great work .................keep on collecting we are here to read such
beautiful articlesOn Tue, 1 Apr 2008 23:02:19 +0100 (BST)
arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com wrote
Dude Arvind ! Thanks for a detailed report on interview.
Vasanath expressed some nice points on ar. He worked with ar only once, still
dared to speak on other mds using similar tunes :) Bravo Vasanth !
Rgds Pavn Aravind AM wrote: Hi all,Last
friday on Rahmania Show on Aahaa FM, they aired the continuation of Director
Vasanth's interview (Vasanth is the director of the movie Rhythm)... This was
one of the best interviews on Rahmania and definitely not to be missed... Read
on!!(I'm uploading the entire interview... Will send the link soon....
It's something to be treasured!)~~~~~~~~~~~About Songs in "Rhythm"...ARR
improvises a lot with the songs... Consider Nathiye Nathiye song (Dheem
Thananaa) song for example. "Dheem Thana naa" was never meant to be the pallavi
(antara) of the song. It was a refrain that was used in the middle of the song.
Since it was catchy, he made it as the opening. The entire song did not stick
to the usual format of 1 antara and two mukhda - there were lot of variations
in the song - just like how the flow of a river is never uniform and varies
throughout... Since each portion of the song was so different, we decided to
make the "dheem Thana naa" refrain as the common link for each part, and thus
we finalised the opening of the song. Nathiye nathiye which was supposed to be
the actual pallavi (antara) of the song, was made to appear only once or
twice in the song!!About ARR as a personARR is the only Indian composer, who is
successful in the regional, national as well as the international arena...
There may be many who are successful in the regional level. You can even find
people who are successful in the regional and national level. But, he is the
only one who has succeeded in all 3 levels... Be it Nagercoil (a small town in
Tamilnadu) or New York - he is a success everywhere!He is the pride of
Tamilnadu and India..When you consider only the film compositions, I see him
as the major composer in Tamil and hindi film music. In Tamil, he is of the
lineage following G.Ramanthan, R.Sudharsanam, KV Mahadevan,
Viswanathan-Ramamoorhty and Ilayaraja.If you look similarly in Hindi, he
follows the lineage of people like Anil Biswas, Naushad Ali, Shankar Jaikishen,
SD Burman, C.Ramachandra, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji Anandji, Lakshmikant Pyarelal,
RD Burman... He is one of the Titans in Indian Film music. According to me,
there has been no TITAN music director after the arrival of ARR, in India in
any language. He is the latest arrival.In this lineage, I include only those
who bring a totally new style of music. There are new composers who follow his
style. They may also do some good music, but they have not created a new style
of music.... not until now...The most important aspect of his music according
to me, is his technology + music. It is not technology alone or melody alone..
This is something that he pioneered. we have heard lots of melodies.. we have
heard technology being used... but he put both of them together in the right
mix and composed music.... He follows this in all styles of music - be it
hindustani or carnatic or sufi or soft rock. If ARR had been around in 1960s or
1970, I think, he would have given songs which are 100 times better than what
he has given now!Even now he gives the best songs, but what I'm saying is that,
"story" had lots of importance in movies back then... Important aspects of
ARR's music - like the melodic nature of his music, the depth of his
music, the ability to show different perspectives, the ability to
transport us to a different world - all these would have had more importance
back then. But now, there are not many stories which can fully utilise these
aspects of his music. Sotry-telling has decreased these days!About
ARR's simplicityHis simplicity is what I admire the most. I had once read about
what composer Pyarelal of Lakshmikant-Pyarelal fame, had to say about ARR.
According to Pyarelal, Roja is his fav album, but the most important work in
ARR's career is Thiruda Thiruda. ARR had met Pyarelal at a party, which was
their first meeting. ARR himself went and introduced himself to Pyarelal,
saying "I just wanted to meet you and get introduced to you... I'm A.R.Rahman".
Pyarelal says that he had never seen anyone being so simple and modest, that
too being a composer of international fame!Rainahah: Usually ARR is very
introverted and would not go and introduce himself to people... but since
Pyarelal is a composer whom ARR respects a lot, he probably would have gone and
spoken to him!As a Director, what's your role in the music creation
process?According to me, a director's role is to create an environment or a
situation for the composer to create a good song - mainly to inspire the music
director... The director should strive to inspire the composer to reach
greater heights... The director's intervention should not pull the composer
down!!(Raihanah ma'am interrupted here saying "Those are golden words... You
should say this everywhere sir... You should say this loud and clear! It would
be great if all directors understand this!!!!Vasanth retorted saying "You seem
to be really affected by such instances" (Laughs))The director should try to
bring out the best from everyone.... The director should identify what's the
best aspect of the composer and bring out the most creative stuff from them..
and should never give up till the best output is produced!Raihanah: You
have explained it brilliantly, sir.. When we talk of this, the first song that
comes to my mind is Nenje Nenje from Ratchagan....Vasanth: Definitely..
