RMIM Archive Article "15".


From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian

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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: A.R.Rahman - A Rising star (in four parts)
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# Written and Posted by: Satish Subramanian (subraman@cs.umn.edu)  
# Partial Source: The Hindu internation ed. (interview)
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====================================================================== -- Part I -- A Rising Star - A.R.Rahman. Just half a dozen films old, already has a national award to his credit, and has millions of fans all over who are eagerly waiting for more from this young man in his early twenties.... that is A.R.Rahman for you, the latest sensation in the music world of the South! This is a short series on A.R. Rahman, in which you will see an interview with him (which appeared in "The Hindu") and some lyrics from the first few films for which he scored the music. Hope you will enjoy it! bye satish -- Here is the first part of the interview, which is followed by a small review of ARR's first Tamil film "Roja" (along with some lyrics (Tamil and Hindi). -- A Passion for Quality Music by S.R. Ashok Kummar (for `The Hindu') With his mop of dusky curls, t-shirt and jeans, he looks like a teenage college student, but the very first film for which he scored music fetched him the National Award. It and his subse- quent films were also musical hits. The young music director of the South, A.R. Rahman, who shot into limelight with "Roja" for blazing a new trial in film music, has grown in stature and in undoubtedly here to stay. Question: How did you come into films? A.R.Rahman: My father, R.K.Shekar, was a music director in Malayalam films. He assisted Salil Chowdhary, Devrajan and others. He died when I was nine. At 11, I came to the field, playing on the keyboards and later as an accompanyist. I worked under under various music directors in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam - Ramesh Naidu, M.S.Vishwanathan and Illayaraja. It started becoming a bit monotonous. I thought advertising would be a good alternative. This went on for three years. I built my studio and took to dif- ferent forms of music - pop, rock and so on. It was then that I met producer Tirlok Sharadha, cousin of ManiRathnam at a party. He (Mani) came to my studio and heard some of my tunes. We agreed to work together though we did not then decide on which movie.Only later he told me it was to be "Roja" which he was directing for K.Balachander. (to continue..) --- His first film was Roja which made everyone sit up and listen to him.. The music was very different from the usual fare that one was used to. Esp. striking was the use of chorus and the instruments in most of the songs. Film: Roja Actors: Arvind, Madhubala Lyrics: Vairamuthu Music: A.R.Rahman Director: Mani Rathnam Here are the list of songs from this movie: 1.chinna chinna aasai - **** (Minnmini) Was rated the best song of the year 92. Received the national award - for best lyricist (for Vairamuthu) and best music (for Rahman). Very simple song, but has 2.rukkumaNi, rukkumaNi- ** Even though the lyrics and picturisation of this song makes some people biased, but the use of the chorus and the beat is real good. 3.kaathal rOjaavE - *** A nice solo from SPB (with some humming in between by Sujatha). 4.pudhu veLLai mazhai - *** A soothing duet from Unni Menon and Sujatha. 5.thamizha thamizha - ** A patriotic song sung by Hariharan and chorus. --- Song: chinna chinna aasai (Tamil) Sung by: Minnmini chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai vennilavu thottu muththamida aasai ennai indha poomi chutRi vara aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai vennilavu thottu muththamida aasai ennai indha poomi chutRi vara aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai mallikaip poovaai maaRi vida aasai thenRalai kandu maalaiYida aasai mEkaNGaLai ellaam thottu vida aasai sokaNGikaLai ellaam vittu vida aasai kaarkuzhalil ulakai kattivida aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai vennilavu thottu muththamida aasai ennai indha poomi chutRi vara aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai sEttRu vaYal aadi naatRRu nada aasai meen pidiththu meeNdum aatRil vida aasai vaanavillai koNYcham uduththi koLLa aasai pani thuLikkuL naanum paduththu koLLa aasai chiththiraththu mElE sElai katta aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai vennilavu thottu muththamida aasai ennai indha poomi chutRi vara aasai chinna chinna aasai siRakatikkum aasai muththu muthu aasai mudinthu vaiththa aasai ______________________________________________________ These are the hindi