I have written many times about my favorite songs of Rahman. This time let me focus on a select list of songs and the pieces I really relish
1. Starting piece of ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai’. And the violin bit between 1.30 and 1.50 and the veeNai from 2.29 to 2.31. It comes for a short period of time after minmini sings ‘chinna chinna aasai’
2. The starting of ‘egiri gudithen’ from Boys. And the rhythmic drum beat in the background all through the song
3. Bombay Theme. I wish every Rahman movie has a theme music song. How do I describe the feeling I undergo everytime I listen to this song? Its not happy or sad feeling. Lets say you wake up early on a pleasant morning, and feel extremely fresh. Its something similar to that. A very refreshing tune!
4. Thirakkaatha kaattukulle - En Swasa Kaatre. Unni Krishnan has done a wonderful job. I love the way he goes ‘ megam poal kaatai nesi meeNdum naam adivasi and ends with Kaadhal kaadhal kaadhal yosi’. Brilliant!
5. Enna solli ennai solla - Thenali. The way Sadhana Sargam starts the song is amazing. Especially when she sings ‘idhayam dhaan sarindhadhe unnidam mella swasame swasame’ Enna oru konjal. adadaa
6. Mangal mangal - Mangal Pandey. The peppy beats throughout the song and the way Kailask kher has sung the song
7. Khamosh Raat - Thakshak. There is so much variety in this song, it will be very tough to zero in and say what I liked it. But still the part where the chorus come in after 3.59 is my favorite. Talking about Chorus, I must mention this song. Chinnamma Chilakamma from Meenaxi. This song was a part of Rahmans concert in Bangalore. And the chorus swayed according to the tune. It was a sight to watch!
8. Kannai katti kolladhe - Iruvar. The interlude from 1.57. I just feel like dropping everything I am doing and dance. I love Aishwaryas dance steps in this song especially during the interludes, when she pulls back her shirt and dances!
9. Narumugaye -Iruvar. The Mridangam all through the song, especially in the very beginning. And the gattam in the background, somewhere after 3.18 when Bombay Jayashree sings ‘iLaiththen thudiththen poRukka villai’. The interlude after 4.00 is amazing. It starts with mridangam in foreground, flute and gattam in background. After a while its veeNai in foreground, and then the flute. Then Bombay Jayashree starts off ‘yaayum yaaya’. Aaaha. What a pleasant song?
10. Ekla - Bose the Forgotten Hero. This song starts with some bengali verses, and after that Sonu Nigam goes ‘Tanha rahee’. In my opinion this is one of the best songs of Sonu Nigam. The way Sonu Nigam goes ‘Tanha rahee ee ee’ is so soothing!
11. Romeo aatam poattaal - Mr Romeo. The fast beat of the entire song is very catchy. The interlude after the first stanza from 1.10 to 1.33 is simply superb!
12. Ooh La la - Minsara Kanavu. Do I need to even say about the dappankuthu beats in the middle of the song?
13. Lucky Lucky - Ratchakan. I like this song just for the parts where SPB comes in. The way he starts off with ‘oh oh’ after the stanza ‘idhayathin symphony kaadhal’ is too good.
14. Toofan ki raat - Thakshak. The drum beats and the ease with each Hema Sardesai reaches the high pitch is good enough reason to get hooked to this song. The song starts from a distance, and as time goes by it gets closer and closer. One of my friend tells me, she never fails to listen to this song when she goes on a long ride. True! It just lifts your spirits!
15. kaNNoadu kaaNbadhellam - Jeans: If it was Mridangam in Narumugaye, it is thavil in this song. thakida thakida thakadhim thakida thakadim.
The list will go on and on. Please do drop in your favorite list.
Happy Birthday AR Rahman
Thanks for launching your own web site. As Aparna says, may god bless with you a long musical life.
on 06 Jan 2007 at 10:47 am # Hell's Angel
Happy bday Rahman!!!
In tht kannai katti kolladhe song where ash dances inside the palace..simply amazing step..saw tht movie yest just to watch tht step..I can say how proud i feel 2day as a capricornian and also im sharing my star bday 2day with Mr.Rahman!!
on 06 Jan 2007 at 12:58 pm # sreekrishnan
“Narumugaye -Iruvar. The Mridangam all through the song, especially in the very beginning.”
isnt that tabla ?? …. i thought it was a tabla !!
btw some addons: Nila kaaygirathu (Male version), vellai pookal, ennuyir thozhiye (kangalaal kaidhi sei), iru pookal - uyire, veerapandi kotayilae, chandralekha
on 06 Jan 2007 at 1:37 pm # A rude, snobbish girl
Vellai pookal is my all time fav by ARR. Nothing can beat it, in my opinion.
on 06 Jan 2007 at 4:20 pm # Nandu/Curious
It seems the narumugaiye song was sung by Bonnie Chakraborthy and not Bombay Jayashree, but I have to agree… she sounds very Bombay Jayashree!
