the ARR letdown countdown

The first time I dislike it. Then, the 2nd time and then, the 3rd time and then, so many times over and over (thanks to the media that bombards us with these songs over the TV and the radio), I get used to it.

The more you listen to it, you get used to it, and you even subconsciously convince yourself that you like it. This is what they call “growing on you” nowadays. I’ve heard & read this phrase too often ‘Rahman’s music grows on you.’(Try Googling this phrase). This actually translates into “you learn to tolerate it”. Of late, repetition is the only way, you may like his music.  In psychology, it is called “sub-conscious programming”. One of the methods of persuasion & conviction is repetition that is targeted at the subconscious mind. That’s why advertisements are repeated many times. Even terrorists are brainwashed into believing an ideology by deliberate repetition.

A look into the music of his 3 recent movies:

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya(VTV)/விண்ணை தாண்டி வருவாயா
was a huge letdown.

  • Apart from Anbil Avan/அன்பில் அவன் and Hosanna/ஹொசன்னா, (the second being mediocre), only Aaromaley/ஆரோமலே was good.
  • In Hosanna, the hello is very endearing. The interlude between Blaze’s piece and the next stanza is very lifeless. It’s just a filler.
  • In Omanapenney/ஓமனபெண்ணே, the only thing I can remember is Omanapanney/ஓமனபெண்ணே (that gets repeated 5/6 times) & unnai marandhida mudiyaathey oh..oh..oh..oh/உன்னை மரந்திட முடியாதே ஒ..ஒ..ஒ..ஒ. The rest of the song just fades into oblivion.
  • In Kannukul Kannai/கண்ணுகுள் கண்ணை, only the violin pieces are good.
  • In Mannipaayaa/மன்னிப்பாயா, only two parts of the songs were good – where the male sings ‘Unnai nokiyae ennai eerkiraayey/உன்னை நோக்கியே என்னை ஈர்க்கிராயே’ & the female sings ‘Oru naal sirithaen, maru naal …kondru puthaithaen… …mannipaayaa/ஓரு நாள் சிரித்தேன், மரு நாள் …கொன்று புதைத்தேன்… …மன்னிப்பாயா’. These two are beautiful pieces. The rest of the song can be compared to rain water that flows down a rock. You don’t know which direction it’s going to take. And it definitely doesn’t make a mark on the rock, just like this song doesn’t make a mark on your mind.

Overall, the music of VTV seems to have bursts of beautiful pieces here and there and the rest seem like fillers.Gone are the days when a song was beautiful in its entirety. There are songs we can remember from start to finish, prelude,interludes and every single note in between. Nowadays, there are good pieces of music inserted into lifeless fillers. And we have to just prefer the better of the lot.

What made VTV worse was Gautam Menon’s nauseating sycophancy of ARR. “Sir, I have waited for you all these years, Sir” and a lot of such nonsense. As though all the music that Harris Jayaraj gave him all these years was bad! I’m not a big fan of Harris, either. I think he was repetitive in many movies. The songs suttum vizhi sudarey, manjal veyil, oru maalai ila veyil naeram, mudhal mazhai/சுட்டும் விழி சுடரே, மஞ்சள் வெயில், ஒரு மாலை இள வெயில் நேரம், முதல் மழை and some others sound so similar. But there’s no denying that the music in Gautam’s previous movie Vaaranam Aayiram (VA) by Harris was excellent. Comparing VTV to VA, VA’s music was so good.  It stayed in the mind.  VTV’s music was mediocre in comparison with VA.

I should say though, that watching the music launch of VTV was a pleasurable experience. The songs VTV, Hosanna and especially Aaromaley were very beautifully performed. No Lip-Sync. Live musicians and singers just singing their souls. It was beautiful. But oh… I digress.

…Then came Raavanan. It made Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa better by comparison.

The music is good in the movie. It blends well with the story. The songs are good as the back ground music/situational music. But as a music album it’s a sore disappointment. If the music was intended to be like a soundtrack/ background music, they should not have sold it as an album… that too for an astronomical Rs.250!!

…And then came Endhiran, the famed and much-hyped ARR-Shankar-Rajini trio.

