in Tamil film music.
YES URGENT REQUIREMENT: VINTAGE RAHMAN OF THE 90'S
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