Ghajini

The opening of Kaise Mujhe is beautiful, when it opens you think you’re getting a dance number but it turns into this lilting piece with my latest favorite Benny Dayal who does a convincing job. Shreya Ghoshal, as usual, is amazing. Dayal’s high notes could have been a little better, but I honestly think if men didn’t sing so high, then women wouldn’t be forced to shriek. What is it with Indian music and considering women who can hold a high pitch, good singers. I had a friend once say that the only problem with most Indian music is that the women are singing so high that it gave her the same feeling that she gets when she hears nails being run down a blackboard. And I agree with her! Wholeheartedly! If men would sing at a lower pitch women would sound normal. As much as the instrumental version is beautiful, I think ARR should do instrumentals like he did for Bombay(Bombay Theme). I'd rather hear something other than the instrumental of a song from the same movie.

Guzarish, I think someone with a stronger voice would have been better. Sonu Nigam sounds great, doing what he does best, crooning. The song has ARR written all over it! Javed Ali….honestly sounds a little lackluster, like he’s just going through the motions. This song has a strong Enigma feel. I like the laid back feel to the song. I’m not sure I care for the lyrics however. Bas ek haan ki guzarish…Phir honge khushiyon ki baarish….chanda, aasmaan, baadhal, no chein…..very cliche! It feels like he ran out of lyrics and added an extra paas here and there. Very hummable however. Good one.

Talk about experimentation. Behka is all that and more. It starts out innocently enough. Karthik is just A-mazing in this one! I wasn’t so sure about this one when I heard it the first time. It sounded like the cd was skipping at that section where Karthik’s voice skips. I love the way he actually sounds like Aamir Khan in his stress on certain words. The sax interludes and other bits in this song are mind-blowing! This song gives me goose-bumps every time I hear the crescendo between 2:13 and 2:30. Between the drums and the sax at this point I’m in heaven. The sax literally follows the voice, throughout the song. And of course, the little treasures that ARR always hides in his songs keep popping up each time I listen to the song. It’s like listening to a new song each time I play it on different speakers. Love the end. It must be obvious by now that this one is my favorite in this album. The ones that I don’t get when I listen to the first time are the ones that end up being my favorites. It had a Main Aisa Kyun Hoon feel to it. Like the tone of the song was similar.

That’s one step for man and a giant leap for mankind….Houston, the eagle has landed. What the heck?!!!!!!! What on earth does it have to do with being Lattoo on your yaar? Is Aamir supposed to be playing Neil Armstrong? Last I heard he was playing a rich businessman called Sanjay Ramaswamy. Mazari Mazara Zimbabwe? Lyrics! I disagree with the general opinion that Ghoshal should only be singing lilters. I loved her singing in this one. It was different and suited her just fine. I think she should do more of the same. I didn’t care too much for the constant repetition of yaara yaara yaar aaya mera.

Aye Bachoo….nothing really stood out as exceedingly good or bad. Suzanne D’Mello’s same gal who sang for Slumdog Millionaire. Now that’s a movie worth watching. But in my opinion, the music trumps all. I broke out in goosebumps several times during the movie…..but more on that later. D’Mello’s done a good job. Fresh sounding I like the electric guitar work, and as always the ARR layering.

I don’t know if the songs occur in the same sequence and time in this movie as they did in the original Ghajini. When the songs from the original released, they were a big hit, I listened to them fairly often. I think only Oru Maalai and Suttum Vizhi were actually good. Of course that goes with Surya and the red clothes in my head. He was super cute, which may be why they were so popular. Drawing a parallel between the songs is not a very good idea but inevitable. Let’s see how they’re picturized. I just might watch this movie!

Yyuuvvrraajj

I was a little slower in acquiring the cd on this. Maybe it's the "Yaadein" of all the terrible Ghai movies I've seen. I only started listening to Taal's music some 4 years after it's release because I tried watching the movie and I couldn't sit through the first 10 mins of it. Well, that is something I do a lot lately, listen to ARR's music and never watch the movie. Except for Jodha Akbar for the scrumptious Hrithik, of course! Alright, the music of the numerologically appropriate Yuvvraaj, I think is pretty darn good. It seems to have the older ARR touch again I guess. I think all the songs are great except for maybe one, and that I'd probably attribute to personal taste. There are some albums that ARR has come out with that have 1 or 2 really good songs while the other 2-3 are mediocre...for ARR. They're great, but given that they are ARR numbers, you expect that extra sumthin sumthin. This allbum took me back to the days when every song in an ARR album was a huge hit and is still remembered.

