There is a post by Anil Nair with the video link. Please watch that. I am reminded of a "highly respected" Tamil movie composer, whom I don't wish to name, said this on Doordarshan about Rahman in 1993 "Let me see how long he lasts. He cannot compose Tamil folk numbers with a computer." He might have been the authority at that time, but not after that. Such statements always precede one's downfall and yes, he had one, never to recover. Jagjit's comments are similar. They mean only one thing - Arrogance (My opinion)
Rahman has nothing to prove. His fan base is extremely diverse. The funny thing about that is that he has dealt with a much wider range of genres than any other composer and yet his fans want their tastes rewarded more. If you have an opinion, you are entitled to it, but declaring such things publicly and challenging somebody, leaves nothing but a bad taste. Jagjit Singh lost my respect for that (even though he might not need mine) like the other composer did. I am not going to give any more credence to Jagjit, his comments or anybody trying to defend his statements which he said in the interview by continuing this disscussion anymore. Rgds. ------- DISCLAIMER: My doctor diagnosed me with an Obsessive Compulsive Listening Disorder for Rahman's music. Fortunately, it is contagious with no cure! :) --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Aakarsh <aakarsh...@...> wrote: > > Ok, first things first. > > 1. I am not completely convinced that those words were indeed spoken by Jagjit Singh, who, (I have seen one of his TV interviews) admires ARR. And to tell you more, He listens to Michael Jackson also (he admitted, when interviewer asked about western music). > 2. I am not defending Jagjit Singh, but offering a point of view. > > Coming to your 3 bullet-points: Here, I am assuming that he did say these statements and hence here are my takes: > > 1. How much does ARR know? - I dont know how much ARR knows about Ghazals, but all i said was that he Got to compose very few (if i exclude Tehzeeb, then there are none) Ghazals. > 2. He will never use Ghazals in his films - Agreed a director has higher say on the music for a certain situation. Still, in a career spanning 16 years and 100 films, ARR has given only 3 Ghazals (as far as i know. i would be glad if someone can cite me few more examples.). On an average (say 4 songs per film), out of 400 songs he has composed, there are 3 ghazals. Yes, there are more soulful, slowpaced numbers, classical numbers, and more fast- paced numbers and wide array of genres for sure, but not many ghazals. > 3. All They do is pick up tunes from west - Tell me, today, when ARR is at the centre of Indian Film Music, with Golden Globe and Oscar euphoria and almost every album being rated as a milestone, with songs catering to every taste (rock, classical, vintage melodies, western, folk etc), will Any person really call ARR as Plagiarist? I really doubt so. If Jagjit Singh really said so, I oppose and condemn. If he didnt, then it is the handiwork of the author of the article. > > As for the rest, I stick to my statements. Some of the members have rightly cited some of the names here. Farida Khannum, Ghulam Ali, Iqbal Bano, Mehdi Hassan, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood, NoorJehan, Nayra Noor.... the list is endless. For that matter, ARR's and our own favourite - Hariharan is an established Ghazal singer in his own right. And Madan Mohan is unbeatable (something which even ARR himself will agree, i am sure) > Please listen to the ghazals by some of these singers to understand the genre, the musical treatment given to the lyrics, the rendition and the form. > It is indeed a fact that we dont have Ghazals anymore in film songs (irrespective of who the composer is), which is why we have Ghazals in separate albums, by the likes of above names and even Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. > > Wish ARR covers this genre too. > > > Regards > Kamal Aakarsh Vishnubhotla. > > http://kamal-aakarsh.blogspot.com > > > --- On Wed, 1/28/09, jayaram81 <jmohanr...@...> wrote: > > From: jayaram81 <jmohanr...@...> > Subject: [arr] Re: Jagjit Singh - What does Rahman know about ghazals - My thoughts > To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 6:41 PM > > > > > > > Seriously? Are you trying to defend "everything" that he said in > that interview? > > 1. What does AR Rahman know about ghazals? > 2. He will never use a ghazal in his films. > 3. All they do is pick up tunes from the West > > He starts something which is personal here, singling out somebody > and then try to generalize it in his third sentence. If you take > each of the question one by one in the same order it was said, the > answer would be > > 1. "Not much as you know, but not nothing" > 2. Ya right. If you don't listen to his film songs, you will > always end up using the word "Never" > 3. Ooooo the generalization. If only he had mentioned "he" instead > of "they", I would have gone on a rampage here. I have been > defending Rahman on this for more than 15 years now. Picking up > tunes they say. > > As somebody said, I smell sour grapes. > > Aakarsh, > With all due respects, Jagjit Singh is a great Ghazal artist. But, > you got to stop putting oxymorons in your sentences. "We dont have > ghazals anymore and lets accept it, even ARR did not compose > many." -I read your blog (spent a few > minutes there) and understand that you love poetry but vehemently > defending these statements are not the way to go here. > > By the way, a director gets to say how many Ghazals are to be > there in a movie. > > Rgds. > > --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, Aakarsh <aakarsh_vk@ ...