Music has the power of uplifting the soul. Even in the most depressed state of mind, there is a piece of music out there in the world that can make you believe in love, or be that companion of loneliness to you... I believe A.R. Rahman is blessed with divine power. His music rises above the mundane and touches that which is heavenly and other-wordly. Many of his creations have power; power to uplift my soul. There are pieces of his which don't agree with my aura and musical colors but I'm sure they would agree to someone else out there, so I don't mind them either. Today morning, on my way to office, I was sitting and listening to Radio City, while my mind was mired with deep and unpleasant thoughts. A song of his played out and it surprised me that a song could lift me almost physically out of the confused state of mind I was in at that time. That is when I decided that I'd list on my blog 10 Hindi songs of AR's that had that power to uplift me. There are many many other compositions of his, other than just these 10 that I've listed, but then I'll need a lot of space to mention all of them, so I thought that 10 was a good number. All these songs come from superb albums and I had a tough time choosing which of the songs I should feature from the album. Some of you may definitely not agree with my choices, but then as I said, these songs are the ones that have mattered most to me, and may not be the popular pick of the album. I made conscious decisions to pick only one song so that I could feature 10 different albums also in the list - choosing the one best song out of a fantastic album is impossible, especially when the album is A R Rahman's creation. And I deliberately avoided the Tamil,Telugu,Malayalam compositions and am featuring only the Hindi songs. Here is the result (in no particular order): 1. Paatshaala (Rang De Basanti): RDB is an album that's grown on me these past few weeks. I've spent some time on each song, getting besotted with it, and then moved to the next. I chose Paatshaala for the list because this is the first one to hit me out of the blues. Listen to it when you are in a complacent state of mind, or simply bored. It inspires you with force; force of togetherness and strength. The other contenders from the same album for a place on my list were Tu bin bataye, Khalbali, Be a Rebel (Paatshaala's English version) and Rang De Basanti (Title song). I just love all of them for their uniqueness: Naresh Iyer's voice in Tu bin bataye when he sings "Mann Ki Gali", the waves in AR's voice in Khalbali, the contagious "Say Hoi Oh Hoi" in Be a Rebel and the crazy freedom in Rang De Basanti. 2. Dekho na (Swades): Can love be better than this? I realized the quietness of love through this song. Being together with that loved one, and saying nothing, but gazing at the stars (like Shahrukh and Gayatri Joshi in the movie) while holding hands. The epitome of companionship. While I love each song of Swades, the other contenders were Ye Tara Wo Tara (for the inspiring lyrics by Javed Akhtar - "boond boond saagar he, warna he saagar kya he", "rang hote akele tho indradhanush banta hi nahin"), Aahista Aahista (Udit never sounded better), Pal Pal Hai Bhari (again lyrics: "Mann se Raavan jo nikale, Ram uske mann me he", and Madhushree's voice). 3. Fanaah (Yuva/Ayudha Ezhuthu): This is the song that came on Radio City today morning. A song with no beginning, and no end... no antara, mukhda, pallavi, anupallavi as I see it. Techno music at its best. Waves of brute force accompanied by drum beats, AR's and Sunitha Sarathy's gay abandon. Makes me want to just let my hair loose and go crazy... The Yuva/Ayudha Ezhuthu album is a technical marvel (listen to Dol Dol). All the songs are on the top, but I chose Fanaah for its sheer power. There is too much to say about the other songs, so I let silence speak :) 4. Saathiya (Saathiya/Alaipayuthey): I prefer the Pachai Nirame song in the Tamil version of Saathiya - Alaipayuthey. Sonu Nigam is a gr8 singer, but Hariharan in Pachai Nirame is to die for. Again, choosing Saathiya/Pachai Nirame when the album contains Chupke Se/Snegidhane is difficult. But the wavy melody in Saathiya is crazy... it transports me to a different world altogether, each time I hear it - I smell fresh green leaves, wet earth, cool breeze and flowers, even in the midst of the IT concrete jungle where I actually sit. And the synergy of colors in the tamil version (they didn't quite achieve it in Hindi) with the video, makes it one of the best videos ever made. 5. Radha Kaise Na Jale (Lagaan): Aah. The plight of every woman in love. Lagaan is