I'm just going to go through in the order the songs appears in my ipod:

The opening notes of Tu Muskura remind of something that I just can't put my finger on. I think I would have liked the song much better if Shreya Ghoshal had sung it with maybe Naresh Iyer. I find Javed Ali's voice strongly resembles Kamaal Khan in this number, not a singer I'm a big fan of. No comment of Alka Yagnik's voice. Love the Spanish touch with the guitar...not something new that has been used in Bollywood numbers but beautiful nonetheless. Beautiful melody, beautiful use of chorus, interspersed with the singing, and beautful arrangement. I love this song overall, but I feel like some element is missing. Maybe I'm looking for a new take on ARR's own melodic arrangements.

The opening piece of Dil Ka Rishta until the singing starts is phenomenal. When ARR starts singing in English I get a strong whiff of 'Pray For Me Brother'. He's definitely got the American accent down pat. I hear Sonu Nigam very clearly, and ARR too, but I don't hear Roop Kumar Rathod, or maybe he's over shadowed, did he do swaras? When ARR does the swaras, I thought of how Anarkali opens from Kangalal Keidhi Sei and the way raagam sound the same. And because it is a Ghai movie I couldnt but help noticing that the last part with the chorus reminded me strongly of Kisna's Theme Chorus. This song was my initial favorite and is definitely going to remain on my playlist for a long time yet.


Mastam Mastam.....now this is the one song that hasn't still grown on me. It sounds like a kiddy song. What with all the growls and the meowing. Catchy, but I'll pass.

The Shano Remix reminded of the concept with Rang De Basanti Paathshaala and the Paathshala Remix, not the songs themselves. It looks like ARR's idea of a remix is actually slowing it down and adding rap to it. Not that I'm complaining. I'm not a big fan of rap per se, but now that I look back a lot of awesome ARR songs from as far back Kaadhalan has rap and I actually recall completely enjoying those songs! Especially in Endrendrum Punnagai.

Benny Dayal! Who is he? He's got the most divine voice! Malayali from MCC! He handles all languages with nary a trace of a Mallu accent! Shreya Ghoshal! need I say anything else!? This song definitely has the sumthin sumthin that was missing in Tu Muskura! The dreamy duet bit starting at 4:46 makes me break out in goosebumps! The music right after reminds me of So Gaye Hain. I love Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hain!!!

I like the original Shano Shano plenty. But I think ARR should just have one dance number. Not one and then a remixed one. I love the part where the female sings those 4 lines at 3:29, it makes for an awesome contrast to the rest of the song. The whole song makes me want to get on up and shake a leg.....on the floor.

And now for my favorite! Not surprisingly, after Manmohana in JA, my fave in this one is Manmohini (Morey). I love, simply, completely, and totally love the opening notes to this song. This is ARR at his best, only he could possibly put pure unadulterated Hindusthani singing with a softly played western dance number as the background and make it work! Mesmerised. That's exactly what I am. I wouldn't be surprised if not very many like it however. Purists definitely will not. And there are a heck of a lot of those out there.

I found Srinivas sounding a heck of a lot like Hariharan in Zindagi. Simple, beautful number again. There are a lot of melodies in this album and all of them really good. This is a great hummable tune.

You did realize that I left the Salman Khan "piece" out. Sorry, I didn't find anything new there. Unlike Lalkaar which had a beautiful background, due to my strong allergic reaction to Salman Khan, be it only his voice, I had to pass on this one.

I think I've said it all. In this day of stupor-inducing dance and remix numbers, ARR is a breath of fresh air. As always ARR is his own strongest competition. True Rahmaniacs will always expect that extra something from him. It looks like he's delivered it here.

