A.R.Rahman: not just Madras, Bombay, or Dilli
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iView Author: J. RAMANAND (Pune, India)
Email: quatrainman@gmail.com
A.R.Rahman: not just Madras, Bombay, or Dilli
No Indian composer has had such pan-Indian success as A.R.Rahman. Forget ‘crossing over’ to H-Land, just being successful all across India is a feat that has escaped most Indian cultural icons (and they’ve tried hard). This is especially difficult for a film composer because release and marketing are decisions of the film-makers which are usually based on the financial implications of language and star appeal. No one would attempt to release a Mohanlal-Raveendran film in Punjab, and stories driven by Carnatic music may not be appreciated in Maharashtra because of lack of context.
The result: the audiences for many excellent soundtracks were inherently circumscribed.
His prodigious talent apart, Rahman was lucky on a couple of counts. One, the makers of his early films, Mani Ratnam and Shankar in particular, were extremely keen to broaden their audience. Secondly, most of their themes were either of a pan-Indian nature (terrorism and corruption) or had universal masala appeal. The decision to take the Tamil films national, backed with good marketing, immensely benefited the key players: the producers made pots of money (K.T.Kunjumon was briefly a recognisable name), the stature of the directors grew, kids were aping Prabhu Devaa’s fashion style, non-resident heroines were having their voices dubbed in a bunch of Indian languages, the recently deceased P.K.Mishra had as as much visibility as Vairamuthu and Javed Akhtar, and local technicians grew in stature. But the man who enjoyed the most long-term success was A.R.Rahman.
He began straddling both major film territories from the mid-to-late 90s, but a decisive shift happened in the beginning of the decade with Lagaan. Just before that, Rahman was at his peak of his Tamil output, punctuated by the odd Hindi classic. Post-Lagaan, the period films phase took centrestage in the attention of his discerning followers. The phase became almost schizophrenic – the peppy but more routine soundtracks were in Tamil, while the bleeding-edge work was happening in Hindi. Again, this shift was driven by his collaborations, such as with Ashutosh Gowariker and Aamir Khan. The pendulum seems to have swung completely to one end in 2008, with as many as 5 Hindi soundtracks making their way to shelves as opposed to just one Tamil film.
In his current form, can Rahman be considered primarily as a Hindi film composer? I think so. Not because of the numbers of these last couple of years, but because of what drives my own anticipation. In the last few years, all those films that I’ve desperately awaited have been in Hindi: Water, Rang De Basanti, Guru, Jodhaa Akbar, and now Dilli 6.
This may be a reflection of personal choices, but leave aside Sivaji to an extent, the likes of Azhagiya Tamizh Magan or Varalaaru have neither had much to look forward to or left much impact on the ‘timelessness’-meter. Rahman’s own performance has exponentially matched the quality of the subject and maker.
As with his salad days, this is again a function of the people behind these films. These Tamil subjects have largely been prosaic; at the very least, they have been incapable of generating any significant buzz to compensate for their flaws. The edgier Tamil films have gone to younger music directors, either because Rahman hasn’t been available to them or because, as is in the nature of things, they seek out newer talents and frequencies.
Perhaps this is all cyclical and the going might now begin heading the other way. The effects on his career post-Slumdog Millionaire will also play a part. If the previews of Dilli 6 are any indication, the good news is that Rahman is still sufficiently inspired by interesting topics heading his way to keep fans satiated. His independent ventures are also on an upswing, which means he will be less hemmed in by the whims and provisions of producers and story-writers.
Clearly, yet another tide in the astonishing career of a truly Indian composer awaits a taking at the flood.
Tags: aamir khan, AR Rahman, Ashutosh Gowariker, Bombay, Dilli6, Guru, Javed Akhtar, Jodhaa Akbar, K.T.Kunjumon, Lagaan, Madras, mani ratnam, P.K. Mishra, Prabhu Deva, Rang De Basanti, shankar, Slumdog Millionaire, Vairamuthu, Water
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Just to think of the past – when the prodigy was reluctant to do films and had to be extremely persuaded by Mani Ratnam and Rajeev Menon to do music. So tonnes of thanks is also due to Mani – not just in introducing, but persuading him to persist in film music composition!!!
