What happens when 2 creative geniuses meet together for a common cause? This has exactly happened in the case of 'Meenaxi: a tale of 3 cities'. Here's a short stint on the birth of the movie.
Immensely popular painter, world renowned personality, M.F.Hussain's 2nd direcorial offering after the not-so-impactful 'Gaja Gamini'. After critics & audiences declared Hussain's inablity to direct & approach towards cinema, Mr.Tayeb Mehta (a famous painter & Hussain's close friend), gave him this novel idea about taking the camera outside the closed sets. Hussain was fascinated about this idea & started thinking seriously. Till then, he was awestruck by his muse, Madhuri Dixit. But this time, he chose the immensely gifted Tabu (though, Susmita Sen was his 1st choice) to portray the role of 3 different personalities captured in different circumstances at different places. At one side, we have Hussain's favourite city, Hyderabad; on the other hand, he chooses the magestic city, Jaisalmer; while the 3rd city falls outside the country's boundaries, the extremely gothic Prague. The film had to be different from all angles. He shortlisted the rest of the cast which comprises of Kunal Kapoor, Raghuvir Yadav, Nadira Babbar, etc. & the cinematography to be handled by the camera-magician, Santosh Sivan. For the music, which was a challenge to reproduce, Hussain's first & last choice was A.R.Rahman. Hussain is known to be abstract in his thoughts & the music alos speaks of the same. 'When you have Rahman & Sivan, anyone can make a good film', exclaimed Hussain saab in an interview. Why not? There were many speculations about how the music would be & we being ARR fans, we were obviously expecxting a lot! The movie did take a long time to come but it has come on right time. When the 1st promos started on T.V., the heavy classical BGM was impressive, to say the least. Rahman has this inherent ability to create a different sound & this album is no exception. I feel, this soundtrack has more of a sound-appeal than anything else. The compositions are simple, yet innovative & the arrangement is 'icing on the cake'! Rahman paints each song with a distinctive touch. He has collaborated with the world's best musicians & the credit must go to Hussain saab to give Rahman the freedom to create his own sound. The main lyricist is Rahat Indori (who works for the 1st time with ARR), Sukhwinder Singh & Mr.Hussain himself. The audio is released on the most reliable label. Sony Music. The packaging is as expected.
For my review, I have chosen to compare the songs with the 5 essential elements of the Universe: Water, Earth, Fire, Sky, Space.. Its not a purposive attempt to compare, but when I heard the songs, I could feel the connection of the music with the elements. The music is eternal & I must confess that this is Rahman's most innovative & experimental efforts. As usual, the music grows on you.
Rating Scale: * * * Mind-blowing
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Yeh Rishta (Reena Bharadwaj, lyric: Rahat Indori) Element: WATER
The opening song of the album is as fresh as a blossoming flower. ARR's new discovery, Reena Bharadwaj (from London, also sung 'Baba kichu taa') handles the vocals. Her voice is as fresh & sweet as honey! Truly a befitting song!
