Recently, A R Rahman has been in headlines of national as well as international newspapers for the music of the movie Slumdog Millionaire. I watched the movie the last night and since then, I have heard the entire album for some 40 times and still I cant drive my mind away from Latika`s theme and Dreams on Fire. Its music has been extolled everywhere and it has also secured a nomination in Grammie Awards. As far as I understand, Grammies for music is like Oscars for movies. And this is not the first time Rahman is being praised for his music in Hollywood. Earlier also he has delivered some extraordinary music for movies there and that shows how deeply has rahman understood the western music. No one can deny the fact that Rahman has eastern music in his DNA. He has been composing for some 20 years now. Initially in his career, he stood distinct for his use of computers and other electronic musical instruments in composing. With movies like Dil Se and Taal, he became noticed for his Indian-like music. With Lagaan he became the conqueror.
Lagaan simply showed his extraordinary talent and grasp over Indian instruments with songs like Ghanan Ghanan and Radha Kaise Na Jale. Not to forget the big bunch of singers he used in Ghanan Ghanan(I think that song used most number of singers). What is really impressive about his music is that its original and no one has even dared to accuse him of plagiarism.
Rahman has done a lot of experiments in his songs with new singers. And he has gifted many talented singers to the bollywood. He is the one who exploited Kailash Kher`s raw and soulful voice in Mangal Pandey. Naresh in RDB, Javed Ali in Jodha Akbar and Jaane Tu. And who can forget Chitra, Hariharan, Madhushree or the recent Suzanne De'Mello.
Rahman has been blessed with one the extraordinary voices in world today. One thing all can agree to is that he has got divinity and a lot of spirituality in his voice which one can feel from songs like Piya Haji Ali and Khwaja Mere Khwaja. It really seems rahman had some divine connection when he composed and sang these songs. Luka Chupi really is one of his best and one the best compositions of this decade. What sweet and soft feeling has been filled in its music (Prasoon Joshi deserves mention), the way songs ends with beautiful sargam is unforgettable.
Rahman is one of rare music composers who can compose songs like Luka chupi(from RDB) to Azeemo-shan- shehasha(from Jodha Akbar) to Pappu can’t dance(from Jaane Tu). One more thing very peculiar about him is that he also composes the background score of movies he does. So its not only few tracks where you get to see his brilliance but all throughout the movie. The jingle he composed for Airtel still thrills our ears.
In simple words, Rahman is a prodigy ....... no doubt why TIME magazine christened his as "Mozart of Madras" ….. hope we keep on getting good music many years down the road….
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