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Another chapter in the quest of the WOUNDED CIVILIZATION.
There will be a day when we will pay the debts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Rashtra nirmata Shri Krushna will show us the path.
And perhaps this brings me back to my original point.
Rahman has spent decades earning an audience that is willing to listen differently.
And this is why I think we should wait to see how the music works in Ramayana.
Given how prominently Rahman is being presented as part of the project, I am sure there will be more intimate, sweeter musical moments in the film.
The way the song works in the film, with the scene and the background score, is so intimate and lovable. The whole scene comes together in a way that can make you cry.
The same goes for the film version of Woh Nahin. These are not experiences you get from listening to a song.
10) One more thing that I think only Rahman fans, or people who follow film albums more closely, will appreciate.
There is the album version of a song, and then there is what happens when Rahman works with the actual scene as its music director.
Take Tere Paas Mein in M V A…
..the music gets pushed towards the mainstream side of the commercial equation. Perhaps that is part of what we are hearing with Ramayana. This is speculation, not a claim about what actually happened.
Rahman spoke about sending more than 30 iterations of tunes to Namit Malhotra. Nobody can tell what happened behind the scenes, of course. But when a producer is so heavily involved in the iterations, and the project has such enormous commercial expectations, I do wonder whether
But when the producer is the stronger creative force, rather than the director, the dynamic can be different. Think of the SRK–KatKaif film produced and directed by Yash Chopra. And this is what makes me wonder about Ramayana as well. At a Bengaluru event,
8) Another observation: Rahman seems to thrive in the company of strong, creatively distinctive directors.
Mani Ratnam, Imtiaz Ali and Aanand Rai come to mind. There is room for more experimental, unconventional music, and the songs often work because they are part of a vision.
7) Even in the last 4–5 years, he has continued with this approach.
Think O Kadhal Kanmani, Atrangi Re, Tere Ishk Mein and Main Vaapas Aaunga.
Again, not every song is necessarily going to be an instant hit with everyone.
6) There might be 1–2 chartbusters and 1–2 songs that grow on you over a year or two.
But the fans he had earned along the way kept faith. And many of us ended up loving far more songs than just the mainstream hits.
… albums in the way we saw in the noughties.
But Rahman largely continued with his style of making proper albums, with 4–5 songs and a complete musical identity.
It was perhaps no longer the coolest or most commercially obvious way to make film music.
5) Then came the 2010–2020 phase, when the old order of Bollywood music was changing.
The way music was being made, released and consumed was changing. The likes of Pritam, Salim–Sulaiman, Vishal–Shekhar and Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy were no longer necessarily putting out full-fledged
4) Look at the variety as well. Ghajini and Jodhaa Akbar showed his range, yet there was no obvious chasing of what was popular.
Taking Mohit Chauhan for practically the entire album (Rockstar 2011) was not exactly the conventional choice for a mainstream Bollywood soundtrack.
.Think Guru, Rang De Basanti and then Delhi-6. Not every song on these albums was conventional mainstream music of its time.
Today, many of these songs feel like chartbusters. But were we all listening to them that way when they first came out?
…he was also changing what mainstream music could sound like.
3) Then came the next phase with a lot more experimentation. This is where he consolidated his fan base and, in a way, conditioned our ears for music that was new and unconventional, with tunes that would grow on you
2/ His early work had enormous mainstream success.
But each composition from that era was also pushing composition, styling, production and detailing several notches up. He set trends, proved his mettle and created millions of millennial fans.
He was mainstream, but…
I hope “the plan” succeeds.
ANNAMALAI UPDATE
Sources close to Annamalai reveal that RSS leadership is disappointed that "extenuating circumstances" have forced him to consider exiting the BJP. Top RSS functionaries were involved in "intensive mediation" but efforts failed. Sources say RSS in principle supports Annamalai if he were to launch a "movement" with a nationalist outlook.
