In the early 90’s, a whiz-kid from Trinity made waves with his unconventional new wave sound. Before anyone realised, songs of’Roja’ were a rage in the nation. Remember the reggae based’Dil Hai Chota Sa’ and the patriotic’Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyara Hai’. As bird-brained as I could be, I first thought it was Illayaraja who composed the soundtrack(dumb me!). It wasn’t before a year, I figured it was a young lad called AR Rahman.
It was the year 1994, when cable TV was very much into common households, I still was addicted to a show on DD-Metro called’Superhit Muqabla’. It was a weekly crap top-20 show. It was crap until oneday they telecast a hep song with catchy beats and a rubber-like-flexible bloke dancing. Well. it was AR Rahman’s’Chikkubukku’ and it was Prabhu Deva performing some amazing feats with his dance. My first reaction was. WOW.
Today AR Rahman, despite the truck-load of criticism he receives, he went on to become the most prolific music director of the industry. He bagged 5 filmfare awards, 2 national awards, a broadway musical(Bombay dreams), another broadway in the bag(lord of the rings), a performance with MJ and a collaboration with none-other-than Talvin Singh. What more can he ask for? I’m presently listening to Yuwa, hoping that I will end up liking it someday.
Actually, there are a very few songs of his that you like in the first go. His music has to grow upon you before you appreciate them. I experienced this with Dil Se, Tehzeeb and Sapnay. I remember when I first listened to the soundtrack of Sapnay, I rubbished it saying, its just another one of his mediocre works. But eventually, most of its songs went on to become my favourites including the opera like’Strawberry Aankhein’.
Well. here’s the ten which I consider as his best ever. Not crucially in any order.
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Bol Sajni - Doli Saja Ke Rakhna: Kavita and Sonu Nigam sing this amazing number from a lesser known Akshay Khanna movie. This song has a very much Indian feeling to it right from the beginning. It kinda starts with the Raja-Maharaja trumpet music. I remember, a few years back I had a friend called Chasity. As american as she could be, she fell in love with this number. Thats just a small example of how international Rahman has gone today.
Ae Ajnabi - Dil Se: All I can say about this amazing number is, ’Absolutely Haunting’. Udit Narayan’s voice is simply too good to be true. What really adds to this song is Gulzar’s https://lyrics.
Boondon Se Baatein - Takshak: Its Sujatha this time singing the rain-number. The sound is the highlight. Catchy beats incorporated with with instruments such as flutes and bass.
Piya Haji Ali - Fiza: Rahman was the guest composer in this movie. Song rendered by Kadar Ghulam Mustafa, Murtaza Ghulam Mustafa, Srinivas & A.R. Rahman, is a delight to listen to. I ain’t a religious person, but I surely do appreciate devotional Sufi music. The whole feel and the sound of sufi music is such captivating. Moreover, this particular song has a secular theme to it rather than being just religious. Besides Mission Kashmir, Fiza is the only movie of Hritik that I like.
Kehna Hi Kya - Bombay: My first reaction to this number was an outright rejection. LOL. Another song that grew upon me with time, another song with a Sufi fillin’. The alaap backed up with tabla is definitely the highlight of this song. Chitra is adorable. I also love the pictorialization of this song. For a change, Manisha looked beautiful in her attire as’Shaila Bano’. Well, I think its got more to do with Mani Ratnam’s direction than Manisha’s beauty. Anyways.
Tu Hi Tu - Kabhi Na Kabhi: A feet tapping, fast beat number by MG Sreekumar and Chitra, Tu Hi Tu is a delight to listen to, on a good music system. Its got this classical carnatic touch. The movie, Kabhi Na Kabhi by Priyadarshan flopped miserably, hence, this song never got that popular.
Yeh Haseen Wadiyaan - Roja: Well. this song holds a special place in my life(Are you reading this Senorita?). In 1997, in a University festival called’Camfest’ in Nagpur, me along with two college mates of mine won the best performance award for this number. We were amongst 50 other participants. I was on the keyboards. What a feeling that was. to come first. The complex chord structure and amazing playback by SP and Chitra makes this song absolutely captivating. Romance at its heights.
Chanda Re - Sapnay: Kajol and Prabhu Deva performing a romantic ballad under the moonlit sky. Chanda Re invites imaginative thought for people in love. I was kinda thinking. how many times songs actually use moon as a metaphor to romantic ideas. Hariharan and Sadhna Sargam have rendered this lovable number. Despite the numerous critics attached to this movie, I like this movie for its novel storyline.
Yeh Jo Zindagi Hai -!947 Earth: A very romantic number by Srinivas and Sukhvinder Singh. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are ecstatic. What an amazing composition. The song has two facets to it, the first facet by Srinivas depicts triumph in love and Sukhwinder’s part depicts how he went down in love.
Jumbalakka - En Swasa Kaatre(Tamil): I remember first watching this song on Sun TV’s midnight masala. This song kinda reminds me of Gypsy Kings. Its got a very latin feeling to it. Rafi’s(not Mohd. Rafi) voice was far better than Alisha’s in the hindi version. Raju Sundaram’s dance is something to look out for in the tamil version. Look out for the use of the acoustic guitar in the song.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this write up and I am sure that your choices will differ from mine. Your choices are welcome in the comments section.
Cheers.