The song starts with cosmic sounds (which creates a picture of water bubbles) & female harmony doing the humming. The humming part is quite interesting. Along with the harmony, Rahman fills the ambience with chords, bells & a Mohan Veena-kind of an instrument which just provides meends (glides). It goes up & down alternatively. This adds to the curiosity & keeps us wondering whats next? Reena enters the scene with her innocent voice without rhythm. There's great use of accoustic guitars in this song. The arrangement credit goes to the maestro, John Themis (also worked on 'Dil Se'). The lines 'Yeh rishta kya kehlaata hai?' (what is this relationship called?) become the punch lines of the song. The rhythm is typically a Rajasthani folk one. The picturisation is also done in the sand dunes of Rajasthan. The song is a romantic number. The percussions include dhol, dholak, chendas & nagaaras. Reena's rendition of the word 'Hai' needs a special mention. Its quite innovatively pronounced. Though the song has all the elements of traditional folk, its still very contemporary. Rahman's touch is evident in the lines 'Koi anjaani si cheez meri..." with lots of guitar strums. The creativity comes when ARR uses a synthetic sound (like mobile tones) which sounds like effervescent bubbles. It comes after the lines 'saanson se lipatne lagti hai'. This piece is similar to the flute piece in the 2nd interlude of 'Sainyaa' from Nayak. The following lines 'main dil ke kareeb aa jaati hoon' rather sum up the mukhda with a traditional tihaai beat(3 times). Till here, the song has shades of Raga Bihaag & Bilawal, using all shuddha swaras. The main lines 'Yeh rishta...' uses the notes ni Sa Ga Ma Pa Ma Ga Sa (small caps for lower octave notes). As Gulzar once pointed out that Rahman never follows the usual mukhda-antra structure, this song is a perfect example of it. After the main mukhda gets over, ARR shifts the melody. He uses heavy tanpura drones which cast a lingering effect followed by mandolin-banjo pieces. This piece is again typically form Marwar (region in Rajasthjan). When one is enjoying the song smoothly, Rahman suddenly breaks into a surprise. He reproduces the sound of Water. This water enters with the heavy beat of a tympani. God...when u hear it on headphones or on a home-theatre, u almost feel u r in a boat surrounded by water on all sides. For one moment, I almost felt that my tap was leaking!!! Reena haunts us by singing freehand alaaps. That one small meend created by the veena just takes ur breath. Such a small, unnoticable thing creates magic! The entire melody changes from the lines 'Is gumsum jheel ke paani mein'. The raga shifts to Madhyamad Sarang emplyoying Komal nishadh. The entire phrase literally means that in this silent stream, a pearl is dropped, this creates waves & goes on increasing to become a confusing loop. This actually describes the coindition of the woman who's fallen in love. A stranger comes & captures her heart & then she's totally smitten by his presence that her life changes. Rahman tries to capture this feeling with lots of sound effects & chords. The change in the melody exactly explains this situation. The vocals stretch to the upper octave with cympals & tympani to return to to the main melody. One interesting thing hich I noticed was thattowards the end, ARR has used an echo every time after the lines 'Yeh rishta...'. The voice has been digitally manipulated. It gives a very different feel to the song. Like constant waves on the sea-shores which come & go. The rest of the song has the same progression. The lyrics by Rahat Indori are equally good. "Tasveer banaati rehti hoon, main tooti hui awaazon par; ek chehra dhoondti rehti hoon deewaaron kabhi darwaazon par, main apne paas nahin rehti aur door se koi bulaata hai!" (I keep painting pictures on broken, unidentified voices & keep searching for that face on walls & doors, at a time when I dont belong to myself, someone calls me from far lands, what is this relationship called?) The entire song is a case of rhetoric questions. The song ends with an alaap which echoes & lingers in ur mind till its finished. This song has an amazing quality of rich sounds & an excellent rendition by Reena to compliment. ARR truly knows how to extract talent. Thru out the song, I felt I was standing on a sea-shore watching the waves come & go, which transported me to a different world. This is the reason, I feel it connected to the element water. Its got all the qualities like freshness, effervescence, bubbly, etc. Truly, a great effort. Very hummable & simple to rmember. The song cud have been a little longer (why do we always complain?)
