~Mozart of Madras~. Review on A.R. Rahman

Rough terrain to Success

Behind every successful story, you will find toiling, prayers; experiments by almighty which takes you through the tough terrain of penury etc.

One fine day the unsuccessful music composer (better known as musical instrument arranger) R K Shekhar died leaving his wife and three kids with no fortune. The middle child Dilip being the only man of the family (only eleven years old) started experiencing the heat of life. His childhood was no longer blessed with colours of life. His mind was full of music but he had to take care of his mother and sisters at the tender age. He started doing small jobs but finally he reached the door step of Maestro Music Director Ilaiyaraja (for whom R K Shekhar used to arrange musical instruments for long). Ilaiyaraja never forgot R K Shekhar who played a significant role in his journey to fame absorbed 15 year old Dilip as a Keyboard Player in his Orchestra. He continued to perform for Ilaiyaraja for almost ten years.

He always found solace in Pir Sahib who used to give him emotional support. When Dilip was 21 year old, Pir Sahib blessed the room where his father dead which Dilip converted into his first studio. The moment Pir Sahib told that he blessed the room, Dilip felt utmost tranquillity. At that instance he and his family embraced Islam. Dilip became Allah Rakha Rahman. For him, five times prayer a day is like going through death five times and born again with all purity leaving behind the baggage of disturbances. His search for divinity started flowing out as music – the music that rewritten the age old rules of music in Indian Screen. After seventeen years, with Golden Globe, BAFTA, Double Oscar, National Awards, Film Fare Awards – he gave us a seamless moment of private pride for every Indian!

The journey begins ----

Rahman started his career in Music Composition in film through Yodha (Malayalam Movie) and Roja (Tamil Movie). Yodha music was characterised by the assembly of sounds that was never heard in Malayalam Movies so far. Only two songs were there in the movie (even though three songs were recorded). ‘kunu kune –“ is a song based in Nepal. Malayalam language itself is quite rigid and not musical. Incorporating the Nepali rhythms and tones to a non musical language was a task by itself but Rahman displayed the qualities of a seasoned music composer with this debut. The second song “Padakali “ was all about the competition type of song sung in the rural kerala but there too Rahman’s choice of instrument and tunes were quite different. Unfortunately, Malayalam is not a language where in Music will not get noticed by rest of India. We know the story behind Roja! All of us felt the presence of unheard melodies after several years. Apart from the qualities of music, from Roja onwards Rahman displayed the fortitude to experiment with non popular singers. It was Minmini who sung the flagship song for Roja (It was her debut). He re launched Unnikrishnan, Unni Menon, Sujata, Hariharan and many more from the initial days itself when he was not established. Thanks for Mani Ratnam who backed up his decision. Rahman started breaking the conservative rules of music from 1992 onwards.

Bollywood ---

It all started with “Rangeela” where Rahman gave signature songs for Urmila Matondkar! To get noticed throughout the nation, Bollywood is the best launching pad. Rahman’s arrival brought new vigour, vitality and finesse and broadening the narrow horizons in which the bollywood music operated for long. Bringing fresh sounds, voices and instrumentation was his trademark. Famous film critic Mihai Chirilov opined about Lagaan’s music as “What blew me was the sophistication of his music, the sharpness of his beats and orchestral richness that was miles removed from the bollywood music I was exposed to”

Assembly of talent , culture ----

Rahman created a special “Mudra” (music mark) that was slowly being identified as a religion by itself in the world of melodies. He started collaborating with the best of the talents – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for Gurus of Peace, Andrew Lloyd Webber in Bombay Dreams etc. Indian classical music got a special place in the world of music always but it was Rahman who could create a niche position to popular Indian music in world map.

Many of us don’t know Rahman don’t know Hindi or Urudu. He speak Tamil and Simple English! But language of music suits him well and he is the master in the same. Rahman’s music personifies cross cultural pitch having strong grounding in diverse forms of music. Often we experience medley of musical influences from Rock to Jazz.

To quote a few, the hip hop groove uplifts a folksy “Genda Phool” (Delhi 6), just as reggae rhythm spliced through simple tune and turned into catchy “Dil hai Chota Sa” (Roja). In Delhi 6 you experience everything – Arabic to Jazz, Sufi to Bhajans – It encompass his magically eclectic approach and ability to harmoniously mix different genres. He uses western instruments to echo Indian sounds where as majority of musicians opt to try out the reverse.

As he is quite comfortable with the soul of music, it is easy for him to come up with traditional songs featuring diverse culture. I still find it hard to believe whether it is the same person given music for “Haji Ali Piya Haji Ali” and “Rang De Basanti” title song. Rang De Basanti title song is the modern symbol of Punjabi Music. It is not just ear candy but it is refreshingly modern in the way it updates traditional Punjabi rhythms to more contemporary sounds without losing the charm by downgrading the same to techno tracks.

Breaking Monopoly and recognising talent

Mani Ratnam took a huge risk when he had given chance to Rahman in 1992. Whether it was plan to break the monopoly of Ilaiya Raja or not is still a subject under debate. Rahman always tried to introduce new singers and given special status to brilliant orchestration masters. From Harshdeep, to Naresh Iyer to Benny Dayal ----- he always keep on introducing fresh talents and establish a free world where talents got recognised. He also gave lots of freedom for singers to improvise. The “laughter” in the song “Masakali” was proposed by Mohit Chauhan and Rahman did not show any hesitation. He is always in search for the best and acknowledged the same with pleasure.

For the first time in the history of Indian Film Music, the CD covers started featuring strange tributes like “Percussion – Shiva Mani”, “Flute – Navin”, “Guitar – Javed Ali” which is another signature of Rahman. He always respected individual performers and given due credit. Also, we saw his gesture when Sukhwinder was invited for Oscar Award function where he declared that in all his world tour Sukhwinder will be singing “Jai Ho”!

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