Chord, Read that again. The operative word is AND. ARR did not write the "music AND lyrics".
And for what it is worth, I quite like the two articles by this author. He offers a rationale for judging and says how the music fared on that merit. In the first article he argues that the music manipulates the emotions we feel, contrary to what one might feel with just the images. The harsh scenes were softened a bit and that it made the movie more bearable. He clarifies his stance this time that ARR did not confront the context. It's an interesting viewpoint. But perhaps it's a no-win situation for the composer. If you play along with the scenes of intense pain/sadness then you can easily be accused of being melodramatic or milking the emotions. Example: The last scene of Kannathil Muthamittal. When the kid hugs her true mother and everyone gets lachrymose, the strings rise, flutes soar and cymbals crash. When the kid asks for one more embrace it's an encore by the same ensemble. In recent times ARR said that he has tried to do more in counterpoint to the drama. Example: Rang De Basanti (that intense scene at the radio station is set to the joyful Rubaroo) & some parts of SdM that the author is referring to. If you play it subtle then you can get dismissed with a generic statement that the music supports the drama, or that it is too dull. I can't think of a good example but perhaps ARR's score for Fire might be one of his most low-key underscores judging by what's on cd. Even if you don't agree with the author's view, that's a decent piece of critique. ________________________________ From: Chord <purev...@yahoo.com> To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 9:27:14 AM Subject: [arr] Re: My Journey to the Heart of Rahman "Turns out, as Mr. Sundaram, and many others from India and elsewhere let me know, that Rahman did not, as I had claimed, write the music and lyrics for the closing song, "Jai Ho"—heard for the film's concluding song sequence, the last gasp nod to Bollywood staged with the final credits." This is INCORRECT. Rahman DID write the music. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, $ Pavan Kumar $ <pawancum...@...> wrote: > > > http://www.counterpunch.org/yearsley04102009.html >