Rating: * * 1/2
The next song belongs to the city of Hyderabad. It was promoted as the next 'Chhaiya chhaiya' becoause of ARR-Sukhwinder combo. Well, 'Chhaiya chhaiya' had created history & I feel, such comparisons should not be made. Talking of the song, its an excellent example of fusing traditional folk with contemporary sounds. The song starts with ektara & a flute (which sounds more like whistle). Towards the beginning, the flute starts from a off-scale note & reaches to the desired note (this just adds to the authenticity of the song). Only by hearing this much, u feel u have entered the colourful streets of the historic Hyderabad. The female harmony takes over to sing some Telugu lines "chinamma chilakamma chudu chudu, seethamma buchamma aadu aadu" (chinamma, chilakamma, etc. r names of girls; chudu means speak & aadu means dance). This kind of an attempt was previously made in 'Jiya jale' from Dil se, where ARR has blended Malayalam folk with modern rhythms. The tone of the female harmony is typically folkish. Towards the end, before the percussions enter, there's a heavy entry sound which sounds like a break of the car (its due to the heavy bass guitar). The percussion is very modern but blends well with the mood. Sivamani pumps in some rustic percussions to enhance the feel. The entire mood is of a lush green field, with flowers, birds & butterflies. Sukhwinder enters with the main lines 'Titli daboch lee maine...' with a punch, as usual. His voice has that rustness & power which can lift any song. Though the song is rhythm-oriented, Rahman fills up the song with his usual magical chords, especially in the lines 'zindagi khayal ki tere, hansta hua chaman de de...'. The song is of a care-free nature, not bound to any particular situation. Every time the lines 'chinamma..' appear, one feels joyous & makes our foot tap. The first interlude has a synthetic sound. Its obviously reproduced on the keyboard & digitally manipulated, but it sounds very exciting. It creates an image of a roaming butterfly or a bee wandering around the flowers to collect nectar. The harmony fills the empty gaps, while Sivamani creates excteptional rhythm punches, which r more like folk 'kooththu' rhythm. The antras r simple, maintaining the mood of the song. What is interesting, is where the harmony sings 'rangi rangi'. These lines have so beautifully come out. Thru out the antra there r rhythmic variations going in the backdrop. In this song, the music takes centre stage while the lyrics just follow. The antras r very simple & then, it returns to the cross lines 'zindagi khayal ki...' with usual guitars & chords. The 2nd interlude has the flute with folk-percussions. This piece reminds me a lot of the interlude of 'Konjum mainakkale' from Kandukondain. Its quite similar. The rest of the antra is same. In the end, when Sukhwinder sings the lines 'zindagi khayal ki...', Rahman signs the lines with his usual way. There's a pan-flute kind of a sound which goes around in the background & it creates a sensational feel. It reminds me of ARR's vintage days! The female harmony ends the song & the beats fade off. Why I connect this song to the Earth, is because of its rustic percussions & happy-go-lucky attitude. Thru out the song, ARR has used an echo in the rhythm at particular points which have been given a panning effect (u can hear the echo travelling from one speaker to the other). I always used to picturise this song in an open field or street. But Hussain has shot it in a closed set. May be thats his interpretation. But the song is quite catchy & is another magical offering from the combination.
Rating: * *
The next song is a treat to listen. Its the most comfortable & accepted genre of music that Rahman composes. He's a master of chords & when it comes to string arrangement, nobody can dare to stand near him. He's got a wonderfully talented conductor, Srinivasamurthy. In this song, the string arrangement is credited to the immensely gifted, Rashid Ali (guitarist-singer). The song is composed in uch a way that it makes the listeners go beyond the mundane to a experience a different world altogether. This is one of Sonu's best songs where he pours in all his feelings & emotions. Rahat Indori's imaginitive lyrics need a special mention too. Its written on a personal basis; as if the singer is telling u all the things. Earlier, the movie was titled "Do kadam aur sahi" & hence this song was written at that time. This song is written with respect to Prague which falls beyond the domestic limits. The writer is humbly pursuasing to walk a little more to go to that a new world which is waiting to welcome them.
