I have been a big fan of A R Rehman since a few years now. I love his conceptualisation, his usage of various sounds and electronic impulses, his experiments with unconventional voices, his unusually folksy feel in certain tracks… His repertoire is fabulous as is his ability to innovate. He is liberal with his influences and I like him for that.
But since some time now, I can’t find anything marvellous about Rehman. I heard ‘Yuva’ as well as ‘Meenaxi’ and was somewhat disappointed. His best work, I still feel are…
Roja(each composition a masterpiece)
Thiruda Thiruda(That larger-than-life orchestral feel and that peppy, foot-tapping rhythm)
Taal(The typically Hindi feel without losing the Rehman touch)
1947-Earth(Wouldn’t have believed that he could create such music!)
Dil Se(Who’d have thought that Sukhwinder Singh could be such a musical powerhouse? Each song… fantastic!)
and that one song he composed in ‘Fiza’.. Piya Haji Ali.
I was totally bowled over by the song… Can nearly touch the Sufi soul in that track. One of my favourite qawaalis as I mentioned in earlier along with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Dum Mast Qalandar’, ‘Yeh jo Halka halka suroor hain’, ‘Mera piya ghar aaya’…
Lovely!
For more of Sufi qawaalis, go right here…
Sufi Qawaalis
soulcola says:
well there’s a lot of Tamil stuff too
but yeah, 1947 Earth is probably one of his best works.
he seems a bit out of it these days, what with the international career and all…
March 29, 2004 — 7:35 am
trycatchdenz says:
How could you miss the tracks of “Bombay”? How could you, Laks?
“Tu hi re” and the Bombay theme music, well they just kill you.
Thought this [A.R.Rahman: wikipedia] might interest you.
Cheerz,
Denz
March 29, 2004 — 7:40 am
Lakshmi says:
OOps, I forgot!
Bombay, Alaipaayuthey(and not Saathiya!), Boys(Tamil) and Rangeela.
AND… no one has yet made Vande Mataram sound as magnificient in the recent years as Rehman.
March 29, 2004 — 9:39 am
parag says:
Maybe, it’s just me. I think all Rehman songs sound alike. Almost like it is just one song played over and over. I liked his versions of Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana, but don’t find any of his other music interesting.
March 29, 2004 — 7:48 am
jayasankarvs says:
ARR Rules. Period
March 29, 2004 — 9:38 pm
deelight says:
Despite his recent lull in terms of his otherwise genius compositions, I still think he is the best. You forgot to mention Kandukondein Kandukondein (tamil), and even BOYZ (the recent Tamil film) or even Bombay or Sathiya. Awesome stuff! In fact, that song Yeh RISHTA KYA KEHALATA HAI from Menaxi has a lilting pull! The guys is such a genius. But you’re right about ROJA being his best.
March 30, 2004 — 2:28 am
arunshanbhag says:
NFAK
Nusrat FAK is another legend You can sense his energy when he sings. I have one of his “Best of …” cds and i can’t get enough of it.
You can tell ‘Dum mast qalandar’ is one of the tops by just seeing the number of remixes. I think I have about four different versions. Thanks for the link to his other qawaalis.
April 1, 2004 — 11:44 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: NFAK
You’re welcome…:-)
I like ‘Yeh jo Halka halka suroor hain’ and ‘Allah Hoo’… so damn much. And many many more….
April 1, 2004 — 12:27 pm