version lyrics: Film: Roja (Hindi) Singer: Minnmini Credits:Rekha Pai (rekhi@bombay.mti.sgi.com) Dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha masti bhare man ki, bholi si asha chand taron ko, choone ki asha asmanon me udne ki asha dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha masti bhare man ki, bholi si asha chand taron ko, choone ki asha asmanon me udne ki asha dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha mehek jaoon main, aaj to aise phool bagiya me, meheke hai jaise badlon ki main odhon chunariya jhoom jaoon main banke bawariya apni choti me bandh loon duniya erero ere ereyo .... erero ere ereyo .... swarg si dharti, khil rahe jaise mera man bhi to, khil raha aise koyal ki tarha, gane ko armaan machli ki tarha, machloon ye armaan jawani hai layi rangeen sapna dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha masti bhare man ki, bholi si asha chand taron ko, choone ki asha asmanon me udne ki asha dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha masti bhare man ki, bholi si asha chand taron ko, choone ki asha asmanon me udne ki asha dil hai chotta sa, choti si asha masti bhare man ki, bholi si asha -- bye satish -- Thanks to Srikanth (kanth@cse.ogi.edu) for ratings and corrections. ====================================================================== -- Part II -- Hi All! Here is the second part of the interview with A.R.R. from 'The Hindu' and a song from his second movie "Pudhu Mugam". Enjoy! bye satish -- A Passion for Quality Music by S.R. Ashok Kummar Contd... -- Q: Despite your success, you do not seem to be working in a lot of films. ARR: Rather than making money, I believe in making people happy; all other things are secondary. That is why I am not interested in a lot of movies but only in one at a time. I like directors whom I can vibe with. Ten years of experience in this field has made me quite frustrated. I have evolved a technique which re- quires a lot of time. Other music directors record a song in seven or eight hours. But I am different. we do a basic sitting and we record it. we record the voice and I add instrument by in- strument to improve the quality. Q: Will not the producers say that you are delaying their projects? ARR: My process involves a lot of time. The delay is not inten- tional. That is how I get my results. When people say that in "Gentleman" and "Thiruda Thiruda" the music is good and not like the usual beats, I feel happy. Abroad, in some places, they take three months to make an album. (To continue..) --- His second release was "Pudhu Mugam", and most of the songs seem to resemble his earlier songs in "Roja". Film: Pudhu Mugam (Tamil) Actors: Revathi and Suresh Menon Lyrics: Vairamuthu Music: A.R.Rahman 1. nERRu illaatha maaRum (2 versions) - *** 2. kaNNukku mai azhagu (2 versions) - *** 3. July maatham - ** 4. sambhO sambhO - * -- Song: nERRu illaatha maaRum nERRu illaatha maaRum ennadhu? kaaRRu en kaadhil yEdhO sonnadhu idhudhaan kaadhal enbadhaa iLamai pongi vittadhaa? idhayam sindhi vittadhaa? sol manamE nERRu illaatha maaRum ennadhu? kaaRRu en kaadhil yEdhO sonnadhu idhudhaan kaadhal enbadhaa iLamai pongi vittadhaa? idhayam sindhi vittadhaa? sol manamE kadavuL illai enREn , thaayai kaaNum varai kanavu illai enREn , aasai thOnRum varai kaadhal poi enRu sOnnEn unnai kaaNum varai kavidhai variyin suvai, artham puriyum varai gangai neerin suvai, kadalil sErum varai kaadhal suvai onRu thaanE kaaRRu veesum varai nERRu illaatha maaRum ennadhu? kaaRRu en kaadhil yEdhO sonnadhu idhudhaan kaadhal enbadhaa iLamai pongi vittadhaa? idhayam sindhi vittadhaa? sol manamE hey hey.. hey hey.. hey hey..hey hey.. vaanam illaamalE bhoomi undaagalaam varthai illamalE baashai undaagalaam kaadhal illaamal pOnaal vazhkai undaaguma? vaasam illamalE vaNNa poo pook kalaam vaasal illamalE kaRRu vandhaadalaam nEsam illaadha vaazhvil paasam undaaguma? nERRu illaatha maaRum ennadhu? kaaRRu en kaadhil yEdhO sonnadhu idhudhaan kaadhal enbadhaa iLamai pongi vittadhaa? idhayam sindhi vittadhaa? sol manamE nERRu illaatha maaRum ennadhu? kaaRRu en kaadhil yEdhO sonnadhu idhudhaan kaadhal enbadhaa iLamai pongi vittadhaa? idhayam sindhi vittadhaa? sol manamE -- bye satish -- Thanks to Srikanth (kanth@cse.ogi.edu) for the ratings and corrections. ====================================================================== -- Part III -- Hi All! Here is part 3 of the interview with ARR from 'The Hindu', followed by a review and a song from his third film "Gentleman". bye satish -- A Passion for Quality Music by S.R. Ashok Kummar Contd... -- Q: Do you use computer in your films? ARR: No. Not computers. The technique involved is different. In fact, they say the music in "Roja" was computerised. As I said earlier the recording takes time. You can hear the same