Enough has been confabbed about AR Rahman's feat at the Oscars for his work in
Slumdog Millionaire. The reason is obvious even to the dimwits: that he
composed for a British movie that has greater audience than the Indian movies.
But few realize that his tryst with Indian movies deserved more Oscars in spite
of acceding the fact that India glorified him with many internal awards before
the recent international recognition. Here I wish to list some of his
mesmerizing music compositions in Tamil that not only ridiculously outperform
his work in Slumdog but also deserve a worthy recognition for years to come.
1. Roja
Thanks to Mani Ratnam, ARR (as he is popularly known) entered the film industry
with the biggest bang in the Tamil Film history that changed the notion about
music in the common man's mind. From refreshing "Chinna Chinna Aasai" to
heartbreaking "Kadhal Rojave" and the spicy "Rukkumani", he showed he had
immense potential and variety. The movie also started one of the best
director-musician duos of our times.
2. Bombay
Arguably his best composition to date, he almost united the whole nation after
the Bombay riots in 1993 with a compelling touch in the theme music of the
movie. The theme music will make anybody in the country shed at least a drop of
tear. The impact was such that Arvindswamy and Manisha Koirala became a
household name in Tamil Nadu.
3. Duet
Duet is the most underrated and comparatively unpopular music album of ARR.
Anybody who loves music will agree on this and it is his best romantic album
having another genius called SPB (SP Balasubramaniam) singing his heart out for
all the songs.
4. Gentleman
Shankar chose to go with ARR with his first directorial venture and he wouldn’t
ever regret for that. It seemed as though “Chikku bukku raile” was especially
composed for Prabhudeva’s human anatomy defying dance movements. A very
soothing “En veettu thottathil” followed by a catchy “Ottagathai Kattiko” made
this composition an extremely memorable one for ARR and his fans.
5. Kadhalan
The extremely racy “Take it easy Urvasi” makes one feel why didn’t we have
mobile phones then to have this number as the ring tone. The mesmerizing
“Ennavale adi Ennavale” that directly touched countless young hearts marks its
place in eternity. All other songs especially “Mukkala Mukkabala” were the most
popular then and the movie also took Prabhu Deva to stardom overnight that he
would not have imagined in his wildest dreams, thanks to ARR and Shankar.
6. Indian (‘Hindustani’ in Hindi)
In his next association with Shankar, ARR not only met the expectations but
also beat them by miles as it also involved a legend called Kamal Haasan. A
spellbinding “Telephone manipol” can be copied completely by a music director
50 years from now and it would still be a hit song. An underrated
“Pachaikiligal tholodu” brought out a fresh view to father-daughter
relationship. The highlight of ARR’s contribution in this movie is the BGM that
is thoroughly adrenalin pumping justifying the pest control being done by
Indian ‘thatha’.
7. Alaipayuthey (‘Saathiya’ in Hindi)
A youth extravaganza by Mani Ratnam, this movie brought out the best of ARR for
the younger generation. “Endrendrum Punnagai” made college students go berserk
with its immaculate aptness to the song’s situation and I would not be
surprised if it still does. “Pachhai Nirame” brought out a great singer in
Hariharan modulating his voice effortlessly for various moods sketched out in
the song. The theme song “Alaipyuthey” is another great example of ARR’s
ability to turn classical tunes to feet-tapping modern tunes.
8. Ayudha Ezhuthu (‘Yuva’ in Hindi)
A completely underrated movie and music album for Mani-ARR combo standards,
this one challenged ARR by demanding songs for 7 completely different
situations. The standout song “Jana Gana Mana” is as patriotic as his “Vande
Mataram” album. A vernal “Fanaa” makes everyone who is out of college, feel
nostalgic. A folk in the form of “Sandai Kozhi” established ARR as an
all-rounder.
9. Kandukondain Kandukondain
This album of ARR is the best melody collection of ARR, next to ‘Duet’. The
anxious “Enna solla pogirai” would break the hearts of all men who are waiting
for a positive answer from their ladies. The romantic “Kandukondain
Kandukondain” (though poorly visualized) brought the best lyrics out of
Vairamuthu. The mellifluent “Konjum Mainakkale” takes melody to another level
that people had not seen since “Thalapathy” of IR (Ilayaraja) days.
It would be impractical to list all of ARR’s albums though most of them are of
extremely high quality. Some of those that are worth mentioning are “Pudhiya
Mugam”, “Karuthamma”, “Kadhal Desam”, “Minsara Kanavu”, “Jeans”, “En Swasa
Kaatre”, “Rhythm”, “Kannathil Muthamittal”, “Boys”, “Sillunu Oru Kadhal”. These
movies also have some great compositions that would never die with time,
thereby distinguishing ARR from the rest. Ending on a positive note, I think we
might also witness him selling more than a billion records making him the most
records selling artist in the world.
http://www.behindwoods.com/features/visitors-1/a-r-rahman-30-05-09.html
New Email names for you!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!
http://mail.promotions.yahoo.com/newdomains/sg/
