Maybe we all had similar experiences when we were kids. I remember hearing from somewhere (when I was in elementary school), that if you keep looking at the night sky for five minutes continuously, there is a really high likelihood that you can see a shooting star. After several minutes of watching the night sky, one of us would yell, “Heyyyy! I saw one, there it is!!!”
Whether you are fanatic about ARR’s music or not, there is no question in my mind that he is one of the most ingenious composers the Indian Music scene has ever seen. Musically, I never had any doubt when people put RDB, IR & ARR in one group. They all had a very key common characteristic: that of orchestration, co-ordination & that rare, unique musical visualization capability. To term Swades as an average album is as much I could do, and that was my best. After hearing the songs quite a few times now, here are some general things I have to note:
ARR has experimented a few times in this album with some exotic strings and percussion. However, the key difference is that it does not somehow unify into a coherent music composition. It seems like fragments without a common thread to hold them. Secondly, the tunes resemble his old songs a lot. If he does not take care of this similarity, at some point, his music could be branded clichéd. Well, I guess since he is in demand overseas, he need not be alarmed.
Lets go track by track..
Yunhi Chala Chal
Hariharan, Udit N., Kailash K.
Rating: 3/5
When I first heard this song, I liked it well. Because it has what is called a “Rahmanish” style to it. The rhythm has the power, and the flow, frequently associated with ARR’s compositions. At starting of the song you hear some weird string pattern. This pattern is what is used by “Savage Garden”, when their popular hit, “To the Moon and Back” starts. I have no problem with that, but the greater disadvantage with this song is that it resembles his own song “Awara Bhavre (Poo Pookum Osai)” a little too much. Some of the patterns are too similar, especially in the second paragraphs. But otherwise, the song is very intricately organized & executed. Especially, I liked the initial chorus “Rum Dhum..”. IMHO, the star of this song, undoubtedly is Udit. He forcefully sings some words, sometimes, imparts a mellifluous laziness, typical of his style. Kailash also deserves kudos for singing the classical part well.
Yeh Tara
Udit
Rating: 3/5
This song also resembles “Mitwa” at several places, a lot. It is a good song, but does not have the ARR punch to it. The base of the song is built on a base guitar sound. Techno sounds have been added to complete the rhythm. However, ARR deserves credit for the emotion in this song. It is lively, mischievous & sufficiently light to suit the situation. The first interlude is ordinary. The second features a beautiful flute piece, assisted by additional Mrudangam percussion. I think this song would become popular with SRK’s lively performance.
Dekho Na
Udit N., Alka Y.
1/5
Ah, one word can be used to describe this song. Apathy. There is not the smallest spark of energy in this song. Though the anupallavi features some experimentation with Tabla, it seems like ARR didn’t want to complete this song, someone forced him to. If he had a choice, he should not have composed this at all. It is demotivating, flat and superficial. Let’s leave it at that.
Pal Pal
Madhushree & Co.
3/5
This track is devotional and hence I don’t think I can evaluate this song musically. It is ordinary, but completely imbibes the theme and emotions.
Ahista Ahista
Udit N., Sadhna S.
4/5
Perhaps due to its classical tinge, I liked this song. It’s tuned in Raag-Charukesi (Charukes). ARR somehow seems to like this Raag, as he used it in “Yedho Yedho”. The raag has a hazy feeling, and is especially used to portray love, especially with the individuals separated from each other and despondent. Because this raag is sad as well as melodious, you get a feeling of something near yet far. The performance by the singers is exemplary. ARR could not be more accurate in picking Sadhna for the song. Udit as usual drives the point home that he cannot be surpassed that easily. In my view, ARR’s genius shows up like a flash. If you hear the sound of the keyboard, you can appreciate the tonal congruence with the specific raag. To hear it, please wait till Udit sings the first few lines. ARR builds the environment using that hazy sound and playing the specific raag notes. IMHO, this song is the most novel and the most ingenious one among the lot.
Saawariya
Alka Y.
2/5
The song starts with notes of what seemed like “Hamsadwani”, but changes to a different Raag. The rhythm pattern is common one, used in several numbers. The song is an absolutely dry song, resembles a number of ARR’s previous numbers. The same lack of energy is clearly evident. The anupallavi, to me, was a bit hard to tolerate. It seemed like disparate parts of several musical modules were attached hastily. The second musical interlude is worth a listen. There is good use of guitar. Charanam is a bit more emotive, with better flow, but still lacks coherence towards the end. To me, it is probably disheartening to note that ARR is having problems linking the anupallavi and charanam, back to the pallavi. He used to do that without the slightest hitch.
Yeh Jo Des
ARR
3/5
An experimental track, this one is tuned in a peculiar way. There is the sound of people yelling, subdued and used in loops to assist the subtle percussion. This was used before by Vidyasagar (copying not implied, just pointing it out) in the song “Char Din” from the movie “Millenium Stars”. ARR has sung the song well, but to me this looked like a song born to be sung by Hariharan, especially, when it travels to a higher pitch. Ghatam & Tabla has been used sometimes to accentuate that folk-Swadesi-feeling. Of course the focus is Shehnai, which sure lends it a very unique appearance. I think it also gives it a sad and distant feeling, which is probably the aim. Even with the novelty, I would just call it an average song.
Before this album was released, I had thought to myself about my expectations, and my biases. Knowing that I may not be able to overcome most of those, I tried to decide not to jump into conclusions. But after all that hearing sessions, I am certain of certain things. First, though from different schools, I would vouch for the songs “Tere Liye” and Kyon Hawa” from Veer-Zara any moment of any day over the best two (IMHO) from Swades (Yunhi Chala & Ahista). I feel that those songs from Veer-Zara has greater depth, emotions and that haunting nature, and IMHO deserves much more attention and credit. Second, I am getting a bit tired of the same rehashed “Sawariya”-type numbers. Has ARR run out of ideas?
This brings us to the starting example of kids looking out for shooting stars. I did see a couple of flashes of ARR’s genius in this album, Did you?