The chords set the mood of the song while Sonu's magical voice enters the scene. In the background u'll hear tinking bells & other digital sounds. Just listen to the song on personal headphones under a starry sky (like 'My hear will go on' from Titanic). Its divine! The amazing chords create an image of the walking clouds, the bells will seem as wind just pushing these clouds. The main lines 'do kadam...' r sung 4 times in different ways. The percussions enter with beautiful strings, piano & guitars. The percussions r kept soft maintaining the peaceful mood of the song. The song reminds me of 'Vellai pookkal' from Kannathil. The melody covers all the sven shuddha notes. The amabience is enhanced by chimes, bells & guitars. The song is composed in a the same tune; there is no mukhda-antra format. The same tune appears as the mukhda & antra. The best lines, according to me, r 'Dhoop dariyaaon mein hai, phir safar paaon mein hai...'; ARR has stopped at each note distinctly. The first time its on Re, followed by Ga, then Ma & finally climbing to Pa. It seems like an entire journey from Sa to Pa & then completing the cycle by saying 'aao chale hum vahin...' (lets go there). The interlude music has strings (violins, cellos, violas) & french horns with heavy tympani. The rhythm pattern changes. The rest of the tune is same. U can hear a soft flute in the background. It has been digitally given a metal effect. When Sonu repeats the main lines 'do kadam', carefully listen to the 2nd time he sings. There's an amazing chord (totally out of the main melody, its a Teevra/sharp Ma). The strings pattern continues for the rest of the song. In the lines 'kiski awaaz hai sun...', Sonu actually whispers the words in ur ear, while ARR layers his voive in the lines 'chal ke dekhe to zara' by creating a harmonic feel. In the end, when the french horns take the lead, listen to it the 2nd time. Rahman creates a sound of thunder. This is the magic! The song has more of a imaginitive quality. It makes u visualise images in ur mind. ARR had said in an interview that he imagines & visualises landscapes while composing such songs.This is Hussain's job, creatively translated by ARR thru his music. Sonu's rendering is heart-melting. After hearing the song, u can just feel one thing for ARR, why only 2 steps (do kadam), we'r ready to travel an entire lifetime with u!!!
Rating: * * *
The song of Prague. This was the song that I immediately liked. First of all, its the perfect kind of song for Ashaji. She's awesome in the song. At a time when other composers opt for Sunidhi Chauhan or Alisha Chinai for sensuous & peppy songs, ARR sticks to the legend of Indian cinema, Ashaji. I think, she finds Rahman the most comfortable & unassuming composer. This is the 4th consecutive album where she appears, after Saathiya, Tehzeeb & Lakeer. The entire mood of the song depicts fire & rage. One can picturise burning flames & clouds of smoke. There r many surprises in this song. ARR collaborates with one of the most versatile world musician, James Asher who has given this song a distinctive stamp of its own. Sivamani handles the percussion department without saying.
The song starts with heavy percussions which set the mood. Kunal Ganjawalla (ARR's current favourite) lends his inmitable voice which really seems interesting. The way its sung makes the song more urban & sophesticated. U can hear banjos & guitars in the background, while the ghungroos compliment the main percussion. Ashaji humms 'dhuan dhuan...' & enters with a force with 'na na na na...'. How does she sing this at 71? The digits can be interchanged! There's an immense use of wind-chimes during these lines. Just before she starts singing, there's an amazing rhythm punch. Its so strong that it almost makes ur feet tempt to dance. The main lines start 'Badan dhuan...' & the way she whispers 'aah' makes u go crazy. The bass guitar in the lines 'sulag raha hai kis liye' is one to watch out for. The beats start. The entire sound reminds me of 'Dil se re', mainly becoz of the same raga Nattai (Jog) & the rhythm execution. Ashaji takes a beautiful taan in the lines 'ruan ruan..' from Ga Pa Ma Sa ni Pa Ma Ga Ma Pa ni Sa (small caps- komal/flat swar). She changes her vocal tone the 2nd time she repeats the mukhda, adding more zing & seduction. The 1st interlude begins with a triangle & then Kunal taking over. The keyboard follows the singer in the framework of the raga (similar to the string progression in 'Chale chalo' from Lagaan; again in the same raga). The most impactful element in the song is the rhythm punches. The antra is more in the jazz mould. It tries to move away fom the boundaries of the raga to create a mood of its own. A lot of chromatic notes have been used. I like the lines 'Mohabbaton ki shaakh par khile to is tarah, judaa na saari umr ho mile to is tarah' (on the branches of love we'll blossom in such a way that we'll never separate in our lives). In the lines 'hawaayein...' ARR fills the ambience with the strings. The last word of the antra 'darmiyaan' stops on a komal gandhar, which eseentially is the character of Nattai. Ashaji returns to the mukhda with a strong bass guitar following her. Suddenly, the percussion changes & u hear dulcimers & banjos along with special wind-effects. These r surely James Asher's inputs. The mood becomes very 'Sufiyana' (like 'Satrangi re'). The raga changes. Kunal sings