”Desam” is the dubbed Tamil version of “Swades”. The movie is simultaneously releasing in Tamil in Tamilnadu and so as the album is also made in Tamil. For A.R.Rahman it is not any big task. Of course he is only music director whose music crossed all linguistic and regional barriers in India.
Success of such albums definitely is in the hands of the lyricist. For any lyricist writing lyrics for dubbing movies would be the most challenging job. Composer doesn’t have much pain as he has to just concentrate on choosing the right person to sing the song which will best suit the taste of regional audience and also match the characters on screen.
A lyricist has lot of constraints while writing lyrics for a dubbed song. They are
~ He has to convey the same meaning in the lyrics as that in the original version without losing the nativity of the original song and also nativity of the region where it is dubbed to.
~ He has to select proper words which sound similar to the words used in Hindi and yet convey the same meaning so that on screen the lip movement synchs as close as possible
~ He has to sacrifice his freedom of thought, as he might have given better meaningful lyrics for the situation if it were a direct song. Here there is no other go; he has stick to the words and the meaning of the lyrics in the original
~ He should not translate it word by word which will sound irritating to the listeners.
~ With all the above constraints he has to come up with rhyming words suiting the tune and rhythm of the song.
Veteran Lyricist Vaali who has been writing lyrics for past 40 years in Tamil films has taken up this tough job. Does he meet our expectations? To be honest, he is too good at some places which makes you admire his skills to play with meaningful words and too bad at some other which makes us how did the same pen inked such words. I think “Uyire (Dil Se)” was the best dubbed album in Indian film music ever for which Vairamuthu penned the https://lyrics. Really we miss Vairamuthu in this album. But the songs are not too bad or irritating either.
Same can be said about A.R.Rahman’s choice of singers. He gives us surprises by giving songs to veterans like SPB, Yesudas and Chitra and shocks and disappoints us by making Madhusree to sing two songs and kill Tamil language to the maximum possible limit. I don’t know why the hell he goes to Madhusree again and again. I accept she has a good voice but her pronunciation spoils the entire song. The most surprising and apt choice of voice is T.R.Mahalingam for “Unnai Kelai (Yuhi chala)” song. I think he sang a song for A.R.Rahman some ten years before. He is the right alternative for Kailash Kher. Another surprise is a new singer Aslaam, he has a unique voice and good at rendition. He has two songs in this album.
Thenana Munana ( Yeh Tara Woh Tara)
SPB, Vignesh, Pooja
We can’t think of any other singer except S.P.Balasubramaniam to sing this song to perfection. He makes this song even more melodious. His voice is still young and refreshing. Though the meaningless words “Theenana Munnana kunana” added to match the rhythm of the song disappoints high time in the first line, it turns more meaningful and fitting with simple words as the song proceeds. As Master Vignesh is basically a Tamilian he voice fits Tamil version too. Pooja’s voice is cute.
Kaveriya Kaveriya (Sanwariya Sanwariya)
Madhusree
A.R.Rahman has done a major blunder by making Madhusree to sing this song. He should have given it to Chitra. Lyrics are good again except the first two lines which are purposely added to sound similar to those words in the Hindi version.
Unnai Kelai (Yuhi Chala)
Hairharan, T.R.Mahalingam, Aslaam
Hariharan is known for his crystal clear Tamil pronunciation and he is an obvious choice. T.R. Mahalingam voice is a stunning alternative for Kailash Kher. Aslaam is refreshing in his debut album. Apart from the singers, the alaps are quite different from that of Hindi version and even the tune differs a bit at some places to make the words fit into the song. Vaali has come up with some flawless lyrics for this song. It nowhere makes you feel like a dubbed song.
Thai Sonna Thalattu (Ahistha Ahistha)
K.J.Yesuda, Madhusree
K.J.Yesudas mesmerizes with his divine voice who has already gave us an immortal lullaby “Kannae Kalamanae”. He puts even more octaves to the words than Udit. On the flip side, Madhusree spoils again in this song. Even Sadhana would have a better job. The lyrics are not up to the mark.
Unthan Desathin Kural (Yeh Jo desh tera)
A.R.Rahman
Of course we can’t think of anybody else singing this song except ARR. ARR does it again in Tamil version too with soulful rendition of the lines. This song has the best Tamil lyrics in the album. The inclusion of word “Tamizha” brings the song more close to nativity. Especially the thirds stanza is good. “Ayal Nadunthan Veedalla Viduthiyada Tamizha” is an impressive line with simple words.
Malai Mega Vanna (Pal Pal Bahari)
Chitra, Srinivas, Srinivasa Murthy
Chitra in A.R.Rahman’s music after a long gap. She has done full justice to this devotional number. She is even better than Madhusree at some places in expressive rendition. Srinivasa murthy who replaces Asuthosh’s voice is not impressive and even the lyrics fails badly in this part. Overall the lyrics is just average but this is really a tough song to translate.
Ketenna (Dekho Na)
Aslaam, Sadhana Sargam
Aslaam the new find of A.R.Rahman has done a great job in this song. Sadhana has improved a lot in Tamil pronunciation and good at rendering this soft melody. Funny thing is that “Dekho Na” is actually reused tune of “Baba kithutha” song from Tamil movie “Baba” and this comes back to Tamil again with a different arrangement. So we have two songs with same tune but different https://lyrics. Lyrics is good and suits well to the romantic mood of the song.
The album also has the two instrumentals that we had in Hindi album.
Now, with everything being said about, Is the album worth buying? To this question I can’t give a single answer for all kind of readers. It has four different answers
If you are reader who says
“I already have Swades album in Hindi. I know Hindi. I don’t know Tamil”
Well the answer is obvious. Don’t go for this album. But there are some ardent ARR fans those who collect all his albums what ever the language may be, for those I would say buy the album at your own risk.
“I already have Swades album in Hindi. I don’t know Hindi. I know Tamil”
We music lovers down south never failed to buy Rahman’s Hindi albums as he gives best there and also he rarely composes music in Tamil films nowadays. Well the review and the album are just for you. You will enjoy the songs more in Tamil version as you can understand the https://lyrics. Go and grab your copy of “Desam” immediately.
“I haven’t heard Swades. I know Hindi. I don’t know Tamil”
First of all, buy the original version - “Swades”.
“I have / haven’t heard Swades. I know both Hindi and Tamil”
Better you go for Hindi version and you need not buy the Tamil version.
Which category of reader you fall under?
