Mysorean

DISCLAIMER: You are not about to read a review. You are about to read an article praising the music of “Sivaji - The Boss” and praising its creator Mr. A R Rahman. If you want an objective review, this ain’t the place for it. Thanks. You may continue reading now.

I don’t know what people mean when they say Rahman is not active in Tamil music industry. With one album per year he can shake the actual foundation of this industry with his mind-blowing music. Still people do some nitpicking with his instrumentation, orchestrisation, choice of singers, etc. I care two hoots about such comments because the final product from Rahman is so much above anyone I have heard in the past or in the present that all those comments sound like the rants of people-who-haven’t-been-able-to-move-on-with-life. Guys, get a break! Unwind! Sivaji is the right album to let your hair down, throw your inhibitions and just enjoy. Be the Boss! Let’s get on with it then.

And what better way to start a Rajni movie than a song like “Ballelakka” ! To the Shankar-ARR-Rajni combo you now add the everyoung, evergreen SPB and you get a blast of a song! The tempo of the song is so Rajni. I mean when you listen to the song you can imagine Rajni walking and doing his usual styles and stuff. Especially when the song goes into the breathless phase (for 25 seconds!)with “Sadugudu sadugudu…” you realize that the song has you engulfed into its endless energy. The tempo, the energy, the beat and the tune leave you finally wanting for more. Everytime I finish listening to the song, I feel Rahman could have added a little more of that breathless stuff there. But then my appetite for a Rahman song can never end. So, let that be as it is. A great song!

PS: Even Raihana’s voice which I hate whenever I see her in Rahman’s live concerts substituting Swapna Awasthi’s voice in “Chaiyya Chaiyya” is well modulated for this song as a village belle’s voice. A R Rahman can make me also a great singer I guess!

Then comes the “Style” song. A song that only A R Rahman could pull off; trust Shankar to give him the full leash on this one. The problem with this song is that it is sandwiched between two gems on the cd and I invariably end up pressing ‘next track’ as and when I come to this one. So, I will be honest and not simply praise it to the skies. Let me move on.

When the next song began I almost thought that it was Rajni who sang the first few lines. Hariharan has modulated his voice very well to suit the Superstar. And when Madhushree joins in with “Vaaji vaaji vaaji, en jeevan nee sivaji” the song goes onto its own. When I listen to such songs I wonder at A R Rahman’s brilliance. Nothing seems out of place. Every instrument, every sound, every voice sounds so natural and so rooted that you feel that they always belonged there. Nowadays what happens is, all of a sudden I break into loud shouts of “Poombaavaai Aambal Aambal” and then I just do oh ho ho ho for the rest of the song because I don’t understand a word of the song! But the song is so haunting that it is still playing at the back of my mind and am just sitting and frowning that I don’t get to listen to it at this instant!

Udit Narayan, criticized by the tamil purists (and there is no scarcity of them!) for his pronounciation and all that, comes up with a sterling performance in this song called “Sahaana saaral…”. To hell with his performance, the tune is just out-of-this world! Chinmayee adds such a great zing to the song that you are also lost in the alps of the Switzerland while listening to this song. Read what Chinmayi writes about Sahana here and here . Chinmayi the end portion really gives me those goosebumps whenever I listen to it. Great work! And yes like you say, “All credit to Rahman anna” Credit to him for giving you great songs like this where you sound so good! Amazing!

Next song. A R Rahman chose to sing this song. This one line is enough to say that the song would be outstanding. And damn anybody who thinks otherwise! “Athiradikkaaran - Machan! Machan! Machandi!” As soon as these lines come out I start shaking my head as if someone is hitting me from behind! Someone looking at me might think I am having those electric shocks or something! This song can shake the worst leg-shakers (or dancers if you please) to get onto the dance floor and just burst out! A great stress-buster of a song. And the heights of ecstasy that A R Rahman takes you through in this song is just so unbelievable that you only want to keep listening to this song over and over again! and again and again and again…!!!!!

Then comes the song of all so-called stylish songs genre. Stylish songs as in those which have great instrumentation and vocals but zero lyrcial value. You can imagine if I can understand the lyrics of this one then the words must be purely conversational. And so they are. The lyrics are as if written by the comedian ‘Vivek’. For example: “Sachin adichcha sixer thaan da, Sivaji adichcha puncher thaan da!” (You get it don’t you? Sachin:sixer::Sivaji:puncher, simple!) The bass guitar that is used prominently is the highlight in this song. Sometimes Rahman stops amazing you because your ability to get anymore amazed is exhausted. You are just in total control of this one man! I can already imagine this playing the background when Rajni is bashing up those bad men left, right and centre! Ooohh.. I can get that hair-raising feeling on imagination itself. God knows what will happen when I listen to it with Rajni on screen performing those antics for which we have come to love him most! The combination is deadly and they have taken the entire standard of tamil music to new levels! Any of those chota fellows like YSR, HJ, etc, cannot imagine coming up to this standard as yet! In fact they don’t even deserve a mention in this review hence their names will be cutoff! (Yes, I am being very mean, and I love this feeling! Muhahahaha!)

Vijay Yesduas debuts under A R Rahman with a slow version of the “Sahaana saaral” and excels. The song shows the range that A R Rahman can create on his own. Gomathi comes up with an equally powerful rendition partnering Yesudas Jr. here. A fitting end to one of the all-time best albums of stylish music I have ever heard.

The album succeeds at many levels. And the reason it’s such a great success is because it is able to satisfy each and everyone who listens to it (Otherwise they are plain lying!). Rajni fans, ARR fans, Shankar fans, SPB fans, tamil music fans, general film music lovers, critics and general tamil public. To satisfy such a diverse range of people (maybe there are common people among all this like me) is in itself a victory. And further what the music does is instills a sense of must-watch-the-movie to see what it is all about kind of a feeling without letting out anything about the storyline which has been protected like the kohinoor diamond on the queen’s crown! Only A R Rahman could pull it off like this! An album that you ought not to miss for anything. And please don’t deliver your verdicts as soon as you listen to it. These songs have the usual trademark of Rahman to grow on you. A R Rahman proves he is the boss! Yet again!