Better Late Than Never!


This is probably going to be very different compared to all my other views because this comes after at least 6 months of release of the music alone. Having seen the movie before I got a chance to let the Rahman-effect grow completely had me shifting favorites, and of course the song that I didn’t really like moved up to a higher level. I’m just going to go with the order that I have on my pod.

Jashn-e-bahara is simply the most amazing song of ARR’s I’ve heard in a while. I’ve probably listened to it bazillion times by now and I love….simply adore this song. Classic as it should be given the context of the movie, yet new sounding. How does he do it? I know that this is supposed to have a singer with a lighter voice, but I still feel that that he could have a deeper sounding one. And I loved the video of the song. Hrithik didn’t look too weird with the ‘stache, just wondering if it was a real one though. Having Hrithik Roshan and ARR in one movie was the ultimate for me. The most annoying lip-syncing that goes on isn’t in this song and I really appreciated it. Beautiful. Just incredibly stupendous. The instrumental version is just as beautiful. Normally I don’t really have the patience for most instrumental numbers but this one I can listen to again, and again, and then some more.

In Lamhon Ki Daman was another beautiful song. I like the ups and downs that ARR takes the listener through. Sonu Nigam does great justice to the song, as usual, couldn’t have asked for a better singer. Madhushree however, even for the little bitty part that she sings, sounds surprisingly old. The song was also shot beautifully. A little Hindi-filmi in some areas, but with a couple who look as good as the pair on screen, I guess that could be overlooked. I wondered why only Rai does any lip-syncing but not Roshan. Nothing simple about this one, great flute work, as usual, I suspect by Naveen.

Mann Mohana is probably my favorite out of the songs in this movie. I don’t think the whole song was used in the movie unless it was edited out. I like the way that it moves from utter despair to contentment and even holds a little sensuality toward the end. Sort of follows the story line, atleast for the character Rai plays. It’s been a while since I’ve heard a devotional number since Pal Pal Hai Bhari – and before that Oh! Paalanhaare. All Gowarikar movies, looks like he likes some amount of divinity in his movies. Wait! But the best part of the song is yet to be mentioned. Bela Shende’s voice is flawless. Clear as a bell and young sounding. Between the voice, the flute interludes and divine music (both because of the devotional element and because ARR’s music is divine) and the awesome lyrics the song ends with, this can’t help to tie for the first place in my rankings for this movie’s music. The way Hrithik looks in the last two lines – lovestruck, awestruck – take your pick, is just the icing on the cake. Never cared for Rai’s acting, never will. She annoys the heck out of me during this song.

Azeem-O-Shah-Shahenshah is a good, solid piece. ARR flexes his drum muscles, wonder if Sivamani worked on this. I loved it when I first listened. Very large scale sounding, perfect for the “Mogul” of all Mughals. Very desi video, dancing in circles and all that. Some of the stuff that Hindi movie clichés are made up of. One of ARR’s immediately likable pieces. Reminded me of Oruvan Oruvan's opening

Khwaja Mere Khwaja- This song took several listenings and sheer will to reach the position of being liked. It’s not possible to have a movie about the most well-known and remembered Muslim emperors of India and not have a Muslim devotional number as well. I liked certain parts of the song and I still don’t like some parts of the song. There are some inconsistencies in the accent and pronunciation, that I think I’ve learnt to expect when ARR sings in Hindi. But more than the pronunciation, I don’t like the opening too much but it was picturised well with the twins, but the extreme nasal sounding singing in the interludes that ARR does, does not appeal to me. Otherwise, I love the interlude at 3:45 to 4:00, except for when I watch the video. It looks like a mass PT session on the ground. These guys looked like they had clay pots on their heads and the emperor gets hit by a very artificially computerized light and then he twirls around. I’m guessing it’s some form of dance that gets done when spiritually charged? Whatever said and done, you have to admit that Hrithik is a very graceful twirler. The beginning of the instrumental version is beautiful, and is reminiscent of Pyara Sa Gaon from Zubeidaa.