He is the pan indian composer who used his advantages that made him pan indian and extended it to become pan asian and truly global as well.
Milton wrote in ‘on his blindness’ that the biggest sin a talented man could do is to not make use of them fully. When we read and see the achievments of ARR – he truly is someone who gave all he got and did it wisely to get the best out of whatever he gave. A True inspiration to not just a generation, but a whole nation. his life ought to be made a chapter at least in our syllabus so that our future generations will emulate the most outstanding achiever of this generation.
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he is ovarrted
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anu malik is better composer than him anyday
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@Movie fan –
Kya kah rahe ho yaar …
Anu Malik kabhi hua karta tha Anu Malik, par ab uske paas Indian Idol me baith ke apne puraane din yaad karne ke alaava koi kaam nahi hai …
He is a closed chapter now (His upcoming movie Victory ke gaane sun lena, main kya kehna chahta hu samajh jaoge aap)… And most of his past works were also examples of intelligent theft from old hindi movie songs or english songs ..
Listen to the song “Aa zaraa mere humnasheen …” — An old Md. Rafi number(dont remeber the movie’s name) .. Anu malik lifted two superhit songs of his from this single song … Had hai besharmi ki ye …
Rehman is at least not a CHOR…
He is Original, experimental and Hatke to the core .. and thats what the Golden Globe award was all about .. best ORIGINAL score …
Rehman, Take a bow …
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@ Movie fan
Hope ur not serious. Annu Mallik, is a supreme Lift Kara De artiste, flinching songs from everywhere left, right and center. Can’t even think of comparing him to ARR.
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And the versatility of Rehman is unmatched —
Roja me kashmir ..
Lagaan me folkish…
Guru me Gujraat …
Jodha Akbar me History …
Yuvvraj me classical…
Yuva me Bengal …
and south mein to vo pehle se hi hai …
Itni variety to 100 Anu Malik mil ke bhi nahi de sakte jitni iss ek bande ne di hai …
He is a true genius ..
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One thing also ARR was the right guy at the right time. He came in at a time, when movies were crossing boundaries, Hindi movies were going global, and even Tam movies were being marketed to the vast Tamil disapora across the Globe, that helped him reach out to the international audience.
I do love some of his old Tam compositions in Pudhiya Mugam, Indira, Iruvar.
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Rythm is one of my fav ARR’s alubm. The way he composed for the 5 elements theme, was outstanding.
Anbe
Kaatre-Air
Thaniye-Earth
Nadhiye, Nadhiye-Water
One of the most brilliant scores. Also i liked his score for Alaipayuthey more than Saathiya.
Sasivadane in Iruvar is again another master composition.
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rahman is a genius, no doubt. anu malik has given some very good music but nothing to beat rahman. rahman is in a league of his own and any comparisons to anu malik or himesh or anybody is just preposterous
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allah! look who is here. It takes one prolific talent to comment on another!
welcome to PFC.. long overdue?!
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a part of what I wrote today..
I hope he continues to dish out fare with the same child like enthusiasm as ever. As such he is away from the regional film music for a while, these awards shouldn’t distance him further from the local breed at least the Tamil directors who supposedly milk him the best. Make no mistake all his regional scores with their immense local flavor have helped him push the envelope gently but surely before acting as the precursors for more dramatic Bollywood fare painted with larger brushes and painted with larger strokes.
I hope he doesn’t feel burdened or obliged to come up with heavenly, heavy weight music each time only to justify these prestigious awards in retrospect. India is not short on cynics who will pounce on him every time his score fails to attain instant popularity.
The awards and all the hype that follow shouldn’t make him more inaccessible, and ergo expensive. Small, intimate cinema needs him as much as the monsters with gargantuan casts.
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Congratlations to A.R.Rehman – a genius!
A.R.Rehman’s best compositions came within the first ten years of his debut -
Roja
Uzhavan (one of his best works – underrated and hardly known even in Tamil Nadu)
Thiruda Thiruda
Bombay
Iruvar
Kaadhalan
Rangeela
Taal
Lagaan
Dil Se
Rhythm
Alaipayuthey (IMO his best album)
Doli Sajaake Rakhna (very underrated but a fantastic album)
Post 2002 I have not been a big fan of his work.