some alaaps. Ashaji enters with an alaap that changes the entire feel of the song. The shift from the principle raga to Shuddha Basant is so beautifully crafted that it gives u goosepimples! The swaranmandal (harp) glides over the notes of the raga which is quite close to Puriya Dhanashri or Banthuvarali. With the lines 'yeh aanch kaisi aanch hai, pighal rahi hoon main' make u feel as if u'r really burning. Ashaji's versitality is proved here. Till the beginning, she sounded sensuous & seductive where as from here she explores her classical aura. James Asher's grooves r prominent thruout this part. The set-up of this part creates a heavenly effect, very sufi-type. U just flow with the song into a different world. The last line of the 2nd antra 'samaa' stops on a shuddha madhyam returning to the original scale of Nattai. ARR has filled this song with surprises & u feel elated that so many varied moods have been blended beautifully in one song. After she returns to the mukhda, the song comes to its final touches. The opening percussions return while James adds his groovy voice to sum up the song. A pan-flute kind of instruments accompanies in the backdrop. The song paints the images of the gothical Prague & how Tabu's character is different in each city. It falls under the world music category. Truly, a song that will remain in our hearts for long.
Rating: * * *
ARR had said in his interview that the qawwali in 'Meenaxi' is one of his special compositions. M.F.Hussain said this too. This is the opening song in the film & has been choreographed in a unique manner by an Italian choreographer. Hussain, for the 1st time, attempts to write the lyrics. The entire synopsis of the song highlights the importance of 'light' in our lives. Thru the song he extends his gratitude to the creator of the Universe for giving us such a wonderful & precious gift which enables us to see the wonderful things He has created on earth. He warns us from the dangers of darkness. Naturally, the song has a lot of sufiism as both Hussain & ARR r inspired from it. Thats how the element Space fits in. Its very eternal & ever-evolving. The song transports us to a world which is only in our imagination beyond the boundaries of earth. He gives chance to the young Qadir & Murtuza Khan (sons of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan) who have also lent their voices in 'Piya Haji Ali' from Fiza & 'Chupke se' from Saathiya.
The song starts with heavy classical alaaps by both the brothers while a constant voice 'noor...noor' goes on in the background. This all is without any rhythm & is held by the bass guitar. The alaaps reach a climax where the typical qawwali beats enter with live claps. Rahman has used a continuous rhythm loop in this song. Thats the only regret I have. The rhythm doesnt change at all till the end. If he had used live percussions like tabla, naubat & dholak, the song would have been enhanced. The main song begins with 'Chaaron taraf...norr-un-ala'. The melody is not based on one particular raga. It has shades of Jog, Gawati & Chhayanat. The punch lines 'noor-un-ala' immediately attract attention. What I like is the line 'yeh roshni kya roshni' where it pauses on the shuddha madhyam & comes down from ma, shuddha ga, komal ga & sa. The song reminds me of the Wedding qawwali of Bombay Dreams. There's no fixed mukhda-antra structure, the song just goes on. The 1st interlude has lots of sargam where ARR experiments with funky sounds to make it more appealing. But, it doesnt seem out of place, it has very well blended with the song. The antras sound like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's famous qawwali 'Allah hoo'. ARR is immensely inspired by this great legend. The 1st antra has some great lyrics like 'parindon se poochha kahan parwaaz hai, khamoshi se poochha kahan awaaz hai; phoolon se patton se, rangon se aayi sadaa' (I asked birds where the flight is, I asked silence, where voice is & then all the flowers, leaves, colours said the same thing that its becuase of the light). The co-ordination between both the singers is amazing. Both their voices seem to blend in one another. The 2nd interlude also has sargams. The antras have been musically enriched with some great chords. The lyrics r a mixture of Urdu, Hindi & Brij bhasha. The 3rd interlude has a harmonium-kind of instrument. The main melody instrument of a qawwali is harmonium. Nowadays, we rarely hear this instrument. ARR had used this in 'Kehna hi kya' from Bombay & 'Pagdi sambhaal' from TLOBS. Both the singers sing fast taans which makes the listener say 'Wah'! In the 3rd antra, the harmonium accompanies the singers. In the lines 'jaankar hoga kya', one singer pauses on the upper sa, while the other takes an alaap from the lower sa to the upper one. The singers return to the mukhda & this time they create a harmony while singing 'noor-un-ala'. The song reaches a crescendo with heavy taans & sargams. The best part is when everything stops, there's a haunting chant of 'noor...noor' which goes on & on. After listening to this, I felt I was in the space amongst the stars, exploring new worldly horizons. Absolutely heaven!!! The sound travels in ur imagination till the end, even after u stop listening to the album. One of the best qawwalis composed in Hindi films recently, though I still love 'Piya Haji Ali'. Hussain has done a commendalble job with the lyrics.