flute here in a different way. It is not computerised music. Nearly 40 persons sang `Veerapandi Kottayile' (a song from "Thiruda Thiru- da") that does not sound like computer music. `Vellai Mazhai' (from "Roja") is sync oriented. I do not restrict the musicians, but ask them to play whatever they feel. Then I record what I want. I spend a lot of time on lyrics too. It takes around four days. We write something in the first instance and then improve. So it takes about a week to complete a song. Q: Then you will be working only in perhaps half a dozen films a year? ARR: What will I do if I work for more films and only a few click? I do not want my energy to be wasted. I want every film to be a musical hit. In fact, "Thiruda Thiruda" songs have created a record for any Tamil film - 25,000 discs were sold in Malaysia. They are going to give us platinum discs. (To continue..) -- His third film "Gentleman" has been his best offering yet. It had some great mixture of songs, very different from his earlier two films. - Film: Gentleman Actors: Arjun and Madhubala Lyrics: Vairamuthu Music: A.R.Rahman The songs from this film were: 1. ottagaththai kattikkO - *** A duet between SPB and S.Janaki. Great beats and nice use of chorus. 2. en veettu thOttathil - **** The best song of the whole lot, inspired from a classical composition. Neatly done by SPB and Sujatha. 3. chikku bukku rayilu - *** Real crazy lyrics, leaning on the 'rap'pish side. But still an enjoyable song. The picturization of this song is also supposed to good too. 4. paarkkaathE paarkkaathE - ** Reminds you of a song 'kilele kilele' from the group "Osibisa" which toured India in early 80s. 5. usilambhatti peNkutti - ** Tries a folk tune, but is not quite a pure folk number. The lyrics spoil the song.. -- Song: en veetu thottaththil Singers: SPB and Sujatha Sujatha:hmmmm mmmm aaa AAa....aaa en veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar en veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar en veettu thennam keeRRai ippodE kEttup paar en nenjai sollumE.. en veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar en veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar en veettu thennam keeRRai ippodE kEttup paar en nenjai sollumE.. SPB: vai paattu paadum peNNe maunangaL koodadhu vai poottuch chattam ellaam peNNukku aagaathu Sujatha: vaNdellaam saththam pOttaal poonjOlai thaangaathu mOtutkkaL saththam pOttaal vaNdukkE kEtkaathu SPB: aadik ki pinnaalE kaavEri thaangaathu Sujatha: aaL aana pinnaalE allippoo moodaathu SPB: aasai thudikkinRadhO? SPB: un veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar un veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar un veettu thenam keeRRai ovvonRaai kEttup paar en pErai sollumE.. un veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar[hmmm...] un veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar[hmmm...] un veettu thenam keeRRai ovvonRaai kEttup paar[hmmm...] en pErai sollumE.. Sujatha: sOllukkum theriyaamal sOllaththaan vandEnE sOllukkuL arththam pOla sOllaamal ninREnE SPB: sOllukkum arthathukkum dhoorangaL kidayaadhu sOllaadha kaadhal ellaam sOrgaththil sEraadhu Sujatha: eNNikkai theerndaalum muththangaL theeraadhu SPB: eNNikkai paarthaalE muththangaL aagaadhu Sujatha: mmm mmm mm anubavamO? SPB: heh-heh-ha! Sujatha: en veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar en veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar en veettu thennam keeRRai ippodE kEttup paar en nenjai sollumE.. SPB: un veettu thOttaththil poo ellaam kEttup paar[hmmm...] un veettu jannal kambi ellaamE kEttup paar[hmmm...] un veettu thenam keeRRai ovvonRaai kEttup paar[hmmm...] en pErai both: sollumE.. -- bye satish -- Thanks to Srikanth (kanth@cse.ogi.edu) for ratings and corrections. ====================================================================== -- Part IV -- Hi All! Here is the last part of the interview with ARR from 'The Hindu'. Also a review of "Thiruda Thiruda" and a song from it. bye satish ---- A Passion for Quality Music by S.R. Ashok Kummar Contd... -- Q: You say you are choosy, but you also go in for popular songs. Why is it so? ARR: Different people need different songs. I want to go down to the people at various levels. When I toured Tamil Nadu, I found that people wanted songs that would make them happy. Also noth- ing vulgar. There is nothing vulgar in "Sikku bukku Sikku bukku raile" (a song from "Gentleman"). Q: So you want to be with the masses? ARR: No, rather I want my music to reach everywhere. If I play rock, only youngsters will understand, while older people will say "Why is he shouting like this?". Each category of music reaches only one circle: for the class audience "Thiruda Thiruda" and for the masses "Gentleman". Q: Does basic knowledge