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Well I think ARR truly deserve all the adulatiion that come’s with this award.Ilayaraja was a worthy successor to M.S.Viswanathan & I would say ARR has been able to go one step further in making himself known all over the world.Of late I would also say that his work in hindi is of a much better quality & in tamil he’s just not upto his elements.Apart from Sivaji, on a complete album basis his work in a Azhagiya Tamizh Magan,Sillunu Oru Kadhal,Varalaaru or a Sakkarakatti have all been disappointing.But I think its more to do with ARR’s involvement in the project.I know that for Enthiran & Kamal’s next he would be back to doing his best.Till then lets look forward to Delhi-6 & the remaining albums to come in 2009.
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cmmon man how can u nopt like anu malik
only he can come up with stuff like
“dekho barish ho rahie hai
it’s rainning it’s rainning it’s raaaaiiiiiiiing”
classic stuff
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and Copying is really Hardwork
it takes more effort and brainpower in stealing someone’s work than creating an original
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Its surprising that no one mentioned ‘Kandukondein Kandukondein’ his best album as a whole till date IMO. For people like Rehman it clearly depends on the creativity of people and project invovled with to push himself towards excellence. Hope Enthiran and Kamals Next brings the best out of ARR. Jai ho !!
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Link to his latest SUPERB composition..
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=2j1ATsMBB5A
I wish he sings too (often)
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@Movie fan – it’s not ‘raining’. It’s ‘RENING’. I will forgive your sacrilege this time. It takes a fan to recognize another.
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Well, Rahman has achieved something truly inspiring, no doubt.
But this pan-Indian stuff beats me. What exactly is it? Michael Jackson, or Madonna in a sense, is pan-Indian -if you apply the same parameters as Rahman.
I dont agree with the commenter who said GURU is Gujrati< Roja is Kashmiri etc. They are all of a common strand – I dont see Gujrati essence in GURU at all. In that sense, I dont think he has achieved the success of Ilaiyaraja, who mastered distinct local idioms in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil. His output in each language is rooted in the local musical traditions. That, to me, is a more amazing achievement. Not to take anything away from Rahman whose comparison with Anu Malik is surely a joke perpetrated on us here. However, we need to understand difference between “oh he is pan indian, he can make music that appeals to different sub-cultures in India” to “he is pan-Indian. He cna actually specifically make music that ONLY appeals to the people who understand the local musical idiom”, Ilaiyaraja’s success in the latter, admittedly, didnt extend beyond South but I dont know any one else who has even had success in appealing rootedly to 4 different sub-cultures.
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Thanks for all the comments (especially the ‘movie fan’ :-))
Ratnakar: yes, it was just the right time, esp. with cable TV making available serendipitous connections in metros like Bombay. I know of schoolmates who had never heard of Kaadhalan watching “Mukkala” on Superhit Muqabla.
Santosh: agreed. Though examples like “Ada” show how difficult it is to be part of smaller ventures.
Sethumadhavan, Balaji: let’s hope so.
Raj: wouldn’t entirely agree, but one could look at the two decades separately. I think Rahman’s urge to reinvent and rediscover has been evident in this particular decade.
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haha.. Movie Fan .. r u kidding.. Anu Malik is a joke.. only a few of his compositions were good..
1. he got a chance to create a historic music, he screwed up in Ashoka
2. he got a chance to greate Futuristic Music, he screwed up in Lovestory 2050
3. he got a chance to give music in International Movie, he screwed up in Bride and Prejudice..
After all these , you think he is better than ARR..
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@ Ratnakar; My thoughts exactly with Alaypauthe. I dont understand a word of tamil but I love this one way way more than Saathiya. The best one is the title track of alaypayuthe.
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Movie Fan is actually a brilliant person. He has made a statement maybe for fun (which I’m sure about) & has caused discussion to occur where in we’ve discussed albums, qualities & songs of a genius! Isn’t it worth reading/discussing? Thanks movie fan & thanks anu malik.