Rating: * * 1/2
The most complicated & confusing songs composed by ARR, 'Rang hai' takes times to digest! But once u listen to it for more than, dunno how many times, u realise the beauty of the song. The song has been tactfully composed without any inhibitions. Rahman experiments on full-scale. The song belongs to the 3rd city, Jaisalmer & true to its sense, it has a traditional Rajasthani flavour. This time, world percussionist, Hossam Ramzi takes the conductor's cane. The percussions include a wide variety of instruments from the very-Arabic darbuka, to drums, African congas, bells & rajasthani chimtas. The song celebrates the essence of colour in our lives & hence, I reagrd this song as a melange of all the universe's elements- beginning from the effervescent & transparent colour of water & wind, greenness & brown colour of the earth, the blue skies, to the bright red & yellow colours of fire. Its a complete song. The famous Lebanese singer, Dallinda, too gifts her valuable vocals to the song. I'm sying this again, dont judge the song by its complexity, but hear it in totality; only then u'll be able to appreacite the effort of ARR's music.
Heavy chords enter with the haunting vocals of Dallinda. The entire part resembles to a typical Arabian melody. Soon, rajasthani folk percussions ascend into the scene. This time of percussions were also used in 'Sainya' from Nayak. Alka's soft yet vibrant vocals spreads like colour. I've never liked Alka otherwise, but she sounds amazing with ARR. Many might feel that the tune resembles to many ARR's past songs like 'Khamoshiyan' or 'Taal se taal'. The 2nd time she repeats the lines 'Rang hai..', the ektara creates the beat. A ghatam-like instrument is also used. ARR explores Dallinda's vocal to the fullest. Hossam Ramzi too builds the mood with different percussions. The chorus shouts 'hooooo..' which sounds very Arabic. When the main rhythm enters, many might fell that its overdone or the song looses its essence due to the loud rhythm. Yes, the rhythm is a bit loud, especially when Alka is singing. U have to take pains to hear what she's singing. But, the rhythm is so catchy that it makes u forget eveything else & enjoy the song. Alka & the female chorus sing the main lines. The lyricist has brought out the importance of colour like 'Rang aanch, rang naach hai, rang hai jeevan ang, rang hai...". Colour is like the flames of fire, its like dance & finally its a part of our lives. The last lines 'rang hai rang hai..' r just awesome where ARR uses chromatic notes. By the way, the melody is based on Raga Bhairavi which is considered to be a 12-notes raga. There's no limitation to use specific raga-bound notes. This freedom has been effectively captured by ARR. When we talk of freedom, the piece that follows will keep u gasping for a while. Atleast, I was wondering what was going on. The melody suddenly shifts to a different path. The bagpiper-like instrument goes to a completely different scale. Then when I heard it carefully for umpteen times, I was left spellbound! ARR has used a very old classical concept of 'Moorchhana'. When the Sa of the melody is changed to a different note, a completely new melody is created. Like if u take a song, identify the Sa (starting note) of the song, then take the same song & sing it by increasing each note from Re, Ga, Ma & so on but sticking to the original note. Each time u'll find the melody different. The same theory has been adapted here. When Alka sings the antra, the raga changes. But if u sing the same antra with the original scale, u'll still sing it in Bhairavi. Thats the magic of music! The music has been compared to the varied nature of colour. 'Rangon ki aayi toli, rangon ki laayi doli, rangon ke chhede nagme, rangon ki bol-boli'. The melody is similar to the tune of 'Maahive' from TLOBS. I love the lines 'aaj pyar ki puhaar se seekho pyar ke rang rang hai rang hai'. The tune is so melodious, & to top it all, Rahman fills his usual chords. The melody returns to Bhairavi with 'Rang hai'. The 2nd interlude again belongs to Dallinda. The rhythm pattern changes. Its more soft. Soon, Alka softly enters with the lines 'Kya keh raha hai...sun sun..'