A smoothed 3(or 4) note keyboard sound intro?es a mellifluous flute, a crisp-clear solo violin and then, Chitra?s sound comes in. ?Malargale, Malargale?.?(Lovebirds).
A smooth, peaceful calm surrounds the listener, the ambience created by a textbook rendition of Raag Saraswati, and immaculate electronic sounds matched to the nano-decibels. The calm goes on for the full length of the pallavi, but then comes the surprise! When Chitra ends the pallavi with ?Va~a Va~?.?, brace yourself for the ultimate Rahmanic power.
The percussion literally pushes you back, like a cannon hitting your chest. As if that was not enough several cellos and base guitars transport you, step by step assisted by additional percussion (traditional sounding drums) into a world no one has ever been before.
But wait, that?s not why I call ARR a genius. Slowly the high bass instruments (beats and strings) loose steam, drops one by one, to come back to the original calm, peaceful environment that we had started with, & then Chitra renders another magical Raag (Hamir K.) with Hariharan.
When they sing ?En Koondhal Devan?? ARR soothes our mind with subtle e-orchestra, soft like a cotton bed! The whole song sequence has only a few base guitar plucks as the rhythm, and yet, we feel something we never haven?t felt, heard or seen before.
If you claim to be an ARR fan and haven?t heard this song, & specifically the two musical interludes, you haven?t seen what he is made of!!! However, this happened in 1996, and this is the end of year-2004. ?..
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Ismail Darbar is an MD with a difference. Violinists, have, by far demonstrated good orchestra-sense, quite logically it should be the case. He uses Indian music very well, especially the instruments. I read in an article that ID was chosen just for that characteristic of his.
Obviously, I am no one to comment on how talented he is. He has won the National award, and not many have won it. One drawback of his music, which will get better as time goes by, is the flow. We will see some examples as we go through songs one by one. Lets go track by track?
Chilman
Hariharan & Co.
4/5
Starts with a slightly strained Hariharan singing a few words. It seemed to be structured in Yaman (used in most parts, with a bit of Kamavardhani-Panthuvarali). The song employs chorus a lot. The starting sometimes is a bit confused, with an unnecessary ?Kunukunu??. I guess ID was trying to make it as situational as possible, but it disturbs the starting of the song. To hear a typical use of Yaman, hear to the lines ?Aayegi?.?.
I liked the use of ?Tana Dhoom?.?. Tabla and a rustic Harmonium asissts the full blown pallavi, again I liked the indianness of the tune. The raag changes to Kamavardhani (not sure, pls correct me if wrong), which is neat since bec in the scale you could just substitute one note to get the feel of the Raag. The song is ok, but overall it is well orchestrated and hence the rating.
One example is when the singers go ?Tana Dhoom?? listen to hear ?Tannanana? voices in the background, creating the effect. Hariharan sings in typical Qawwali style in the second para, with Alka assisted by some weird chorus patterns. But, I liked the core tune more than all of the other ones.
Hum Hai
Udit, Madhusri
2/5
This one is a crassly average song, but might go on to become a hit. This is because it is the core tune of the movie, and will be repeated again and again in the commercials and in the movie. I just could not bear the lines ?Rahegi Sada Yahaan?? because I felt that there is no melody in it, just some notes, that?s all. Overall, it seemed to me like ARR was dragging a few lines into a tune that simply does not fit well. For me, this is not worth more than a second hearing.
Kahe Ujadi
Rashid Khan
5/5
A gem to be kept in your jewel case, forever! Though a bit confused with the orchestration, I would term this the best part of this album. Composed in what seems to be Raag Poorvikalyani (Thanks to Zoster?s catch), it is sung with the amazing brilliance of our own classical system of music. I would like to inform you readers about something called a ?Sangathi?.
It is the different ways in which you can sing the same line, at the same time explore the notes of a raag. For example, hear RK sing, ?Rang Rang Ke?.? (2nd para) first, then repeat it more elaborately, singing more complicated notes of the Raag. Those readers who got excited hearing this one, please hear to ?Tujh Sang..? (Dev: Sonu). A great insight, and presence of mind, to include such a song in the album!
Kisna Themes, 1, 2 & 3
3/5
The chorus theme, I guess is purely situational, & an ok composition. The other themes have conversations between a flute and the keyboard. On the elaborate piece, please listen as the music accelerates with ARR playing the sudden two note piece like a cuckoo?s sound to accompany the flute. That part is excellent, and perhaps the only one that I felt showed off ARR?s composing talent. ARR?s earlier compositions in the late eighties & nineties sounded like that!!!
My Wish
Sunitha
3.5/5
Starting almost exactly like Celine Dion?s ?Whispers in the morning?, the song is a low grade fusion of some Indian music with mostly western interludes. I wouldn?t call the core vocal tune to be entirely western, it does have an Indian tinge. If, the movie shows a British lady singing this, it is a bit of a stretch.
There is slight pronunciation issues with SS?s rendering, but it?s largely OK. To hear a perfectly composed English song, please hear to ?Am I dreaming?, sung almost error-free by, Sayonara, composed by Alphons (https://musicindiaonline.com/l/20/s/movie_name.7102/). However, if ARR purposefully wanted to make the song sound partially Indian and Western, then, I would say the song is a good attempt. The second paras resemble ?Don?t cry for me (Evita; Madonna), just because it sounded like a musical drama track.
Tu Itni
Udit, AY
4/5
Despite its resemblance to music in many of the earlier SG-films music, I liked the song for its playfulness, and of course the Indianness. I can imagine an expressive picturization associated with this song. The song seems to be tuned in a derivative of Chakravakam. The rhythm is especially interesting. The use of repeating chorus in the background gives us a general merry feeling.
Lets get back to the ARR?s example we had discussed in the beginning. The ability to take a raag, use it in its own right, and make it sound heavenly, was key to ARR?s success. When his music hit the stores, people simply dropped their jaws in surprise, because they hadn?t listened to such a ?sound? before.
They hadn?t heard some of the genre?s ins spite of years of music listening. At this point in time, however, it is a bit disappointing, to note that ARR is not moving forward in terms of Indian music.
All right, he has signed big projects internationally. But, as far as his Indian compositions go, it is high time that he gave us something to remember! Contd..in Comments..