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It
was a cold winter night sometime
in 1992, when I was doing my
10th standard. My dormitory
supervisor had this practice
of playing a cassette for a
while before we went to bed.
The cassette he played that
night was a new film. It started
out with the amazing gentle
piece of music that came in
like a fresh breeze with some
unique instruments and a wonderful
yae'le'looo humming in the middle.
Song after song (Rukumani, Kadhal
Rojavae...flip side B... Pudhu
Vellai Mazhai, Thamizha) the
curiosity was too much to contain.
After some whispering around,
I got the news that it was Mani
Ratnam's next film with a new
music director A.R.Rahman. It
was clear that a genius has
arrived - an arrival similar
to Sachin Tendulkar when he
hit those four consecutive sixes
off Abdul Qadir in his first
(exhibition) match.
Some true magic unfolded in
the years that followed. Some
of my best college memories
centered around Rahman music.
It was a golden era when the
ARR-Mani and ARR-Shankar combo
had us captivated. Every ARR
audio release was highly anticipated
and the songs would be heard
on the corridors of the hostel
for months. He made a startling
entry into Hindi by giving the
(bachelor's) anthem in Rangeela.
Songs like Mustafa became the
farewell anthem. He worked with
everyone including Rajini and
Bharathiraja proving that he
can adapt to other people's
style while maintaining his
own. His music pulled us to
watch films repeatedly over
and over. Apart from the songs,
there were those BGMs as well...NiSaRiSa
in Jeans, the GaMaPa humming
in the early love stages in
Bombay..to name a few. Every
now and then someone in the
elevator would scream the Kadhalan
Raghuvaran BGM. At one point,
I was thrilled to find that
he scored the music for Garden
(Lisa Ray) sarees and Titan
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Over
the last few years, every now
and then when you wonder if
he is still scoring for films
(especially Tamil), he comes
up with gems ...like Sillunu
Oru Kadhal...
to prove that he is very much
alive and kicking. While a selfish
part of me always wants more
of him in Tamil, there is the
other part that is extremely
delighted to see him get national
and now global recognition.
I watched Slumdog that same
weekend right after I watched
Hindi Ghajini. While I was a
bit disappointed by the Ghajini
songs and BGM (probably because
I liked the Tamil one very much),
I was totally blown away by
the wonderful composition for
Slumdog. I probably enjoyed
the music more than the movie
itself. When his name was announced
as the winner at the globes...
as we walked to the Jai Hooooooooooo
humming..... It was one of those
goose pimple moments filled
with pride. Earlier, an American
colleague at work heard the
Airtel ringtone on my phone
and was very inquisitive about
it. Today I was able to tell
him with immense pride that
the musician who won the award
for Slumdog scored this one!!
In many ways Sachin and Rahman
are similar - true Indian icons
beyond regional and religious
barriers, with an amazing fan
base, a humble and shy nature
and ones who let their work
do the talking. Amidst all the
scandals and terror we live
in, I'm thankful to God for
providing relief through wonderful
entertainers/humans like these
who do the country proud.
Regards,
Vijay Ilavarasan,
vijay.ilavarasan@gmail.com
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