My ARR favorites were his melodies like… Vellai Pookal, Punnagaiyil thee mooti (though this had heavy percussions)– the theme song from Jeans, Most of the from Kadal Desam - ennai kanavillaye and Thendrale and oh vennilaa and Anbae Sugama … to name a few…
Nice play list thr… & Happy B’day Rehman!
on 06 Jan 2007 at 4:51 pm # Aparna
Excellent selection of interludes!
Some of my favourites are the music that comes at 3.42 in Pyaara Sa Gaon in Zubeida, the guitar throughout the song July Madham esp. the ones at 1.12 and 2.45, flute in Vellai Pookal at 3.22 and 4.06.
Thanks for linking my blog.
on 06 Jan 2007 at 7:24 pm # K.Shyam
Macchi Mr.Romeo vil irundhu “Mellisaye” padalai vittu vittaye
some amazing violin pieces in the background when you listen to it very carefully !! In fact, that is when i really felt that this guy can challenge “God” Illayaraja in terms of orchestration.
K.Shyam
on 06 Jan 2007 at 9:33 pm # shub
you simply amaze me at times! phew! hats off!
on 07 Jan 2007 at 2:30 am # Anonymous
azhage sugama ?
on 07 Jan 2007 at 3:50 pm # Anonymous
left out minale from May Madham
on 07 Jan 2007 at 8:03 pm # rajesh
happy birthday thala - 2007 PATTAYA KELAPPU
on 08 Jan 2007 at 4:27 am # Kunal
1) azhagae sugama - both versions (the violin piece in one and the piano in the other are very good)
2) kannamoocchi yennada - violin again is excellent
3) suttum vizhi - kandukondain - song sounds beautiful with the background chords only
4) vellai pookal - yes, guitar is simple and haunting
5) narumugaiye - Ilike the cymbals ..sung by Bombay Jayashree BTW and not Bonnie
on 08 Jan 2007 at 3:30 pm # Prabhu
Hey guys,
This is not a comprehensive list. I chose very few songs. There are many more occassions to write upon many more songs
on 08 Jan 2007 at 4:02 pm # Deepa Palat
To people who really love ARR, my comments on his composition which he use to steal from hollywood films, will make them furious.
Some of the interludes he composed,in his hit songs will be preludes or theme music of, his kinda hollywood films. For e.g, If you see Bedazzled, you can get to know, the theme music is what he has used in En Swasa KaatRe as Prelude- Jumbalakka Jumbalakka.
The good peices of him will be like ” Maa Thuje Salaam”, Chinna Chinna Aasai, Oru theivam thantha poovey, and the list is very limited.
on 08 Jan 2007 at 9:00 pm # K.Shyam
I do not want to raise a flame war or something here, but bedazzled was released in the year 2000 and en swasa katrae was released in the year 1999.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230030/ (Bedallzed)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485205/ (En swasa katrae)
If there are similarities in the music, then it can only mean than both of them copied/ got inspired and the source was the same.
There is perhaps the only definitive site that tells you who copied from whom and it is this:
http://www.itwofs.com/
K.Shyam
on 09 Jan 2007 at 5:17 pm # Deepa Palat
Hey Shyam,
Not bad, Kudos for your discovery… Since I saw the En-Swasa KaatRe, very recently in KTV, it happened to mistake ARR…
But even then I feel many ( I told only ‘many’ not all) of his songs give me a kinda feel, that I’ve heard this somewhere, something not new to me. Thats again my personal opinion.
on 09 Jan 2007 at 8:10 pm # Dude
I hate ARR..
on 16 Nov 2007 at 8:41 pm # Aparna’s Blog » The year that was!
[...] fascinated me like no others’. Call it the turning point or whatever, Prabhu linked my post in his’ (for which I can’t thank him enough since I know, quite a few of my now regular readers came to [...]
on 24 Apr 2008 at 1:41 pm # Thalai
Though it’s too late for me to post a comment .. Don’t u guys like Shauk hai - Guru .. probably many ppl miss it out because of the romantic scene going behind in the movie! (Madhavan and Vidya Balan) .. Its seriously haunting!
on 13 May 2008 at 1:36 pm # venkat
Hey i gotta mention this…
the background music that keeps on playing in en swaasa kaatre, its like …. like it lends an essence to the character, kudos to AR rehman !!
on 09 Jul 2008 at 6:25 pm # shakti
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAHMAN.
on 27 Nov 2008 at 3:30 pm # rekesh rk
I love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Rahman i love u .1000000000000000000000000000000 love 4 u . HAPPY BIRTH DAY .plz sen ur adres ,my no : 9995341446