Finally, "Udhaya" arrived at a time when we were literally craving for ARR's music. "Saathiya" released on 29th Oct'02...practically 3 months without any new release! Saathiya too had only 2 new songs. Going back to 2002, ARR didnt have a good year...though I feel TLOBS was one of the best-composed albums of his career followed by Kannathil; Baba went away with the wind & Kadhal Virus cud not sustain! Saathiya reassured ARR's position in Bollywood but the on the Tamil front, it was a disaster. Almost from 2000, there were news abt Udhaya's release. It was 2001...2002..."will Udhaya see the day-light?" Speculations abt Udhaya being shelved were at peak, just when sombody confirmed abt its release in the group. Hopes were not lost & then...Udhaya arrived! Udhaya is the surprise package from ARR; not much hype created and no great expectations. But the album has just the right blend of musical flavours and what most of us wanted...ARR's vintage style. Adding to it, its a Vijay film. ARR+Vijay combo for the first time!
Rating Scale: **(Mind-blowing), (Very good), *(average), (cud be better), (worst)
Pookum malarai (Hariharan, kids chorus): The opening song of the album assures that much more is instored for us. The freshness of the tune & arrangements make this number appealing to masses. Hariharan returns to pair up with ARR after a long time. He sounds just perfect. The style of composing is very identical to songs like "Kannai katti" & "Ayirathil"- Iruvar. The song starts with hard beats (sounds like claps) followed by whistling. Not many of ARR's songs had whistles. The whistling with the guitars & bass guitrs sounds cool. Especially the chord-change between 0.30 to 0.38 is awesome. The basic melody is based on raga Pahadi . The rhythm cud have been better as its very monotonous. The song gathers pace with the chorus entering "Chinna chirippu..." with lots of chords changing (many sad notes, what Vijay likes). The 1st interlude has kids singing the harmony "la la la..." followed by a pan-fluteish sound which was used in "Maya maya" from Baba in the 2nd interlude "kaatre poo...". The charanams are kept simple maintaining the mood of the song. The 2nd interlude does not have meat...only some light strings & pianos. The song ends very fast with Hari just improvising the lines like in "Bolo kaun ho..." from Kabhi na Kabhi. If the picturisation is good, its sure to catch up. The tune is very hummable & simple. Beautifully handled & arranged with minimal instrumentation. Rating:-***1/2
Udhaya udhaya (Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam): (pls. excuse me if its too long...cudnt resisit to write!) Now...here comes the winner! My God...what a compostiton! ARR tries a 'Madan Mohan' act by attempting to compose one of the most complicated tunes. If u have heard Madan Mohan's "Bainyan na dharo...", u wud agree with me. Listen to the numerous intricacies in the song. The song is based on the Carnatic Raga Charukeshi (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa dha ni Sa; small caps denote komal/ flat swaras). This raga was not heard since a long time. It was a favourite of Kalyanji-Anandji ("Aur is dil mein.." or "Jab jab teri soorat dekhoon...") & Laxmikant-Pyarelal ("Megha re megha re..."). After a long time Hari & Sadhana team up to create the 'Vennilave' magic. Sadhana starts the song just singing the mukhda with santoor & chords in the background. Hari follows her towards the end with an alaap like what was attempted in "Manmadha masam" (Shankar Mahadevan's entry) from PP. The momentum gathers pace when the beats start. The sound of the best is very unusual (like a clock ticking), but the metre is very common (like "Nenje nenje" from Ratchakan). The song has shades of raga Nattai (Raga Jog- using the komal Gandhar) in the returning lines "kaadhal...kaadhal...". Its interesting to hear the difficult taans (singing fast notes) in lines "kaadhal teendave...". Hari enters with "un paadhi..." and again goes for a beautiful harqat encompassing a full octave of notes. The complication rises when both sing "Unnaale...ennaalum...) singing variations. When they return to the mukhda the percussions like daburka are used which gives it an Arabic feel. The strings slowly set the mood of the 1st interlude with tympany as the main percussion. Kalyan bows his violin to Charukeshi, par excellence. Male harmony enters to make it sound like an opera. The effect is very hard-hitting, the overall effect is serious, amy be the feeling of separation. The strings & harmony build up a crescendo ending with a solo violin