After reading lot of review in this group, I thought of giving a listen to Guru’s music at Musicindiaonline. Its just online listening, no downloading. I am getting the audio CD today as it is releasing here in music shops. Anyways, let me get into the review. There are two types of rating for each song - one based on my listening experience for that particular song and second, from the musical point of that song. Remember that, both ratings are according to my own opinions and tastes!
Mani Ratnam & Rahman are the most precious combination Indian cinema has ever got. Rahman himself admits that he works best with directors like Maniratnam, Shankar, etc. All the duo’s films have hit the bull’s eye before with Roja, Dil Se, Bombay, Yuva (the music was a hit), etc. Now their coming together for guru also featuring the current hot pair Aby-Ash triggers even bigger expectations!
- Ay Hairathe - Hariharan, Alka Yagnik
When I listened to this song, it was an instant attraction. Hariharan’s voice flows smoothly and it takes you in a different world. The tabla use at the start sounds so good and very much like Rahman. Rahman’s dham dhara dham dhara must have already become the national anthem among the music buffs and the youngsters by now. Alka Yagnik also impresses in this song in which Rahman seems to be in almost full flow (his full flow comes in another song which I will review here).
Rating: 4/5 (On my listening experience & from the musical point)
- Baazi Laga - Udit Narayanan, Madhushree, Swetha, Bhargavee
I dont know what you guys find wrong in this song?? Should Rahman give only melodious or romantic songs? This song is a peppy song aimed at the masses. The picturization of this song is going to determine how big a hit this song will be. But definitely not as bad as the reviewers so far have made it out to be! The background instruments at the start reminds me of "Machakaari" from Rahman’s recent Tamil release "Sillunu Oru Kathal" but thats where the similarity ends. The female singers do a pretty good job and Udit is in good form for this song. I am a fan of peppy and foot tapping music, and this song attracted me on the first listen itself. Even though the song is a foot tapping fast song unlike Rahman, the song has touches of Rahman throughout. Other music directors cant give foot tapping music like Rahman. Its doesnt sound like songs from other MD’s
Rating: 3.5/5 (From the musical point)
Rating: 4.5/5 (Based on my listening experience)
- Barso Re - Shreya Goshal, Uday Mazumdar
What a start??? Absolutely lovely!!! Lovely flute piece! But this song sounds too similar to "Rang Deeni" from Dev. Very close to that song from Dev. But Shreya Goshal takes us to a different planet with her rendition of this song. Again, the Rahman touch is so much evident in this song. I simply love this song... Cant stop listening to this song... Absolutely superb!
Rating: 4.2/5 (From the musical point)
Rating: 5/5 (Based on my listening experience)
- Ek Lo Ek Muft - Bappi Lahiri, Chitra
What a funny start?? But that dafli player is sensational!!! Since I play that instrument a lot these days, that guy instantly attracted me. Sounds like the title song. I havent heard Bappi Lahiri at all before. So I dont know his history, but he is just OK for this song. It sounds to me like the guy is reading out his lines. The music and the instruments are what saves the song. I really dont like Bappi Lahiri’s renditon of this song. HORRIBLE!
Rating: 2.5/5 (my listening experience)
Rating: 3.5/5 (From the musical point)
- Jaage Hain - Chitra, AR Rahman, Madras Chorale Group
A very slow song that will put you to sleep as you hear it! Chitra does a good job and so does Rahman and others, but I am not a fan of these types of songs. According to me, a song can be slow but not this slow. The music is good, but I really had to force myself to listen to this full song just for review purposes.
Rating: 2/5
- Mayya Mayya - Maryem Toller, Chinmayee & Keerthi
Reminds me of Rahman’s own ’Maaricham’ from his recent tamil release Sillunu Oru Kathal at the start. But as the song goes on, the similarity ends. The instruments used in the song remind me of Rahman’s hit numbers of the yesteryears, but I love that! Rahman has to retain his own touch and he does that in great style. The song, is different and is good to listen. Nothing special, but listenable once
Rating: 3.2/5 (Listening experience)
Rating: 4/5 (Musical point)
- Tere Bina - A. R. Rahman & Chinmayee
Voila!!!! What a masterpiece of a song! I am simply in love with that ’dham dhara dham dhara’.... I was whistling to my heart’s content when Rahman started rendering that song, much to the irritation of my family members who were doing some important work at our house! They asked me why I was whistling and I made them listen to the song. They said "Wow".....!!!!!! I am such a big fan of Rahman’s singing prowess. I loved his recent ’New York Nagaram’ from SOK. But this one is at a totally different level. This song can easily become one of my Rahman favorites in the days to come. Chinmayee is astonishingly apt to Rahman in this song. I can just go on about this song. But let the excitement sink in.
Rating: 5/5 (Both listening experience & musical point)
ON the whole, the album has some really good numbers, barring one or two numbers that dont strike that much of a chord. But the overall Mani-ARR reputation doesnt get damaged at all with this album. We will know whether their reputation gets enhanced or not, in a few days when we get the sales figures of the album and how the album fares after the movie’s release. But this album is definitely a collector’s piece for anybody, not only Rahmaniacs.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5 (Must Buy!!!)
Waiting for the CD. Got to listen to the full quality in my car stereo and my home theatre system! Should be mind blowing!
Note: This review also appears in the arrahmanfans Yahoo! fanclub, posted by myself there. Reproduction of this review without my permission not accepted. Please contact me before reproducing this review elsewhere!