RAVAN RAVANAN RAHMAN

A perfect blend is essential in whatever it may be. Food- requires a perfect balance of salt and sugar. Life- happiness and sorrow. Music- Rahman and Vairamuththu!

Been listening to "Usurey Poguthey" for a millionth time now. I wish to confess something before I proceed with whatever I am trying to say here. I belong to that group of people, who think Rahman is God and there can never be and has never been anyone who has created wonders/miracles like Him in music before. People who feel the same way about Raja/R.D.Burman/MSV/Madan Mohan and the likes, no offence. They are good too. This is my view! A note off the track- "Humans" are never good, idle! They need to believe in something! Theists believe in "God"- Atheists believe that they are "Atheists". So every one believes in something! And this is my belief!

So, coming to the point! "Ravan" was what I heard first. The first song I ever listened to was "Ranjha Ranjha"- see I'm in love with Rekha Bharadwaj's voice. Not since "Gendha Phool" but ever since "Maqbool"! The love only increased after I listened to "Namak Ishq ka" from "Omkara". But it became so strong after an album song penned by Gulzaar- "Tere Ishq Mein"- that whenever I see that name, I can't stop myself!

When a favorite pupil commits a mistake in class- the teacher laughs over it and smiles as though saying, "You naughty boy"! It's like that with Rahman! You can't be blaming him if a few of the tunes sounds familiar to you! Take it from me! You are just connected with Rahman at that moment, when you feel that way! As though you are enjoying a secret joke known only to you Rahman! "Ranjha Ranjha" was one such piece of music! Couldn't help smiling, when I heard and I smiled at my Rahman wallpaper- The "You naughty boy!" smile! Not that there's a mistake in that song- it just reminded me of a few things! Nothing wrong with that!

"Beera"/”Veera” was brilliant! The oddities in it! I don't actually know what to say about it! I have heard that AB plays a Naxal leader hailing from MP! I don’t know what Vikram is playing though, in tamil. But the character- feel! Can't you feel it? Kuchcha roads, TVS 50, Beedi, torn shawl, tea in mutka- see, it all fits there- in that one song!!

"Behene de" was good. I did not concentrate much on it. I only thought- "Another Sindhu Bhairavi(though not very pure) from Rahman"- nothing else. On that raga- I've always liked Rahman's Sindhu Bhairavies. "Jiya Jale"(Dil Se), "Margazhi thingalallavaa"(Sangamam), etc. Nice way of handling the raga! But the best was (though not very pure form of it) "Mera rang de.. Basanti" from "The Legend of Bhagath Singh". I mean- that song has got everything in it! Perfect music/lyrics/patriotism!

But the one song I really enjoyed was "Kata Kata"! I felt it sounded better than the tamil counter-part of that song- "Keda Keda". Kunal Ganjawala has done a great work! Rahman, as we all know, is great with wedding sequences! "Avalukkenna.." from "Sillunu oru Kadhal", "Yaro Yaro.." from "Alaipayuthey" and the likes! We also know Mani Ratnam is good with that, too! Let's wait for the movie! Any way, the highlight of this song, I felt was Ila Arun. Try closing your eyes and listening to her. There is not one note here nor one note there. It just falls there, where it should be! Amazing voice texture! I have always liked such voices. The strong ones. Not like others are weak. But when you hear it- there is power in it. Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, Richa Sharma, Jaspinder Narula kind of voices! Perfect folk voices- for they feel so earthy!

Coming to "Khili Re". Well, since I heard the hindi version first, I thought it was a sweet, slow song. Reena Bharadwaj- the one who mesmerized me with her "Yeh Rishta kya kehlata hai" from "Meenaxi"- has done well. Nothing special about it! But when I listened to "Kalvarey" by Shreya Ghoshal- I saw that there was a classic! It gave a great feel, which you only get in Hrishikesh Mukherjee- Salil Choudhry combinations! Rahman's that class of songs- the likes of "Jash-E-Bahar" from "Jodha Akbar". They have a certain class in them! They stand out- so different from the others! They sometimes, may not become the song of the mass! But eventually they do! It takes people time to realize that they actually like these songs. When "Sillunu Oru Kadhal" music got released, I was the first one to get the cassette (those days I used to buy cassettes, for I had a walkman!). So in our college bus, we were allowed to bring cassettes of our choice. I gave this cassette to Conductor Anna! And some of the people, I remember were calling "Munbe vaa" a flop song! They were shouting- asking the conductor to change the cassette, which he did! But people did love that song! There was a time when people couldn't remain without listening to that song at least once in a day! Such songs- People don't know how to react! There lies the genius in Rahman!

"Kodu potta"/"Killi"- I have not listened much to it. See, there are a few songs which you could enjoy once you see the sequence of it in movie! I can only say- I could not entirely get this song! So, I would wait for the movie! But yes, the music part of it- Sukhwinder Singh! What a gift he has! He's in that league- like the ones I had mentioned about the "Power-Voiced"! I need not give examples of songs by him- for I think his songs are eternal enough to be remembered!

Coming back to the original reason why I wanted to write whatever I have written so far! "Usurey Poguthey". The perfect blend?

People! This is the essence of the movie! The concept of Raavan. This is the reason why "Behene De" had no effect on me! For that, I felt was missing the spark- the fire which I found in this song. I like the character "Ravan" from the mythology! May be that is exactly why, I wish even more to see this movie! There are few people, who enjoy the antagonists more than the protagonists. I can't tag myself as that also. See- in mythology, antagonists are not divine! May be that's why I like them! They are more normal- like us. With all formidable emotions running wild in their hearts. Perversions within cocoons called the "norms of the society". Veiled and masked! We are all them! The antagonists! I'm not trying to romanticize the antagonists. But- I felt, they are more possible! Rama? How can a man be so flawless!? It just seems absurd to me!

"விதி விலக்கில்லாத விதியுமில்ல", this is what was missing in "Behene de"! No man is intentionally bad- says my father! That is so true. Not any person will claim that he's bad! It's not normal. It's what the others think! Winners write history. And Ramayana was a story of Rama! That's it. The mentality of Ravana- the one who knew all the Vedas. Such a great worshipper of Shiva, who created a master-piece in "Shiva Thaandava Shlok", which proved what a scholar he was! How can a man like that commit such an act? One could wonder? But he did not think that way. He did not think he was wrong:

"பாம்பா விழுதா
ஒரு பாகுபாடு தெரியலையே
பாம்பா இருந்தும்
நெஞ்சு பயப்பட நெனைக்கலையே"

This was Ravan!

There lies the brilliance of Vairamuththu. Of Rahman! The blend, so perfect- that it conveys exactly what it has to convey!

Hats-off to Vairamuththu!

And Rahman- You ARE God!