playing the notes of the pallavi. The charanams are equally challenging. Again, fast taans are used. It makes it difficult for an ordinary singer to sing. Only trained ones can attempt to render it. In the background there is beautiful accomaniment by the guitars. I love the lines "Eno eneno..." sung by Sadhana. The last portion towards 3.33 to 3.40 is unexpectable. Suddenly the frame shifts from the basic melody to emoploy a different note (teevra madhyam) in the lines "un koondhal irutthil yen..." & again returns to Charukeshi. Truly, ARR excels in the composing front! The 2nd interlude has guitars palyed by Rashid Ali. The fast strumming is what I like. The strings take the charge to build up a climax and end to a complete silence for 2 beats. The 2nd charanam has the same structure except piano creating beautiful moods . Towards the end, when Hari is singing "kaadhal teendave" the piano also swifts along with the vocals. This is just mesmerising! Sadhana ends the song with heavy cymbals in the background. What a composition! Full marks for the treatment, vocals & arrangements. For me, its the pick of the album. Very rare to hear such songs these days. Rating:- *
Thiruvallikeni rani (Sukhvinder, Karthik): This is what a Vijay film wud have...a dance-gaana number. This is a sure-shot winner. Its got the perfect elements of becoming a hit. The song starts with a sufiana-type of rendition by Sukhvinder "Rehnuma..."(meaning Care-taker/ protector in Urdu) with sarangi accompanying. This truly sets the mood for the rest of the song. The rhythm is very innovative- typically speaking, a Scottish kind of rhythm with live claps. The main song starts with Karthik doing the lead vocals. Karthik is the lucky mascot for ARR- every song of his has creatied a mark! Sukhvinder repeats the mukhda in his usual style (something like what he did in "Lucky lucky" from Ratchakan). The punch line "rehnuma..." has been used thru out the song & its got a very catchy feel. There are a number of rhythmic variations in the song, credit goes to Sivamani. The 1st interlude is rhythm-based (like the interludes of "Baba kichchu taa..." from Baba). Finally it ends with a trumpet blowing. The charnams are woven arund the same tune, just that they are sung in a fast manner. What is interesting is when they return to sing the sign line, there are beautiful glides on Sarangi from the lower Sa to the upper one. The 2nd interlude is hardcore sarangi recital, totally classical with ghungroo as the side rhythm. I dont know how cud they forget to mention Sultan Khan's name in the credits. Anyways, a masterpiece rendition. Both the antras belong to Karhik, Sukhvinder just singing "rehnuma...". The rhythm is very cool & that is what makes this song so catchy & lively. It wud be interesting to watch Vijay performing this song. The song ends with impromptu trumpets. One of the best item numbers recently. Rating:- ****
Enna enna (Shankar Mahadevan, Gopika Poornima): ARR returns to his folk elements after a long time. This is another favourite of mine. What is disappointing is the start. No prelude. The song starts abruptly with the female harmony without creatin any impact. There is some marvellous guitar work here. The main percussion used here is the traditional thavil. The mukhda is primarily based on a Question-answer situation. The female harmony asks something & Shankar answers (Sorry if I m mistaken, I dont understand the language...just guessed it). The mukhda is very catchy "kitti mela kitti mela...enna enna..." & Shankar singing "oye...oye...". It has a "Nenthukitten" (Star) hangover though. The chords enter when the melody changes 'poovoadu azhagellam...'. The 1st interlude is awesome. I just love it. Its totally strings-oriented. Its based on Raga Peelu. Its gives you a Naushad-feel ("Jhule mein pavan ki aayi bahar" from Baiju Bawra or "Dukh bhare din beete" from Mother India). Why I am saying this is because Naushad was a master in composing folk tunes. The interlude is quite similar to the one of "Jhula bahon ka.." from Doli sajaake Rakhna. The rhythm doubles as the strings progress adding the dholak, chenda & the duff (from 1.40 onwards). When the rhythm slowers down, the percussion shifts to duffs with mandolin-kind of instrument. This whole piece resembles like the interludes of "Yenna solla pogirai" from Kandukondain or "Ghanan ghanan" from Lagaan. The charnams are worth mentioning. If you hear carefully, the lines "natchaththira poovayellam udalilae soodikitta", the lines consist of all shuddha swaras the 1st time. The 2nd time there is use of komal