Ten questions for AR Rahman

1) There is a story going around that you were thrown out of your school. If that is true, how could you keep your mouth shut through this ? (Kindly read YGP's comments)

2) Why o Why did you have to begin your oscar acceptance speech with that 'joke' which left the audience shell shocked ? (Instead you could have said "thank you for providing me the 'Keys' which will open the door to hollywood." Atleast I would have laughed at it.)

3) How could you let Silambarasan touch those little goldies and rob them of whatever little significance they have?

4) Why so much respect for an award which has as a nominee for best film, Rab Ne.. "I have won an Oscar but Filmfare is Asia’s biggest award function so I am here." , when you could have so easily said , "Boss, listen, such functions are an absolute mockery of film awards". (But then you could have so easily said the same at the Oscars, and didn't.)

5)Why did you not slap a defamation law suit against those bleddy Americans who called you a Rack Man and changed your name from A R Rahman to A J Rahman? ( Though by letting one's imagination run a little, A J can be expanded as Allah Jesus, thereby promoting the message of peace that you hold so dear)

6) What is your fascination with using so many layers in your music? (Almost like saying : Layers, No song can have just one.)

7) For an individual who's otherwise so modest, why so much love for your music that you often let it drown the lyrics in a song? (Have listened to New york nagaram some 30 times and am yet to figure out the lyrics)

8) When was the last time you gave us a memorable Tamizh album? (as a small side question, when will you next?)

9) What , according to you, makes you the great genius you are? (A R Rahman fans appeasement question)

10) Do you have any questions for us?

Sorgame Endralum.. (Even the heavens... )

This is an attempt at adapting the evergreen song Sorgamae Endralum to the modern times. Before I commit that blasphemy, I would like to seek some retribution by first presenting the original lyrics. I would also like to apologize to the non - tamilian readers(I know.. I wish.. ) for the content which is possibly as alien to them as common sense is to George Bush.

M: Sorgame endralum adhu nammora pola varuma
Ennadu endralum adhu nam nattukku eedaguma
pala desam muzhudum pesum mozhigal tamizh pol inithiduma

Charanam 1

F: yerikarai kaathum yelelelo pattum inge edhum ketkavillaye

M: paadum kuyil satham aadum mayil nitham pakka oru solaillaye

F: vethalaya madichi maaman adha kadichi thuppa oru vazhi-illeye

M: odi vandhu gudichu mungi mungi kulichu aada oru odayillaye

F: ivvoru enna ooru nammoru romba melu

M: ada odum pala kaaru veen adambaram paaru

F: oru dhaagam theera yeedu moru

Sorgame endralum....

Charanam 2

M: maadu kannu meikka meyaradha paarka mandhaveli ingu illiye

F: aadu puli aattam pottu vilayada arasa maram medailliye

M: kaala reundu pooti katta vandi ooti gaanam pada vazhi-illiye

F: thozhigalai azhachi solli solli rasichu aatam poda mudiyaliye

M: oru yandhiratha pola ada inge ulla vaazhkai

F: idhe enge poyi solla manam ishta pada villa

M: nammoora pola oorum illa


Now comes the updated , and therefore downgraded, version.

M: Sorgame endralum adhu nammora pola varuma
Ennadu endralum adhu nam nattukku eedaguma
pala desam muzhudum pesum mozhigal tamizh pol inithiduma

Charanam 1

F:elliots beach kaathum deva gaana paatum inge edhum ketkalliye..

M:metti oli satham alaigal modum nitham paaka oru channel illaye

F:vethalaya madichi nalla adha kadhichi thuppa oru chuvaru illaye..

M:odum vandhiya idhichu mama adha pidichu escape aaga vazhi illaye..

F:ivvooru enna ooru nammooru rambha melu..

M:ada odum pala bar u, veen adambaram paaru..

F:oru daagham theerka edhuku beer u..



Sorgame endralum....

Charanam 2

M: maadu kannu meika mayor adha paarka mandhaveli ingu illaye

F: chinna thambi gaptun theerpa eduthu solla arasa maram medaillaye..

M: thanni konjam aethi katta rendu oatti vaazhum vaazhka puriyalaye

F: vaadhiyaara kalaichhu solli solli sirichu aatam poda palli illaye

M: oru thanthiratha pola ada inge ulla vaazhka

F: inge dhinam poi solla manam ishta pada villa

M: nammoora pola oorum illa

Picture (im)perfect

If you had watched the broadcast of Andrum Indrum Endrum, Illayaraja's live performance in Chennai a year back, on Jaya TV I am sure you will have been haunted by that lovely tune they played each time they went for an ad break. It was Ilayaraja at his mesmeresing best, not exactly a rare occasion, but almost always a breathtaking one. If however I were to ask you which movie the song appears in, I am sure you would draw a blank. I chanced upon the video while skipping through the channels, on Sun Music of course, and trust me I was totally taken aback. Waltzing, kidding of course, it can be described as walking at best, to that tune was Vijayakanth at his young and dashing best, kidding again, and a heroine whose vivacious face and curvaceous body, sorry couldn't resist it (i meant the kidding part) , left me wondering how she wasn't touted as Kollywood's answer to Parveen Babi. And the name of the movie: Auto Raja. Pretty sure that the makers of the movie Auto had this name in mind before having to settle for a more mundane Oram Po, thanks to Kalignar's tax sop to all movies titled completely in Tamizh. That he forgot to mention which dailect of Tamizh and the wonderfully creative titles which came up because of this ruling is another story altogether.