> > wrote: > > > > With all due respects to both, Jagjit Singh and also ARR, let us > first note that it is an opinion and not necessarily a case of mud- > slinging. > > > > And he was referring specifically to 'Ghazals' alone. We must > note that of Jagjit Singh did not admire ARR, he would not have > agreed to be part of 'Jan Gan Man' by ARR. > > > > So, lets not blow it out of proportion. > > > > Now, coming to ghazals, if one really listens to Ghazals, say > the ones that were composed in films, what jagjit Singh said is > absolutely right. We dont have ghazals anymore and lets accept it, > even ARR did not compose many. > > > > ARR is music-driven composer and many lyricists, including > Gulzar, agreed that he gets to write lyrics for the tunes already > set into music. and later they work around it. > > > > > > In Ghazals, the words are born first and then music is set to > the words. > > Also, the composer has a very indepth acumen about the language, > words, vocabulary, usage etc, while composing Ghazals. More > importantly urdu. > > > > For both these points, ARR actually does not fit in. So, he has > a point. I am not saying that ARR is incapable of composing tunes > for lyrics. Neither i am saying that ARR lacks lyrical sense. Just > that he has recently started learning Hindi/urdu and that too out > of the songs he composed. So, it is not that he speaks/converses > in Hindi/urdu to have a grasp/mastery over the language to > understand the nuances and then set music accordingly so that > certain words outshine the music, as the ghazals demand that. > > > > Jagjit Singh is a seasoned ghazal singer and he has seen the > length and breadth of this field called 'Ghazals', having been one > of the great singers himself. So, from his angle and point of > view, it is natural for him to feel so. Rahman songs have good > lyrics for sure, but they are definitely not comparable to the > ones in Ghazals or the world which Jagjit Singh has seen. > > > > The only exception is ARR's Tehzeeb, which had 3 wonderful > Ghazals, that reaffirmed my faith in ARR that he can compose good > ghazals too. But tell me, How many people know about Tehzeeb, > because it is not a great audio-hit commercially, for us to see it > in all TV channels. And also, How many Tehzeebs did ARR do after > that? None. I am sure that Jagjit Singh never got to listen to > this album. > > > > Just that ARR is not getting film-makers who insist on such rich > ghazals. Whatever might be reason, Jagjit has a point though. Lets > look at it objectivistically, instead of just posting negative > comments on Jagjit, without verifying whether he has a valid point > or not. > > > > > > Regards > > Kamal Aakarsh Vishnubhotla. > > > > http://kamal- aakarsh.blogspot .com > > > > > > --- On Wed, 1/28/09, gut but <gut_but@ > wrote: > > > > From: gut but <gut_but@ > > > Subject: Re: [arr] Re: Jagjit Singh - What does Rahman know > about ghazals > > To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com > > Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 11:52 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I think Jagit singh is not happy about the fame and attention > that rahman is getting at the moment ! > > we need to understand that rahman is not sticking to particular > kind of music, he goes according to > > the taste of contemporary world and theme of movie. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From: jsrwm <js...@yahoo. com> > > To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com > > Sent: Tuesday, 27 January, 2009 23:22:32 > > Subject: [arr] Re: Jagjit Singh - What does Rahman know about > ghazals > > > > > > > > Another story of "Oops this is a sour grape" begins.. > > > > --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, Anil Nair > <rhythmcalls@ ...> wrote: > > > > > > Didn't expect Jagjit Singh to say this ...or maybe its just > yet again > > the > > > "media monster" at work > > > > > > -A > > > > > > http://movies. indiainfo. com/2009/ 01/28/0901280633 > _gazals.html > > > > > > What does Rahman know about ghazals?Wednesday, January 28, > 2009 06:31 > > [IST] > > > > > > Mumbai: DNA > > <http://movies. indiainfo. com/2009/ 01/28/0901280633 > _gazals.html# >, > > > in association with Rotary Club of Hiranandani Estate, Thane, > brings > > on > > > stage the legendary ghazal maestro to recreate the magic of the > > > music<http://movies. indiainfo. com/2009/ 01/28/0901280633 > _gazals.html# > > > > form. > > > On the eve of Jagjit Singh Live in > > > > > Concert<http://movies. indiainfo. com/2009/ 01/28/0901280633 > _gazals.html# > > > > (at > > > the Shanmukhananda Auditorium), the veteran exponent of > ghazals rues > > the end > > > of their era in Hindi films. > > > > > > Jagjit is not singing any film songs currently because he > feels there > > is a > > > lack of taste on the part of today's filmmakers and music > directors. > > "They > > > don't know what ghazals are all about and they lack good taste > in > > music. > > > What does AR Rahman know about ghazals? He will never use a > ghazal in > > his > > > films. All they do is pick up tunes from the West," he says. > > > > > > He criticises contemporary music directors for ruining the > Indianness > > of > > > sound. "Earlier, in the 60s and 70s, 90% of the music was > based on the > > > ghazal. Today, there's no poetry phrasing, it's all Western > and the > > language > > > is tapori -- a mix of English and Hindi. What kind of lyrics > are Pappu > > > can't dance > > <http://movies. indiainfo. com/2009/ 01/28/0901280633 > _gazals.html# > > > > saala?" > > > > > > Yet the popularity of the form endures. He says, "My audience > has only > > grown > > > over the years. I always improvise and add variations to my > old songs > > on > > > stage. Every ghazal is re-born on that day." > > > > > > Interestingly, Jagjit only performs for a cause. On January > 29, at the > > DNA > > > and Rotary concert, he will perform to provide midday meals for > > children. He > > > says, "I never give dates to concerts which are just money- > making > > measures. > > > I want to give back to the society. So I give my dates only to > charity > > > concerts." > > > -- > > > -A > > > http://viewsnmuse. blogspot. com > > > > > >