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There is no doubt that ARR is a great MD but I feel that there is little bit of over exaggeration on part of media as well as ARR fans of projecting him as a genius.When it comes to awards he is the most luckiest MD and now he has won Golden globes the hype has reached astonishing proportions and If he wins Oscar i don’t know what is going to happen
Annu Malik has given good music in films like Border,Refugee.
Jatin Lalit have given melodious music for many early SRK films like Kabhi Haan kabhi Na,Raju Ban Gaya gentleman,DDLJ and Jo Jeeta wahi Sikander,khiladi etc.
There is Vishal Bharadwaj with Maachis to Omkara.
Amit Trivedi has given an amazing and excellant music track in DevD
So great music is created by other MDs also.Give them their due rather than ridiculing their music and projecting ARR as the only genius in music field
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Ar Rehman and sukhwinder sing combo is unbeatable
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^^^ that combo is perfect case of North meets South
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ha! sharath @ 23,
this being a rahman post you had to come in, albeit late!
nice to see you again.
go on and start over all again.
absolutely no offense dude, but why don’t you add to Ramanand’s article, some newer perspective, than bullshitting us all over again with “I shall compare MDs when it comes to Rahman, no matter what post it is”. Come to think of it every Rahman post that there is, there are these stock comments about who is better, about hype. Give us a break dude. I am sorry for the tone but we have had enough. Do a search, every article with Rahman keyword has you taking us on the same ride.
I claim no upper or better moral ground here, I am interested in various perspectives, but this repetitive stuff of yours gets my goat. I am sorry I cannot even ignore it.
Within a large topic called A R Rahman (good, or bad) Ramanand has chosen to highlight a smaller set his increasing reach, and how directors helped him do that. Nowhere has he dropped MDs’ names for the sake of comparison. You have to read Ramanand’s articles to know what he is capable of and where he comes from. I know that shouldn’t matter at all, what matters is JUST this post. At least going by that he and THIS post deserve a lot of respect. This is no regular Rahman article, my friend.
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@Santhosh
I accept what u say.Actually i do not want say anything related to Rahman again.I am bored with it.But I still wrote it as a reply to Rajesh and Moviefan and also many other guys who seem to make fun of Annu Malik and other MDs
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@Santhosh
I have nothing against this article.In fact when compared to many previous articles about ARR which were like crazy fan posts where even mediocre Rahman compositions were eulogized,this one presents a balanced view and also points out some of real reasons for Rahman’s national appeal.I really appreciate author’s viewpoint here and my comments were not against this article
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Rahman could get an Oscar for ‘Bombay Theme’ or for a ‘Thiruda Thiruda(Chor Chor)’ or for the theme music of ‘Duet’ or……. when I see the first 9-10 years of this washed-out(!) genius I understand what he was set to do..but now…what left is a lone musician whose God has left him. tell me my fellow PFCers does ‘Lattoo’ brings the same awe that ‘latka Dikha Diya’ or ‘Urbashi’ used to bring? Does ‘Guzarish/Tuhi To Dost’ brings the same unabashed romantic feeling that ‘Tu Hi Re’ once brought for entire nation?
If the answer is yes then either I have become deaf or my heart stopped to agree with my ‘waiting-for-the-next-rahman-album’ ears anymore.
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How embarrassed was I for my countrymen to mispronounce A R Rahman’s name…..not just once, but twice. I can understand a short a, (as in yeah, rah, rah) or a long a (as in rayman). But a u, as in Rueman??
Shame on you, David Duchovny!
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Sharath: I’m trying hard to surf that thin line between fan and fanatic – thanks for appreciating the balance :-) I fully agree that other Indian MDs have produced equally good work (am personally a big Vishal fan). My view is that most good Indian composers are underrated, especially if you consider the range of output they produce given the situations and constraints of Indian films. Hopefully, Rahman is kicking open the door for them to rush through.
Oh, and being lucky is not such a bad thing. Ask M.S.Dhoni :-)
labor_day_sale: Comparing ‘latoo’ with ‘tu hi re’ isn’t quite a fair comparison :-). Consider “lukaa chuppii” or “yeh jo des hai teraa” and I think you might find the magic still exists, IMO!