. The antras r not similar. This time its more slow, emphasising on the words. This antra delas with the festival of Holi (Phaagun). 'Rut gulaal (red colour used in Holi) hai rang laal hai, man hai mast malang'. The different chords used in the words 'sun...sun', is just mind-blowing. The last alaap by Alka really reminds u of 'Khamoshiyan' from 1 2 ka 4. The song ends with Dallinda's vocals. The song is an entire journey from where we started. After u listen to the song, u figure out the true colours of each song which r so varied & deep yet so blended. The entire album is a treat to hear. Alka gets full points, whereas the composer gets 1 mark more as a pat on his shoulder!
Rating: * * *
Both these bonus tracks r instrumentals & more rhythm-based. Like the heavy rhythm oriented 'Beat of passion' from Taal or the groovy 'Love check' from PP. Cyclist's rhythm is the peak of imagination. What can a composer do when he's asked to compose music for such a situtation where the actor is surrounded by cycles which leads to an impromptu dialogue between them. The track begins with genuine cycle bells. They dont sound fake or digitally created. Sivamani must have religiously collected different sounding bells. For a while, u peep out of ur window, if the milkman has come with his cycle! A rhythm is created with these bells. Naveen has been given a free hand to play his flute. The flute has been given a metallic sound. The percussion mainly includes the tympani & the shaker. Cow-bells & ghungroos enter . What amazed me was that ARR has used the sound of a door. At 1.01 mins, u'll hear a sound that seems like a big gate is being opened. This pattern goes on for a while till there's a confusion of too many bells ringing simultaneously. The high point comes when Sivamani takes the stick in his hand to beat the duff. He explores rhythmic options. First he plays in 6/8 meter which sounds like a typical 'kooththu' beat. Very folkish & rural. Like the beats used in 'Ganpati processions'. He then shifts quickly to the 2/4 meter mould. There r lots of whistles & bells. This whole part lifts u up to enjoy & dance. Those who cant dance, atleast tap their feet! Sivamani plays effortlessly & flawlessly & finally u wish u were present to see this magic being created in the closed doors of the studio. ARR excels in each way in the execution of the songs.
The last track is 'Potter's village'. I only wished this track was longer. The track starts with guitars which again give us an Arabic feel. Somehow I feel the resemblance to the song 'Chappa chappa charkha chale' from Maachis composed by Vishal Bhardwaj. That cud be mere coincidence. The entire ambience is created by sound effects which actually give us a pictoral view of a village where clay pots r being made. Different ghatams have been used- steel & clay pots. This track is credited to Hossam Ramzi & John Themis. U can hear an accordian kind of instrument also. The percussions get heavier with darbukas & clay pots. This rhythm continues till the end. Each time a new percussion layer is added. This increases the pace of the track. In the end there's this typical instrument (dunno the name) but it sounds very ethnic. The guitar plays a la Middle East. If u notice clearly, u'll hear a man's voice in the end which almost sounds like a yawn. Just hear it carefully. The track ends very soon, when u still expect some more magic! Both these tracks r not the best instrumental tracks but surely fit the nature of the album which has so much to offer. Both of them r essentially aprt of the BGM. Lets hope the picturisation of all these songs is upto the standard we've expected.
Rating: * *
Overall Rating: * * * * 1/2 (almost close to 5)
P.S: The review is strictly based on personal judgement & does not wish to hurt anyone's personal feelings.
posted at: 13:11 | permanent link to this entry