I’m still working on Ada, and the more news that I hear about it, I think I understand why I had the initial reaction to it. Maybe the flight I take next week will give me enough time to fall in love with this album as I did with Jodha Akbar.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Yep, I know it's been a looong while since I've posted anything. Just in a position where I fly so often with my computer and have to put up with so many empty hours. I'm back to blogging again. I think I'll go back and give Jodha Akbar a good go too, even though it has been quite a while since it released. It's an awesome album that I've had plenty of time to listen to as well. Well for right now, here's my 2 cents worth

When I compare the last 2 works of ARR I find that one surpasses the other in more than just one glaring aspect. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na seems to be exactly what you expect to not expect from ARR. It’s young, fun, yet has its haunting numbers. It reminded me of Rang De Basanti because there were the fun-filled tracks but the awesome Khoon Chala is an unforgettable “haunter”. That’s exactly how I feel about the Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai number rendered by Runa Rizvi. She sings it with a great amount of angst in her voice, somehow I wonder if college kids could actually feel that much in their increasingly brand conscious lives. Looking forward to videos. The song is made to sound simple yet is incredibly beautiful. This stands as my favorite, only because of its simplicity. She sounds great except for some points where I think she sounds annoyingly nasal.



Sukhvinder’s version of Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai brought back Raat Ki Dal Dal from 1947 Earth almost immediately. Slower, louder and less smooth than Rizvi’s version, still beautiful. However, something about Rizvi’s version just touches me more, just seems more poignant.

Nazrein Milana sounds more like something the cool kids would croon. Light, fun and extremely cool. Not pop cool, but actually cool with guitar work peppered with the electric guitar and the harmonica. And this, my friends, is what ARR is all about. He doesn’t do pop, he does cool. ‘Course his stuff becomes pop(ular) after we listen to it a couple of times, makes its way to the top 10 without fail. I can’t wait to listen to an ARR version of a rock song.

Now one thing that isn’t great about JTYNJ is the lyrics. And I say this right before I give you my view about Pappu Can’t Dance on purpose. The lyrics suck for this song. Is it funny? Heck yeah! But stupidly so. The song is as always great when it’s an ARR dance one. Different indeed from Yaakai Thiri, not quite as spell-binding, but pretty darn good nonetheless. I don’t really find that much of a difference with the remix.


Kabhi Kabhi Aditi was my initial favorite, possibly because I’d had the Rahman several listenings effect growing on me then. I read a review saying that it sounded uncannily like Musu Musu, the only thing I find similar between the two are the theme of the picturisation where the hero and his friends are trying to coax the heroine to at least smile. Just a little bit. Please? AND the words Kabhi Kabhi in this song and the title of that movie. Kind of like Yun Hi Chala from Swades in how likable it is on just one listening. I particularly like how he breaks the monotony of the song by having Ali whisper the lyrics. I wonder if Rashid Ali and Javed Ali are brothers. Javed Ali of Jashn-E-Bahaara fame? They sound fairly similar with their lighter voices.

What sounds like the title song of the movie, ARR does it again after the Jillendru Oru Kaadhal title song with Tu Bole. He refrains from using unnatural sounds and sticks to unadulterated Jazz that brings to mind the image of a smokey old restaurant/bar from the 60s. The only real ARR touch is the best – his voice! Soul food!

Looks like Rashid Ali is ARR’s latest favorite. I think Naresh Iyer would have been a better choice for Kahin To Hogi. Oh well! The Maestro knows best. After the cool, hip, dance, jazz and the haunting we have a soft romantic number with Kahin to Hogi. You’d expect Iyer here. No such luck. I guess after listening to all the variety, this just adds to it to make it an all-rounder. As much as it’s a nice song, I found it, to put it mildly, boring. I didn’t find anything different in it that hasn’t already been before by someone else.Talking about differences, Ada’s songs sounded like old Hindi movie songs. I was appalled to say the least. There are ARR touches everywhere, but Gum Sum ad Gulfisha sound like songs from the 90s before ARR trailblazed his way into Bollywood. I will discuss it further after having listened to it more. I’ve already been listening to it, maybe this is just one of those albums that I just might not like – I didn’t like Vandi Solai Chinnarasu or Parasuram either. More to come.