Teresa: It was a bit of a shame – wondered if Duchovny was asked by the organisers to go out and make that correction. Anyway, we’re hoping they’ll have it perfect for the Oscars ;-)
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Sharath:
Long time man!
But the comments make as much ’sense’ (or lack of it)as before.
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Let’s look at the Music senario in B’wood now. You got AR – SEL – VS – SS – Himesh – Pritam.
SEL are doing very good, they are the MOST under-rated MD’s as of now. VS are going fine, but a little monotonus, the same kinda songs in all their movies, the typical song for the younger ones. But they have a good sense of music.
SS are good, ‘Rab ne..’ was bad. Himesh is still very ‘Irritating’, his compositions are LOUD, and he doesn’t sing but SHOUTS.
Pritam – the same stuff all the time, nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing at all. Other than the fact that he can’t get over not being original, his compositions are all the ‘disco’ stuff. And he uses Neeraj Shreedar in everyone of these tracks, too boring.
Amit Trivedi looks very promising, Aamir was a very good album, but sad it went unnoticed, this guy is the next BIG thing.
So, we are left with AR Rahman and he is the sole musician who has been re-doing himself all through his career, he’s done the period films, the contemporary, the classical (art films) ones, the furturistic (with Endiran – Robot), has done LOTR musical. Almost everything…
He’s been the only one who has managed to stay original and has impressed the south and the north listeners equally.
Without a Doubt he’d go down in history as one of the best composers in India, and he’s just began going west.
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@ sharath 23
I am fine with comparison between Vishaal and ARR, and saying VB is underrated, but Annu Mallik and Jatin Lalit, gimme a break.
Barring some movies like Border, Refugee, Kareeb, Annu Mallik’s music has otherwise been plain mediocre. If ur speaking of underrated MD’s i would put Madan Mohan and Khayyam in the list, but no way Annu Mallik. AM’s score for the latest Umrao Jaan, is not a patch on the original Khayyam score.
As for Jatin Lalit, their music is melodious and pleasant, thats it, most of their songs have heavy Pancham hangover. But no way i can even think of putting JL or AM in the same category as ARR.
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As for Rehman being lucky with music awards, if we take Filmfare Awards.
1995- Rangeela( much better score than DDLJ).
1998- Dil Se( the closest was Sandeep Chowta’s for Satya)
1999-Taal( another deserving winner)
2001- Lagaan( again a hands down winner, though Uttam Singh’s score in Gaddar comes quite close).
2002- Saathiya( i liked the original Tam score for Alaipayuthey)
2006- RDB( this time i disagree, i felt Vishaal’s score in Omkara was much better).
2007-Guru( again wud have preferred Vishaal’s score for No Smoking).
So its clear that barring couple of times, he has deserved the award most of the times he got it.
His recent Tam scores have not been too great, but am hoping he comes back with Endhiran.
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@Ratnakar’s cmnt.#34
Wasn’t Satya by Vishal Bharadwaj…
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And ab’t Rahman being at the right place at the right time.
Raja had not retired when Rahman had entered the field. So what ab’t that argument of Cable TV or Globalisation etc.Cheeni Kum had some of IRs best scores…tunes composed when he was at his peak..A couple of them in RGV ka doosra Shiva as well..But it din’t seem to create the impact that ,say, atlest an ‘Ada’ created…
And overrated by whom..If fans overrate someone, the elitist critics call it commercial, cheesy etc..ex Himesh…If critics do that fans call it Arthouse ex. Zubeida. And when someone breaks that barrier and keeps it that way for around 16 yrs, ppl actually analyse the reasons behind his Ingenuity.
IR’s brillaince won’t diminish an inch by ppl hailing Rahman’s greatness esp. for the reverence that latter holds for the former.
And when ppl talk of rating all time greats..I just feel like hailing ICCs new list of all time greatest Test batsman..
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ar rehman,shankar,maniratnam,ilayaraja,bala, are great pieces from tamilnadu
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