Chandan's Surmise: RahMania - Versatility of the Maestro

Continuing my discussion on Rahman’s soft romantic songs in this second installment of my take on his versatility, I will initiate this page with one of my favorite Rahman soundtracks – Bombay. When it came to soft romantic numbers, Bombay had two that I could mention here – “Kehna Hi Kya’ and “Tu hi re”. Amongst the two, I think Kehna Hi Kya stands out more owing to the variation in the notes as compared to “Tu Hi Re” which is mostly on the higher side and slower. Both are equally melodious but to me “Kehna Hi Kya’ makes for a more interesting listen. How can you just use guitar (bass and acoustic) , chorus and claps in the background with minimal use of other instruments (tabla and harmonium) and still make it so wholesome? That’s the magic of Rahman for you. Notice also how he makes a “yours truly” appearance in the song and the ease with which he contrasts the high notes with Chitra’s vocals.

Kehna Hi Kya - Bombay

This is one of the costliest song videos in bollywood and it is, by all means, worth a watch. As far as the song goes, this is where the word “versatility” takes its literal meaning for Rahman – in one song you hear him use minimal instruments and then in the other he uses a complete range of instruments creating an equally melodious tune with aplomb. Although, as is characteristic of Rahman’s style – one instrument sometimes gets extra weightage, the flute in this case and there is bountiful use of the bass guitar.

Ajooba – Jeans

Subhash Ghai’s Kisna might have bombed as a movie but its music charmed the audience and for the first time (and also the last) in bollywood music history Rahman teamed up with Ismail Durbar ( who I believe is the only composer who could have given Rahman a run for his money had he not forsaken composing and taken reality tv a little too seriously for a career – the music of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Kisna and Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya speak for themselves).Rahman had just composed this one song and 3 instrumentals for this movie while all the others were composed by Durbar but the magic of Rahman’s orchestra, Udit Narayan and Madhushree managed to propel this soothing melody to the top of the popularity charts.

Hum Hain Iss Pal - Kisna - the Warrior Poet

The next on my list would be a song from a movie called Meenaxi – a tale of 3 cities. This song beautifully rendered by Reena Bhardwaj has an inherent sweetness to it which makes it instantly likeable quite unlike most of Rahman’s tracks where it takes a few number of listens before you really start liking the song. So it’s the tenacity factor of Rehman that really puts him ahead of the race even though he seldom composes a catchy number – so you might not like his tunes instantly but when you do, they stay forever. This song has nothing extraordinary to mention about but it’s the sweetness that sticks around.

Yeh Rishta - Meenaxi –a tale of 3 cities

In the late 90’s and the early years of this decade, it seemed like Rahman had become monotonous and was at the lowest of his musical career with too many albums not striking the right chords with the audience before there was a reprise in the later part of 2003 when the music of Rahman had changed – had become more unpredictable and way more better. But even during the period of low, he showed spikes of greatness with the Oscar nominated movie ‘Lagaan’ which had everything going for it and where Rahman’s music made rural India from pre-Independence era gel unusually well with contemporary music. Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Vasundhara Das’ vocals in sync with Rahman’s characteristic bass strings and the bizarre fusion of rural Indian and soft western music make this one absolutely unforgettable and likeable.

O Re Chhori – Lagaan

Another unforgettable album during his lows that shaped a huge upward spike in the graph was “Saathiya” – one of the albums that lists as a favorite of most bollymusic admirers while the title song from the movie is an anthem for many RahManiacs. Rahman’s romance with the bass guitar continues in this song while Sonu Nigam’s vocals, the chorus, the flute, the violin and the acoustic guitar ornament it even more making it one heck of a song – absolutely amazing!

Saathiya – Saathiya