gandhar & finally "nandavana thaenai aLLi udhattukkuL oLichchikitta" contains komal gandhar, komal dhaivat & komal nishadh (Sa Re, Re ga, ga Ma, Ma Pa, Pa dha, dha ni, ni Sa, Sa Re Sa). These small technicalities make the song special. The female harmony takes over to return to the pallavi. The lines "kaNgaL maela vandhaaada" have some chromatic notes too. The 2nd interlude starts with a santoor-ish sound with kanjiras being added to the percussions. Shankar sings some creative harmony with the bass. The 2nd charanam is a bit different, the first 2 lines are different. Dholak also adds to the percussion section. The 2nd antra is more melodious because of some beautiful string instruments providing melody & harmony to the song. Gopika Poornima takes the lead to sing the last 2 lines. She's one of the principal harmony singers (First solo in "Poorkalam" from Thenali with Srinivas). The song ends with the whole mukhda being repeated with duffs & dholak being doubled. The last portion from 5.00 onwards sounds like the end of "Nilame poru nilame" from Rhythm. Overall the song has turned out excellent. Rating: ****1/2
Anjanam (S.P.B, S.Janaki): With almost everyone reiterating that its the worst ever song composed by ARR, I go to say thats its one of the best attempts to compose something truly different. I dont think, anyone else cud do justice to do such a song. its very unconventional & experimental. Same goes with the singers. May be Janaki's voice has given hope, but she's got this voice quality which no other singer has. Closest to her it cud be Swarnalatha or Minmini. The expressions she gives is amazing. This reminds you of the golden old "Gopala" days.SPB's the right choice too. The song starts with heavy percussions (mainly duff) & then SPB enters with a force. Its a bit different from the regular "Dhapangutha" songs, though he's attempted it on those lines. If the same song wud have been composed by any other MD, I bet the result wud have been worse. You dont figure out the tune when SPB's singing. Suddenly, the rhythm paater changes & you feel you are listening to a traditional Malyalam folk song. The percussions used are iddikku, kanjiras, moorsings, manjiras. Janaki sings the song in her patent style. If you recall the starting Malyalam lines in "Jiya jale", you wud find a resemblance. The mukhda is very catchy. When SPB comes to his front, the rhythm again changes with dholaks creating the tempo. I think he's used the same dholak sample from "Sainyaa pakad bainyaa..."(Nayak). Again when Janaki returns, the rhythm returns to the original. So many minute changes in the initial stages! The 1st interlude reminds me of "Madrasa sutthi paarkkum" from May Madham. The same pan-flutes, bangla khol, kartals are used. It gives you Bengali-folk touch. In the middle of this, you hear a typical whistle & the pattern changes again. Janaki attempts to say it with music. This time its in Telugu "Rangu poosi koyale...". The lines pass thru half notes touching all chromatic notes which keep us thinking "what is going on?" The metre doubles as they return to sing tamil. Listen to Janaki's vocals carefully towards the end. The throw she gives in her voice is amazing (in the lines 'ippoa parichchai yezhudha vandhean uN munnadi...uN munnadi').This is the main charanam. The rhythm shifts to duffs again and the song returns to the pallavi. The 2nd interlude mainly consists of traditional rhythm- the marathi/ konkani dholki (which was used in "Gopala"). Its mainly on percussions & live vocals (bols of the rhythm) which end with a tihaai (3 times). Janaki now sings in Kannada (Antara gange....). The charanam is same. The same pattern is used here, ie., when SPB sings 'uN vetkkam panju mittai poala inikkiradhae...', first he starts to use komal gandhar & after 2 lines, he uses the shuddha gandhar. Listen to it carefully. The songs end with the rhythms fading out & Janaki singing with lots of chord progressions. The song has turned out very well infact. I keep on humming the song. There are so many folk elements in one song. After a long time, we get to hear a true folk number from ARR. Just recall, Uzhavan, Kizhakku Cheemaiyile, Pudhiya Mannargal, Karuthamma, May Madham. Those were the days!!! Rating: ****
Overall Rating: ****
Udhaya comes as a refreshing experience. Though the songs may be less in number, but the amount of variations that have gone in the making are worth it. Waiting for Boys, Meenaxi, E18U20, etc. Long way to go guys!!! Hope u like it...pls send in ur feedback...
---Swapnil
posted at: 13:11 | permanent link to this entry