He does it again! Yes, the man who gave the soul stirring earthy songs of Lagaan has delivered yet another gem in ’Swades’.
’Swades’ is packed with some of the most unconventional yet melodious and original compositions by A.R Rahman. It almost seems like an experiment by ARR to surpass his already set high standards. Javed Akhtar has put in a lot of rich lyrics to go along with his compositions which really give them the added touch of class.
Comparisons between ’Swades’ and its predecessor, Lagaan are inevitable since ’Swades’ too is an Ashutosh Gowarikar film set in a rural backdrop with the same music director and lyricist. But the music is quite different and is more ’contemperory’ and in tune with the film’s present day rural settings unlike a period film like ’Lagaan’. In any case, the quality of a classic like ’Lagaan’ is difficult to live up to even for its creator. Such masterpieces cannot be churned out like some product coming out of the factory. But I can safely say that ’Swades’ is a worthy runners up to ’Lagaan’.
Almost all the songs seem very situational to the context of the film. Its amazing how a seemingly average song ’’Radha kaise na Jaale’’ is transformed into something surreal just by its picturization and situational relavance. The impact of Swades’ songs should be magnified several folds after seeing them onscreen considering how well Ashutosh Gowarikar had handled ’Lagaan’ songs. A one minute trailer of a couple of songs on TV is proof enough of the energy and freshness of the songs.
There are some songs which are quite catchy and some typical ARR songs which take their own time to grow.
Of the former category are the songs, ’’Ek Taara woh Taara’’ and ’’Yuh hi Chala Chala’’ are instant attention-grabbers mainly due to their superb melody and use of instruments.
Ek Taara is a song which talks about the powers of Unity, reminding the basic universal philosophy, like little drops make a mighty ocean. Hats off to Javeed Saab for penning such a simple yet an impactful song. Udit Narayan along with the ’’Baccha singers’’ shine in the song.
’’Yuh hi Chala Chala’’ is a sureshot Chart-buster. It’s got a sustained ’feel good’ melody inspite of the 7+ minutes length. The rythm is simply infectious. Rahman’s brilliance with sound engineering shows yet again. Base and Steel Guitars infuse a great energy to this foot-tapping number. The subtle use of a distortion guitar and horns at the end of the song brings out Rahman’s penchant of trying something offbeat.
Udit Narayan, Hariharan and Kailash Kher seem like they were having a ball singing this song. Some great classical high-pitched interludes by Kailash Kher is the hallmark of the song.
Rahman backs himself to sing most of his patriotic numbers as he does in the title song, ’’Swades’’. The string arrangements in the song reminds me of a Bruce Sprinsteen song, ’’Streets of Philadelphia’’. Shehnai, almost a forgotten instrument in Hindi songs these days, is given a new lease of life by Rahman making it a truly touching song.
The songs which might take time to grow are:
Sawariyaan Sawariyan: A decent song by Alka Yagnik. But it’s yet to register fully.
Ahista Ahista: A neat lullably which can be used as a substitute for a sleeping pill.
Pal Pal hai Bhaari: A song for Ram Leela, a la ’’Radha Kaise na Jaale’’ in Lagaan. A nice classical situational folk song.
Dekho na: A good song which seems slightly out-of-place with the theme of the film.
Two instrumental tracks at the end make the album complete.
Rahman has a knack of making music for period and rural films as is evident from ’’1947 Earth’’, ’’The Legend of Bhagat Singh’’ and ’’Lagaan’’. He has dared to venture where most contemperory composers having a preconceived formula for Bollywood films wouldn’t even think of villages as a premise for hit music. One can notice a sincere desire in ARR to break the mould and reinvent himself. The synergistic teaming with lyricists like Javed Akhtar and visionaries like Ashutosh Gowarikar seems to work wonders for Rahmaan.
The net outcome is nothing short of extraordinary.
Btw, I like the pictures on the CD cover where Shahrukh stands out amidst villagers. The pictures almost reveal the story.