a milestone album, but I think Radha kaise na jale is Rahman's best work in it. From the sound of the dandiya sticks, to the pure flute at the end... for those 5 minutes of listening, I inevitably soak in the mire of feelings it evokes - The besotted Radha in a quagmire of anger, jealousy and fury, combined with total devotion and love to Krishna, complaining about his affection for and the attention he receives from gopis, and he in turn, assuring and pacifying her with his love and smart repartee. Saroj Khan's dance movements in the song were amazing, esp. at the end where Aamir gives a naughty knowing look, while he mouths "Kahna ka pyaar kisi gopi ke mann me jo pale, kisliye Radha jale, Radha jale, Radha jale?" 6. Thaiyya Thaiyya (Dil Se): Strangely, I love this song the most in the entire album, much above the popular Chaiyya Chaiyya version. I felt this version was more pure, emotional and invoked the burning angst of love. Sukhwinder's voice is passionate, and transcends levels above excellent. Jiya Jale, and Ae Ajnabi from Dil Se are also outstanding compositions, but Thaiyya Thaiyya for me takes the cake. 7. Ramta Jogi (Taal): Hear this song to understand the technical effulgence of Sukhwinder Singh - this is one of his best songs. Creative brilliance from Rahman. One never knows when and where the song's pace changes - at one moment its the jogi in a drunken stupor reflecting on his love, and in the next moment, the music gains pace and reaches a crescendo where passion play meets racy love... Alka is also brilliant in this song. Taal se Taal mila (the original) also has some impressive vocals by Alka and Udit, but Ramta Jogi is outstanding. 8. Mangta He Kya (Rangeela): Aiyaiyo. If someone asks me to choose a fav Rahman song, I would really tear my hair out. This song starts on a chorus of "Jadoo" and unintelligible vocals... but it succeeds in setting a magical environment around you. Swetha Shetty's voice in this song is wisp-like and raucous by turns, and AR blends her voice with his own to create a startling synchronized effect. Music is total techno...I wasn't much appreciative of some part of the visuals of this song, like the part where they travel on a sofa in the sky. But the choreography at the start of the song, and at the end, justify the song completely. 9. Kuch bhi na socho (Bombay): Bombay is the first album with which I fell in love, with Rahman's music. I remember, I was in school in the 11th and I had some 50 rupees with me as pocket money. Went to the audio cassette store, and in a nervous voice, asked for Bombay - "the hindi version please". The guy handed over an audio cassette with a black,grey and red cover featuring Manisha and Arvind Swamy costing Rs. 26/-, yes, that's right :) That was of course when I'd never heard of a term called MP3 and couldn't even dream of a contraption called the iPod.
Kehna Hi Kya, Tu Hi Re, Hamma Hamma, Kuchchi Rakma are all deserving candidates on this list. But I reserved the place for the one song that I've always felt got less credit than it deserved. This is a crazy piece, filled with the innocence and playfulness of childhood; the music is a mixture of different voices, and creates calculated and beautiful chaos. The interlude of the baby gurgles is what makes this song so remarkable. Listen to it, and be transported into the world of children; without guile and the fallacies of life... 10.Yeh Hasin Wadiya (Roja): The pièce de résistance. The visuals of the song were very different from what I would have picturized it. I would see the romance of love in a night environment, complete with stars, the moon, candle light, and the twinkle in the lover's eyes. Mani Ratnam picturized this song in snowy locales and actually presented to me a different picture. The heavy chill that the music at the start conveys were justified by the visuals of the snow capped mountains, and the wonder in the eyes of the innocent, naive just-married bride. The music is everlasting. A worded symphony in the sensual tones of S P Balasubramaniam and the silvery voice of K S Chitra. When I first heard the tamil version of the song, I was amazed - didn't think that music like that existed ever before. Little did I know that it was just the beginning of creation for Rahman... For those of you who're interested in knowing everything about Rahman, visit http://members.tripod.com/gopalhome/arrbio.html" title="http://members.tripod.com/gopalhome/arrbio.html" target="_blank"http://members.tripod.com/gop... and read about his biography and details till the year 2002.
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