Monday, April 24, 2006

Thoughts...

Long hiatus in some original ARR posting. Thinking up a topic to write about should probably be blamed for the hiatus. However, this time I'm probably going to be questioning ARR. One big big question I have for ARR is that why use singers who obviously don't know the language to sing in it? I remember the usage of Udit Narayan in Kaadhalikkum Pennin from Kaadhalan. His diction sucked, but it was such a cute song, that it didn't matter too much. This habit of using non-Tamil singers for Tamil songs has been questioned several times, but people while not completely appreciating it, continue to listen to it. I am one of these people. I did not like Haiyo Pathikichu from Rhythm at all because of Udit Narayan. I love the song, but everytime I hear his voice I cringe. There's also his work in Kuluvalile Mottu from Muthu. For the most part Sadhna Sargam's diction is phenomenal, but Madhushree's Sand kodi kodi... just blew! The original version wasn't too bad, but when she sang the song for the Tsunami event, hoo boy! What I'm really trying to say here is that there is immense talent in Tamil Nadu itself for Tamil singing. There are several bilingual singers who've made it big, both on their own and on account of ARR. Some of these people are Hariharan, Kavitha Krishnamurthi, Srinivas, and the latest Naresh Iyer. When there are several singers who able to sing in Tamil, why resort to people who obviously cannot pronounce the words right. There are even several Malayali singers who sing in Tamil very well. But isn't it logical to use someone who is well versed in the language? That's my question.

My latest fav - Ale Ale. I know, an older number, but when listening to Boys I never got past Girlfriend. Was the rage hit when I first got to the USA. I still remember the whole crowd yelling when someone played GF at an Indian event. Man, that's the magic of ARR. Getting back to Ale Ale, I love, simply and totally love the way the song starts out. Another movie I haven't seen, nor do I have the intention of ever seeing it. I do know that the songs were picturised well. I did get to see the Ale Ale , and well it isn't as bad as Anbe Aaruyire. The split sound of the the string instrument in the beginning gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it.

I've been revisiting old numbers for the past few weeks, Paarthale Paravasam, Kaadhalan, Kaadhal Desam, mostly all his Tamil oldies. Another song that I've become addicted to is Baila More from Kaadhal Virus. I have not listened to this song before, and on the first hearing, I was like what is this?? Weird French stuff, Spanish words(baila more) sung by Indians followed up with Tamil lyrics. Sounds like a ''getting stoned'' song to me. :) Those who haven't heard it, this is another sample of ARR's experimentation. I think he based his I Wanna Be Free in Tehzeeb loosely on this. Or was it the other way around.

Anyways, waiting for Guru and Surya's JOK.

5 comments:

Aravind said...

He just uses them for a change, i think - to give a fresh new voice!

actually, if u see, ARR used sukhwinder for only 1 tamil song (thaiyya) - and that too patched up all the mistakes with sri ram's voice (u can notice the diff if u observe keenly). Even udit was used only for a few songs - unlike Vidyasagar, who made it a point to make udit sing in each of his albums...

True Blue Rahmaniac said...

But Aravind, there are so many very talented young singers in Chennai alone who could be used. I was not intending to compare ARR with any of the other Tamil MDs. I'm sorry but he's way past any of the others.

I do realise that ARR gives many many talented singers their first break. All I'm saying is that using Hindi stalwarts who cannot sing in Tamil just created more work for yourself and the end product could sound a little better. It took me quite a while to actually like Haiyo...

Ani said...

I guess I agree to both of you - but at the same time, I am so much more enthused about the music and so busy listening to the intricacies in it that I tend to forget/ignore the singer after the initial hearing of the song :-)

Well but I guess, we have at least something to criticise about this other perfect man :-)

Yes, now waiting for JOK and Guru ....the waiting is painful ...

-A

True Blue Rahmaniac said...

Ace,
Well I wouldn't go so far as to call it a criticism. More like an observation which could help making some of his compositions perfect. I did mention that Sargam does a pretty good job. Does anyone know when Provoked is going to be released?

Vijay Narain said...

hey thanks a lot for listening..I asked for ur yahoo id so we wudnt have to chat thru blogs:)(i don visit mine too often)