Definitely... Similarly, I like Thoda Thoda Malarndhadhenna (Indra) How do I
say... I'm at a loss of words... I think ARR is the only composer who has given
his heart and soul to each and every song and each and every movie. Not jus for
one or two songs in a movie, but for every song.... That is why he takes more
time... He has never compromised on quality any of the songs - ever! He takes
each and every song seriously!!About directors/producers asking for tunes
similar to another songThat's usually done to communicate the mood that's
required for the song - we sort of give examples... For some composers,
you can get the best only if you communicate this way... It's more about
convenience. About asking to compose a song similar to another song - i won't
comment whether it is right or wrong... but, it is wrong if the composer
creates the "same" tune, instead of creating a similar mood! In case of a big
composer like ARR, we need not give any examples. If we give examples, he'll
stay as far away from that tune as possible!! That's why he is in such a great
position now!! He understands that it just for easier communication!Some other
composers would assume that we like that particular tune of a old song that
they can satisfy us only if they use that tune, and would end up giving the
same old tune!!About Re-recording (BGMs) of ARRSilence is as important to
re-recording as the actual BGMs. In many instances, silence, after the actual
BGM, creates the required impact - Ilayaraja sir taught me this... For
instance, if there's a long BGM and it suddenly stops when a guy opens a door,
all your focus shifts to what's behind the door. silence creates an impact
there...The composer should know when to have music in the scene and when to
stop. I think Rahman is one composer who knows this and handles this
beautifully!He gives what's required for a scene, rather than playing music
continuously!Another important aspect of ARR's re-recording is his ability to
use various different styles of music to elevate the quality of the scenes. For
instance, in Rhythm, in the scenes involving the relationship between Arjun and
the kid, he had brought an italian feel in the BGM... In the same movie,
he had used a very Indian sound, for the scenes involving Lakshmi.... I think
he can do this with ease as he listens to and enjoys all types of music -
from carnatic to hindustani to western, pop and rock...He brought a new style
in re-recording. His re-recording gave a new dimension to the film. Even
for ARR, Rhythm is one of his favourites in terms of re-recording, and he keeps
mentioning this to me...Fav BGMs in other ARR movies, apart from Rhythm:I love
everything that ARR has done for Mani Ratnam's movies, especially Bombay and
Iruvar. According to me, Iruvar is Mani sir's best movie.. Iruvar's
re-recording is ultimate!! In the scene in Iruvar where it is shown for the
first time that Mohan Lal has got 1000-s of people behind him, the Background
score is brilliant. The BGM has "spoken" this exactly. If you just listen to
the BGM without looking at the scene, you can visualise that scene in your mind
- even without listening to a single dialogue!Favourite SongsHow many songs has
he made till now? About 100? So, at 5 songs per movie, there would be a
total of 500 songs? so, my favourite would be all 500!!I love every one
of his songs...Let me quote just a few songs, which come to my mind at this
instant...Pudhu Vellai Mazhai - I love this song because it does something to
me... I love this song because I love it very much!!! It creates an
ambience.. The rendering, the freshness, the music, the composition -
everything was great... The sound was totally new - when I heard it in 1991, I
knew I hadn't heard anything like this before!! The sound was so new, so
emotional and so real.. I love chinna chinna aasai a lot, but somehow my
favourites are Pudhu Vellai Mazhai and Kadhal Rojave, with Pudhu Vellai
Mazhai getting 100 points and Kadhal Rojave being a close second at
99.5!!Similarly, I love "Minnale nee vandhadhenadi" from May Madham... I'm
quoting this song specially, because of the sorrow in the song beautifully
conveyed by the tune, SPB sir's voice.. above all - the intricate violin
opening and interlude.... It doesnt happen often that the instrumental
interludes get registered in our minds as much as the main song itself - but
this violin interlude did.... I always used to hum that violin bit and my
ears always long for that violin bit!Snegithane - What do I say about this
song,... This is one of the finest creations of Rahman. This is the ultimate
song to portray a man-woman relationship!(Raihanah: Sadhna's voice is so sharp
- as sharp as the soung of glass breaking!)Vasanth: I am usually not
enamoured by the sweetness of a voice, for me it is always the composer who
captures my heart! The emotions in the song are what attracts me!!But if
there's one voice which has attracted me a lot, it is ARR's voice... Listen to
vellai pookkal... it will just make you cry!!! You dont hav to do
anything else... The voice, tune, the lyrics - everything about the song is
perfect - and it is as though the song conveys the entire sorrow in Sri
Lanka...I'm a big big fan of ARR, and I admire him as a human being also.. I am
delighted and honoured that I got this chance to share my views about ARR, and
his songs!!~~~~~~~~~Cheers,Aravind http://arrahmaniac.blogspot.com No
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