6 days after his birthday, A.R.Rahman, the Mozart of Madras, received the one of the best gifts he could ever imagine. The ultimate is yet to come. But, there is something strange in this situation. Do remember, before you continue, that I am a die-hard fan of ARR.
Barring Mausam & Escape, none of the other tracks are really fresh or breath-taking compositions. Ringa Ringa has traces of 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai' and 'Chamma Chamma'. Gangsta Blues is just a 50-cent or Eminem version of Sivaji's 'Oru Koodai' with a repetitive 'Me no care, Me no stare'. 'Riots' is nostalgic by bringing back images of the re-recording for 'Roja,' especially the scene where the camera judiciously follows the thread size lanes of Kashmir or the riot scenes in 'Bombay'. The worst of the tracks was Millionaire - a run-of-the-mill concoction of music from software mixing suites! 'New York Nagaram' from 'Jillunu Oru Kaadhal' , a very difficult composition with intricately synthesized sounds, is what Rahman should be doing more of.
After throwing bricks at the aforementioned numbers, I must say something about Mausam & Escape. A true gem from Rahman. An amazing exhibition of the Sitar's power at extracting adrenaline from the listener - this track shows that Indian instruments too can be effectively used to convey some violent emotions. Before the music aficionado can dispose that statement as meaningless, just imagine, can an ensemble of traditional music instruments or Indian classical music complement the scene? I doubt. Only western classical has been successful so far, or at least been used. This track also shows Rahman's capability at mixing a harmonic orchestra ensemble with synthesized music - an art form that another great, Hans Zimmer, is called the Father of.
Anyway, back to my point - what is it that helped ARR despite this not being his best set?
The Movie: Slumdog showed the world, what they wanted to see. Mumbai was fresh in the minds, a dirty India is always fresh in the mind of the western public and most importantly, it was the speed of storytelling. I call it the 'Brit Speed' - these guys have an uncanny knack of racy storytelling. Richard Attenborough's Gandhi panned through the Mahatma's eventful life in true Brit Speed. Hardly has a movie been made by Indians that could be immediately taken to the world audience.
The Language: Were it a movie in any other language, it would have been categorized as a Foreign Film which would have eliminated composers, cinematographers etc. Being an Enlgish movie, and thankfully shot by a British, helped. We do make English movies, but the less said about them, the better. English needs to be spoken by native speakers to strike a chord with the audience and critics abroad. This is understood by the Americans and British, not us, at least not yet. All India based English movies have their protagonists as native English speakers, who have the accent needed. Only the supporting cast is Indian. Eat this - Shah Rukh was approached for Slumdog, for Anil's role. Mahatma Gandhi was played by Ben Kingsley. It is time our film-makers understand this.
The Genius: Despite my earlier comments about the tracks not being great, there are still some sparks in each of the tracks where Rahman's signatures come alive. Jai Ho has a brilliant instrumental start, and a tuneful rendering of 'Jai Ho' by Rahman that pull up the otherwise typical Bollywood number. In fact, I can bet that if his compositions for previous movies like 'Dil Se' and 'Bose - a forgotten hero' and selected tracks from others, were riding on good Hollywood or well-made Anglo-Bollywood movies, a Globe and an Oscar should have been in his shelves by now. Pity that it took him 17 years to get one! Hope he completes the run with an Oscar as well!
Barring Mausam & Escape, none of the other tracks are really fresh or breath-taking compositions. Ringa Ringa has traces of 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai' and 'Chamma Chamma'. Gangsta Blues is just a 50-cent or Eminem version of Sivaji's 'Oru Koodai' with a repetitive 'Me no care, Me no stare'. 'Riots' is nostalgic by bringing back images of the re-recording for 'Roja,' especially the scene where the camera judiciously follows the thread size lanes of Kashmir or the riot scenes in 'Bombay'. The worst of the tracks was Millionaire - a run-of-the-mill concoction of music from software mixing suites! 'New York Nagaram' from 'Jillunu Oru Kaadhal' , a very difficult composition with intricately synthesized sounds, is what Rahman should be doing more of.
After throwing bricks at the aforementioned numbers, I must say something about Mausam & Escape. A true gem from Rahman. An amazing exhibition of the Sitar's power at extracting adrenaline from the listener - this track shows that Indian instruments too can be effectively used to convey some violent emotions. Before the music aficionado can dispose that statement as meaningless, just imagine, can an ensemble of traditional music instruments or Indian classical music complement the scene? I doubt. Only western classical has been successful so far, or at least been used. This track also shows Rahman's capability at mixing a harmonic orchestra ensemble with synthesized music - an art form that another great, Hans Zimmer, is called the Father of.
Anyway, back to my point - what is it that helped ARR despite this not being his best set?
The Movie: Slumdog showed the world, what they wanted to see. Mumbai was fresh in the minds, a dirty India is always fresh in the mind of the western public and most importantly, it was the speed of storytelling. I call it the 'Brit Speed' - these guys have an uncanny knack of racy storytelling. Richard Attenborough's Gandhi panned through the Mahatma's eventful life in true Brit Speed. Hardly has a movie been made by Indians that could be immediately taken to the world audience.
The Language: Were it a movie in any other language, it would have been categorized as a Foreign Film which would have eliminated composers, cinematographers etc. Being an Enlgish movie, and thankfully shot by a British, helped. We do make English movies, but the less said about them, the better. English needs to be spoken by native speakers to strike a chord with the audience and critics abroad. This is understood by the Americans and British, not us, at least not yet. All India based English movies have their protagonists as native English speakers, who have the accent needed. Only the supporting cast is Indian. Eat this - Shah Rukh was approached for Slumdog, for Anil's role. Mahatma Gandhi was played by Ben Kingsley. It is time our film-makers understand this.
The Genius: Despite my earlier comments about the tracks not being great, there are still some sparks in each of the tracks where Rahman's signatures come alive. Jai Ho has a brilliant instrumental start, and a tuneful rendering of 'Jai Ho' by Rahman that pull up the otherwise typical Bollywood number. In fact, I can bet that if his compositions for previous movies like 'Dil Se' and 'Bose - a forgotten hero' and selected tracks from others, were riding on good Hollywood or well-made Anglo-Bollywood movies, a Globe and an Oscar should have been in his shelves by now. Pity that it took him 17 years to get one! Hope he completes the run with an Oscar as well!
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