of Carnatic music help? ARR: Sure. I am learning Carnatic classical music from Dakshinamurthy and Hindustani from Krishnan Nair. I like tradi- tional music much. Q: Why is it that the songs these days go out of people's mind soon unlike the old numbers? ARR: In those days, the lyrical value was greater in songs. Q: You want to be called number 1 in the industry? ARR: No. Numbers are not decided by me, but by the grace of God and by the people. I want my job to be interesting and fun. I just do not want to get stuck again in monotony. -- (Done!) -- His second successful venture with director Mani Rathnam, was "Thiruda Thiruda". ARR almost redefines the meaning of light music with his songs in this movie. Film: Thiruda Thiruda Actors: Arvind, Heera, Anu Agarwal Lyrics: Vairamuthu Music: A.R.Rahman Director: Mani Rathnam The songs from this movie are: 1. kaNNum kaNNum koLLai - *** (Mano) Again a great use of chorus. (ARR finally uses the word 'harmony' for chorus on the cassette's inlay card.) 2. raasaaththi - **** This is an amazing song, with no use of instruments. The song wholly rests on the rustic voice of Sahul Ahmed and the chorus (oops.. harmony :) providing the background 'music' with their humming. 3. konjam nilavu - ** A nice song that touches real high and low pitches. The voice is of a new singer, Anupama. 4. veerabaandi - ** (Mano, Chitra and Unni Menon) A mixture of different instruments and great use of chorus. 5. puththam pudhu - *** The song in parts resemble choir singing. 6. thee thee - ** Another new singer (Carolene). The use of chorus is again striking. -- Song: raasaathi Singer: Sahul Ahmed Credits: Srikanth (kanth@cse.ogi.edu) All words within paranthesis are sung by a low-pitched chorus and the other words are by a high-pitched solo(Shahul Hameed). raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) poochchoodi, vaakkap pattu pORa puLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) nee pOnaa en udambu maNNukkuLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raavOdu sEthi varum vaadi puLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) (mmmmm aaaaa mmm aaaa ) kaara veettuth thiNNaiyila kaRikku manjaL araikkaiyilE... (manjaLai aRaikku munnae manasai arachchavaLE!) karisakkaattu OdaiyilE kandaangi thuvaikkaiyilE... (thuNiyai nanaiya vittu manasaip puzhinjavaLE!) nellu kaLaththu mEttil ennai izhuththu mudinjukittu pORavaLE! (pORava, pORava thaan puththi kettu pOnava thaan!) pudhu kalyaaNach chElaiyilE kaNNeerath thudachchikittu pORavaLE! (pORava, pORava thaan ponjaathiyaap pORava thaan!) naan thantha malligaiyai nattaaththil vittupputtu, aRaLip poochchoodi aLuthabadi pORavaLE! (kadalai kattuk kuLLa kaiyadichchu sonna puLLa! kaaththula ezhuthaNum pombaLainga sonna solla!) ooooooooo (kadalai kattuk kuLLa kaiyadichchu sonna puLLa! kaaththula ezhuthaNum pombaLainga sonna solla!) ooooooooo raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) poochchoodi, vaakkap pattu pORa puLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) nee pOnaa en udambu maNNukkuLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raavOdu sEthi varum vaadi puLLa! (hmmmhmmmm mmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) (OOo aaa mmmm OOo aaa mmmm OOo aaa mmmm) thottuth thottu pottu vacha suttu viral kaayaliyE... (marik kozhunthu vachcha kaiyil vaasam innum pOgaliyE!) maruthaiyila vaangith thantha vaLavi udaiyaliyE... (mallu vEtti maththiyila manjak kaRai maaRaliyE!) andhak kazhuththu thEmalaiyum, kaathOra machchaththaiyum paarpatheppO! (parppathu paarpatheppO, pourNamiyum vaaratheppO!) andhak kolusu maNich chiruppum, kumari iLanchiruppum kEtpadheppO! (kEtpathu kEtpatheppO, keerath thandu pooppatheppO!) karuvElam kattukkuLLa karichchan kuruvi oNNu, suthi maaRik kaththuthamma thuNaiyaththaan kaaNOminnu! (kadalai kaattuk kuLLa kaiyadichchu sonna puLLa! kaaththula ezhuthaNum pombaLainga sonna solla!) (kadalai kaattuk kuLLa kaiyadichchu sonna puLLa! kaaththula ezhuthaNum pombaLainga sonna solla!) raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (oooo hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) poochchoodi, vaakkap pattu pORa puLLa! (aaa hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) nee pOnaa en udambu maNNukkuLLa! (oooo hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raavOdu sEthi varum vaadi puLLa! (aaaa hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm mm) raasaathi! en usiru ennathilla! (ooo ooo hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) poochchoodi, vaakkap pattu pORa puLLa! (aaa hmmmhmmmm mmmmmmhmm) -- bye satish -- Thanks to Srikanth (kanth@cse.ogi.edu) for the ratings and corrections. -- End -- ======================================================================
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian