Well said, buff! Ratnam gives Rahman's music the respect it deserves and more, in most if not all of their work together. They are unique and will remain in a special place in the history of Indian Cinema.
--- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Indmov Buff <indmovb...@...> wrote: > > This is partly in response to a comment on the TOI article about AR focussing > on > Hollywood only from now on (which I don't believe fully yet). The comment > said > how the reader was "disappointed with the fact that Mani Ratnam asked for 3-4 > tunes for the same lyric. Mani shud have first had a strong script and > screenplay before kicking off the movie. I personally think that Mani WASTED > rahman's time with the half-baked script of Raavan." > > My understanding was that AR gave most of his directors more than one tune to > choose from. And I remember AR mentioning at the audio release function of > Raavan that the music was put together quite quickly so I am baffled at this > article. > > And I am not sure I can say that music that comes from the Mani-ARR camp is > anyone's waste of time or effort. Raavan (despite its flaws) is a cinematic > masterpiece. The treatment of AR's songs in the movie was unique, beautiful > and > more importantly a vital part of the narration in many ocassions. > > For eg > > Behene De, a key moment in the narration. We are introduced to Raavan's > feelings > towards Ragini for the firt time and so is he. He is amazed, intrigued and > attracted. It is in this song that the two most important dialogues of the > movie are said. One where beera (in response to raagini's question about why > he > didn't kill her after she jumped off) tells Ragini that he was going to, but > that someone had re-written that piece of fate, unfortunately for him. And in > response to this Raagini tells him that to make a note now that how she will > be > the one responsible for his death, his fate- which was indeed the case at the > end of th movie (irrespective of the circumstances). > > Kalvare/Khille Re: An elegantly shot love song between a husband and his > wife. > Tastefully choreographed by Shobhana and again an important part of the > narration because it's the only time we get to see Ragini's relationship > with > Dev. She essentially is seducing him in the song and also there is a sense of > Ragini's god-like (blind) devotion to Dev. Again, a very important piece of > information for the movie's narration because it is the only window into the > Dev-Raagini relationship. > > The haunting Ranhja Ranjha in the movie was yet again a beautiful reflection > of > Raamayan. We see Ragini battling the demon in Ravana and trying to escape his > clutches. He never touches her. Only his hands run over her body as if > drawing > out her space. There is a lot of tension in that scene which can be > interpreted > in many ways. Again, lovely addition to the narration. > > Thok de is the only time we see that a strong sense of uprising amongst the > "lower caste" didn't only exhist amongst Beera and his family but amongst the > entire community of'Lal maati'. Again, a powerful addition to the narration. > > Kata Kata: The most significant moment in the movie forms the last part of > this > beautifully shot Mani Ratnam style wedding song. The song takes the audience > through both ends of the emotional spectrum, from the colourful and joyful > wedding processions to the cunning shooting of Beera which leads to the > series > of tragic incidents involving Jamuniya. > > Jaa Re - the killer track. Without this song, the climax of the movie would > be > half-dead. It evokes all the emotions that it should with the audience. The > freefall of Beera who dies (in his words) with immortal happiness. > > > I haven't commented on the cinematography of the songs since the scenes speak > for itself. So for me the entire Raavan soundtrack was used substatially in > the > movie to take the film forward. That's one of the biggest respect a musician > could get from his director. Without the songs, we would have no movie. Half > of > the narration was in fact in the movie. I'd rather have songs that > contribute > constructively to the narration like Raavan than those where you break into a > dream sequeance with a million dancers (however grand the scenaries are) to > start shaking your legs to AR's songs. The music and the master deserve much > more respect than that. >
