Even though I appreciate movies and music more than just listening to it, and have a musical persona to my side, I have never reviewed music and movies. Its probably because I feel that I am not qualified to do so or simply do not have the knack to do so.
Recently two of my absolutely favorite composers released back to back albums..the first being
Vishal-
Shekhar, two of the most talented musicians out there. Right from their debut movie,
Jhankaar beats till date..these guys have their uniqueness in most of their songs which is extremely refreshing and innovative. The other composer needs no introduction, the Mozart of Madras- AR
Rahman.
Vishals earlier album Honeymoon travels Pvt. Limited was an ensemble set of music, Right from the extremely addictive, creatively composed and brilliantly sung
Sajnaji vari,
vari to the
hindspanic tango song, that album was
path breaking (speaking of
sajnaji vari vari-Its got an amazing video as well,
KK Menon's dance is worth its wait). They follow it up with the next production from the
sarkars of
Bollywood,
Yashraj film's Ta
ra rum
pum, which stars Rani
Mukerji and
Saif Ali Khan. I was really curious to hear the soundtrack of this album, firstly because
Vishal and
Shekhar were back in action and secondly, their previous effort for this production house was not that bad. I was never so wrong..In my opinion, this is probably one of their most pedestrian efforts to date. The Cliches never stop, u have this happy family song, these 2 romantic duets, a back-to-
your-feet-and-have-a-go motivation song and of course the
punjabi numbers. Its this tune of
been there heard that and disappointment which is heard repeatedly.
Similarly,
Rahmans Sivaji was out last week, and i was excited to hear his sounds since I felt that after a lackluster 2006, where his best efforts were only Rang
de Basanti and parts of Guru, he made a fantastic comeback with Pray for me Brother. For those who
haven't heard it, its vintage
Rahman back in the good old days. Minimal instrumentation, awesome voice control-the music, lyrics and vocals blend in such a way, that you are spellbound..listen to it using headphones and you will know what I am talking about. The instrumental version stands out on its own, especially the
mridangam bit towards the end..it brought back memories of
andhimandharai and
Pavithra, some of
Rahmans unsung works of wonder.
and now we have
Sivaji, with all the hype surrounding it ever since its procreation, one did expect a good album, within commercial restraints due to the unanimous reason-
Rajni. I know I will be making a lot of enemies here, but the album is sort of a letdown.
Though
Rehman had to deal with the pressure, I felt that he could have justified himself better. The
Vaaji,
Vaaji song starts of well actually and amalgams a blend of middle eastern,
hindustani and oriental tunes-the song generates a
wierd feeling of
deja vu.
The pick of the lot is the dulcet
Sahana. However there are two words which brings back terrible memories-
Udit Narayan. I feel that
Udit Narayan should be allowed to sing songs with simple wordings, laced with ample
english and
hindi interspersion. However, we have him singing pure
tamil. In the middle of the song, he goes into orgasmic overboard with "
pookal", "Bhoomi" and "
Vaanam". The results are heavenly.
Chinmayee does a great job as usual, She is
Rahman's Brahmastra.
Its saddening to see talented composers succumb to commercial constraints. It affects their credibility, confidence and skill. I feel a composer should be given a relatively free hand in doing what they do best. It would enable them to work from the heart.
Happy Listening.
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