Coming back to the issue of the picturisation of the above mentioned song, it is indeed a sad situation that this is not limited to just this song but to almost all of Illayaraja's classics. Atleast in the times of MSV and before there was never a great effort made because the tunes were simple and the lyrics all powerful. Though the lyrics remained equally poignant through Illayaraja's times, the directors decided that mere walking around wouldn't be enough and they had to jazz it up with dance routines. While the intentions may have been honest,the songs suffered. Often these days, I find myself hurriedly switching channels when I come across an old Illayaraja song being aired because I do not want my love for the song be diminished by the jarring visual.

To repeatedly watch a Karthik or Murali, or even worse some unknown face, try horribly to match step with the tune is a punishment which I wouldn't wish even on my enemy. At times I wonder how Illayaraja could allow for such blasphemy. Here's a genius belting out one masterful tune after another, only for it to be picturized in such a ridiculous manner. Would he not possibly envy the Harris' and Yuvans of today whose songs are made to appear, pun intended, much better than they actually are. How Shankar might have handled a "mayanginen Solla thayanginen" or a "kadhal kasukadaya", if you haven't seen these songs on television blame it on the lack of visual appeal, is a rather intriguing thought. Would he have still gone for those gigantic sets or instead understood the innate brilliance of the song and kept the picturization simple and hence enhance its appeal? Would "podhuvaga en manasu.. " song include some umpteen jaw dropping moves if picturised on Vijayrather than the rustic feel given to it in the actual movie? These are questions which one might say are best left unanswered. One supposes its pretty much the same with Illayaraja's songs. One just wishes they had gone "unpicturized".

Musicals

This is not about the mega budget dance and song extravaganzas which appear from time to time in Hollywood (and strangely is the description given to any Indian, or should I say Bollywood, movie in the western media). This is about the ones which last for barely a minute and appear on TV. Of late there have been quite a few commercials which have depended almost entirely on their music, to succeed. Two such which stand out and I guess this qualifies as success are strangely from the same field, mobile service providers: Airtel and Vodafone.

When, AR Rahman whose initial works include some memorable ad jingles, Leo coffee being one of them, signed up as brand ambassador for Airtel after having refused to enter the ad market till then, it caused a flutter in the industry. The question being raised was whether he was still in touch with the world of commercials to be able to churn out one more hit. He answered it in style with his theme for Airtel which , 3 or 4 years after its introduction, still creates an impact each time its on air. The sheer range of visuals it has accompanied and the perfect changes (though slight) made to the original to suit the mood, and yet not diluting the flavor of the original bears testimony to the brilliance of the composition.

Vodafone, from the Hutch days, though not boasting of a high profile composer ( at least not one I am aware of) has relied on its music to add immense value to its ads and has come out trumps. The "you and I" track remains one of the most hummable ad tunes in recent times , though sadly it is currently "out of circulation". The latest series of ads from Vodafone. on the additional services, are an absolute revelation. Highly imaginative and touching a chord with the common man in terms of the situations portrayed and yet managing to add on such a wonderful comic layer to it, is something not too many ads can boast of, certainly not those without any dialogues. This is where the accompanying music has played an amazing role, in the Art of Living ad more than the rest. The jingles manage to create a humor effect that has never been experienced before in such ads and with stupendous success.

If one were to draw a comparison between the advertisements of these two then one would have to say that while the Airtel jingle adds grandeur to majestic and moving visuals, the Vodafone ones create magic with, and not despite, their simplicity.

Musical Journeys

Rs 4.50 . The cost of the ticket from college to Chattram (supposedly the most happening place in Trichy). Its the worst time to travel in the city, Saturday evening. The traffic (yes Trichy isn't immune to it) is painful. The number of people in the bus can be calculated as total volume available/average volume of space occupied by a person +25 . The constant is to account for children who occupy lesser volumes, though there are men and women who more than make up for it and the 20 odd people who are footboarding at any point of time. By all means one would expect the mood in the bus to reflect irritation and uneasiness, constant bickering to support it and of course lots of cursing in low volumes about the uncle who keeps pushing people and trying to make more room for himself.

Lo and behold! The speakers start to crank up some noise. Slowly the music starts to drift into your ears. Hints of recognition strike the mind. And then the volume goes up and its that "kuthu" song from the super hit movie Dhool. People start drumming on whatever solid mass they can get their hands on. Its a pretty cacophonous atmosphere but then you can not help getting into the groove. Slowly and reluctantly your hands move towards the back of the seat in front of you and in a few moments you are totally in it. The song comes to an end and you wait impatiently for the next one to start. With these guys you never know the kind of collection. They can enthrall you with some of the best songs of all time or just squander the initiative and play a really arbid number and all the drumming will come to a sudden stop. This time however the theme seems to be the recent "kuthu" hits and everyone's happy to hum and drum along. No humdrum here though.

Normally one would be hoping for the journey to come an early end, but somehow the mood is so uplifting that you pray for the bus to get into a traffic snarl. However as it so happened the bus driver seemed as charged up as we were and put one heavy feet on the accelerator and appeared never to want to take it off. The destination was reached in double quick time and light years quicker than what i had hoped for.

May the person who thought of the whole idea of songs on buses live long.

P.S In the eventuality that the person is dead, may he enjoy the company of the apsaras in heaven.