'A R Rahman's indigenous masterpeices'
By Behindwoods Visitor shyam sundar
The views expressed in this column is that of the visitor. Behindwoods.com doesn't hold responsible for its content.
Enough has been confabbed about AR Rahman's feat at the Oscars for his work in Slumdog Millionaire. The reason is obvious even to the dimwits: that he composed for a British movie that has greater audience than the Indian movies. But few realize that his tryst with Indian movies deserved more Oscars in spite of acceding the fact that India glorified him with many internal awards before the recent international recognition. Here I wish to list some of his mesmerizing music compositions in Tamil that not only ridiculously outperform his work in Slumdog but also deserve a worthy recognition for years to come.
  A R Rahman

1. Roja


Thanks to Mani Ratnam, ARR (as he is popularly known) entered the film industry with the biggest bang in the Tamil Film history that changed the notion about music in the common man's mind. From refreshing "Chinna Chinna Aasai" to heartbreaking "Kadhal Rojave" and the spicy "Rukkumani", he showed he had immense potential and variety. The movie also started one of the best director-musician duos of our times.

2. Bombay

Arguably his best composition to date, he almost united the whole nation after the Bombay riots in 1993 with a compelling touch in the theme music of the movie. The theme music will make anybody in the country shed at least a drop of tear. The impact was such that Arvindswamy and Manisha Koirala became a household name in Tamil Nadu.

3. Duet

Duet is the most underrated and comparatively unpopular music album of ARR. Anybody who loves music will agree on this and it is his best romantic album having another genius called SPB (SP Balasubramaniam) singing his heart out for all the songs.

4. Gentleman

Shankar chose to go with ARR with his first directorial venture and he wouldn’t ever regret for that. It seemed as though “Chikku bukku raile” was especially composed for Prabhudeva’s human anatomy defying dance movements. A very soothing “En veettu thottathil” followed by a catchy “Ottagathai Kattiko” made this composition an extremely memorable one for ARR and his fans.

5. Kadhalan

The extremely racy “Take it easy Urvasi” makes one feel why didn’t we have mobile phones then to have this number as the ring tone. The mesmerizing “Ennavale adi Ennavale” that directly touched countless young hearts marks its place in eternity. All other songs especially “Mukkala Mukkabala” were the most popular then and the movie also took Prabhu Deva to stardom overnight that he would not have imagined in his wildest dreams, thanks to ARR and Shankar.

6. Indian (‘Hindustani’ in Hindi)

In his next association with Shankar, ARR not only met the expectations but also beat them by miles as it also involved a legend called Kamal Haasan. A spellbinding “Telephone manipol” can be copied completely by a music director 50 years from now and it would still be a hit song. An underrated “Pachaikiligal tholodu” brought out a fresh view to father-daughter relationship. The highlight of ARR’s contribution in this movie is the BGM that is thoroughly adrenalin pumping justifying the pest control being done by Indian ‘thatha’.

7. Alaipayuthey (‘Saathiya’ in Hindi)

A youth extravaganza by Mani Ratnam, this movie brought out the best of ARR for the younger generation. “Endrendrum Punnagai” made college students go berserk with its immaculate aptness to the song’s situation and I would not be surprised if it still does. “Pachhai Nirame” brought out a great singer in Hariharan modulating his voice effortlessly for various moods sketched out in the song. The theme song “Alaipyuthey” is another great example of ARR’s ability to turn classical tunes to feet-tapping modern tunes.

8. Ayudha Ezhuthu (‘Yuva’ in Hindi)

A completely underrated movie and music album for Mani-ARR combo standards, this one challenged ARR by demanding songs for 7 completely different situations. The standout song “Jana Gana Mana” is as patriotic as his “Vande Mataram” album. A vernal “Fanaa” makes everyone who is out of college, feel nostalgic. A folk in the form of “Sandai Kozhi” established ARR as an all-rounder.

9. Kandukondain Kandukondain

This album of ARR is the best melody collection of ARR, next to ‘Duet’. The anxious “Enna solla pogirai” would break the hearts of all men who are waiting for a positive answer from their ladies. The romantic “Kandukondain Kandukondain” (though poorly visualized) brought the best lyrics out of Vairamuthu. The mellifluent “Konjum Mainakkale” takes melody to another level that people had not seen since “Thalapathy” of IR (Ilayaraja) days.

It would be impractical to list all of ARR’s albums though most of them are of extremely high quality. Some of those that are worth mentioning are “Pudhiya Mugam”, “Karuthamma”, “Kadhal Desam”, “Minsara Kanavu”, “Jeans”, “En Swasa Kaatre”, “Rhythm”, “Kannathil Muthamittal”, “Boys”, “Sillunu Oru Kadhal”. These movies also have some great compositions that would never die with time, thereby distinguishing ARR from the rest. Ending on a positive note, I think we might also witness him selling more than a billion records making him the most records selling artist in the world.

Thanks,


shyam sundar,
a_shyam41@yahoo.co.uk
 

The visitor claims that this column is his/her own. If the column infringes any copyrights that you hold, please email us.

If you would like your own articles to be published, please send them to

OTHER VISITOR COLUMNS
MUSIC DIRECTORS AND SINGERS SELECTIONS
THALAPATHY... A MANI RATNAM MASTERPIECE
SOURCE OF KAMAL’S INSPIRATION
WHY NOT YAAVARUM NALAM
RAJINI IN HIMALAYAN CAVES
MORE VISITOR COLUMNS
 
 
 
Everything about Tamil movies, Tamil Actors, Tamil Actresses, Tamil Cinema & Kollywood
Behindwoods.com © 2004-2009 ; Privacy Policy ; Terms of Service