  • Puthiya Manidhaa/புதிய மனிதா sounds just like it is expected to… the whole “robotic” feel. Reminded me of 10,000 light years by Boney-M. While hearing this song, I felt like saying, “Pazhaya Rahman boomikku vaa/பழய ரஹுமான் பூமிக்கு வா!!”
  • Kaadhal Anukkal/காதல் அனுக்கள் sounds good from the beginning to when the male sings the second time – azhagil motham neeya/அழகில் மொத்தம் நீயா? And the ‘Oh baby’ is catchy. The rest of the song just lacks body and direction. Doesn’t stay in the mind at all.
  • Irumbiley Oru Idhayam/இரும்பிலே ஓரு இருதயம் is not a song. I don’t know what to call it.
  • Chitti Dance Showcase sounds good, thanks to Pravin Mani.
  • Arima Arima/அரிமா, அரிமா is mediocre. There’s nothing worth mentioning, except the line ‘Arima, arima/அரிமா, அரிமா…. Summa vidumaa/சும்மா விடுமா?’ It’s catchy. Thanks to Vairamuthu for re-introducing such beautiful Tamil words. The most pathetic part in the song is

…..Enn………………dhira…

…..Enn………………dhira…

Endhira……………. Endhira…..

Endhira…  Endhira… Endhira…enndhra

It’s so uncreative… increasing the number of times he sings ‘Endhira’ at a faster pace.

  • Kilimanjaro/கிளிமாஞ்சாரோ is also boring and doesn’t make a mark. The phrases ‘akkakko… appapo… ippapo…/அக்கக்கோ… அப்பப்போ… இப்பப்போ…’ have the potential to stay in the mind, thanks to the rhyming words and the phrasing. Chinmayi’s ‘ginnikozhi’ is nice.
  • Boom Boom Robo da/பூம் பூம் ரோபோ டா – I don’t have anything positive to say about this song. The song seems disconnected through and through. There’s just no flow. Different styles seem to have been stuck together crudely with Scotch tape. I simply am nauseated at the part where the female singer sings “City city robot, chutti chutti robot, patti thotti ellam nee pattu kuttyo/சிட்டி சிட்டி ரோபோ, சுட்டி சுட்டி ரோபோ, பட்டி தொட்டி எல்லாம், நீ பட்டு குட்டியோ? ”

…And somewhere in between came “Semmozhiyaana Tamil Mozhiyaam/ செம்மொழியான தமிழ் மொழியாம்’. Other than this phrase, nothing else stays in the mind. Try singing the song. What’s the point in having an anthem, if you can’t sing it? If not loudly, at least in your mind!

…And now, the CWG anthem. Some of the reports about the CWG anthem:

His albums including Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Raavanan and Endhiran, in which few songs made it topper on charts after few weeks of release. However, the playback singers and music directors across Tamil Music Industry have strongly supported Allah Rakha Rahman saying that the song is at its best and will gradually grab everyone’s interest as it goes on with time. http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/exclusive/2010/rahman-cwg-response-070910.html

Veteran jazz musician Louis Banks who has composed several theme tracks for popular shows and events, says, “Rahman’s work has always been controversial. But if you are truly inspired, it takes ten minutes to compose a tune. Given that it took him six months to compose it, I guess something must have gone wrong somewhere!”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/Rahman-to-recompose-his-CWG-song/articleshow/6472471.cms#ixzz0ywagx3RN

Coming back to Endhiran, I think the music is an insult to a die-hard Rajini fan. After listening to songs like Basha/பாஷா, Raakkamma/ராக்கம்மா (Oh!! how I love those violins!!), Oruvan oruvanmudhalaali/ஒருவன் ஒருவன் and some others, Enndhira is a huge letdown; it falls flat on its face. It’s not the song for which a Rajini fan would get goose pimples. It just has good sound effects, thanks to technology which has enabled good sound engineering. Listen to the  file below which has a few “Rajini” songs  and you’ll know what I mean.

I remember listening to Muthu’s music by ARR and loving it. Now, when I listen to Endhiran, I feel sad. I don’t like any song. I just have got used to listening to them for the past 45 days because it’s being played over and over again on TV and radio.

In the beginning, he had a fine balance between music composition and engineering the sound/synthesis of music. That is what made him a great hit in the 90s. But nowadays, he synthesizes sound more than he composes music. Which is why there are amazingly beautiful pieces here and there (music composition) and the rest is the synthesizing skills of Rahman and of his talented sound engineers. That is why even today, in live music shows in South India, there are very few Rahman’s songs and more of Ilayaraja’s and other music composer’s songs being performed. Because the sounds that he synthesizes in his studio with the latest technology cannot be reproduced by musicians on a live show. And even in Rahman’s show there are fewer musicians and more of canned music.

What is music when it excludes the human?

Category : Music
Tags : , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,