It has been 15 years since ARR made his debut. Here are some 15 random songs composed by Rahman which are not extremely popular like the ones of Roja, Dilse etc that I enjoy. I have deliberately left out the songs from films directed by Mani Ratnam (With exception of one song), Shankar, Ashutosh etc. If you get a chance, do listen to these songs.

1. Nendhikitten - Star

I like this song for the way it teases you. The lyrics are quite funny and the choice of instruments are quite different. Its fun listening to this song especially when the lady goes ‘Aasai dosai hey hey’ and a Mridhangam starts playing in the background. Actually the music is so rich that one might miss out on the trivial bits in this song. Like when the guy sings ’saaral adikudhadi’ there is a beep beep. Quite nice

2. peNNalla peNNalla oodha poo - Kezhavan Uzhavan
Slow song, but a lovely one with brilliant lyrics. This is one song which I felt was too short. Yeh dil maange more. I don’t know why I like this song. Whether it is for SPB, or for the lyrics or for the catchy interludes. Good one.

3. Sakiye - Anthimantharai
I have never seen this movie. But I would recommend this album for anyone who loves melodies. I do like ‘oru naaL oru pozhudhu’ but the way Unni Krishnan has sung this song is very nice. The song starts like Unnikrishnan whispering ’sakiye nee dhaan thuNaiye vizhi mael amarndha imaiye’. And slowly the tempo picks up with Mridangam. There is one portion where all instruments stop playing, except for Mridangam. And slowly the flute sneaks in. Aaaha. Why doesn’t Unnikrishnan sing for Rahman anymore? :( Very refreshing song.

4. Kisna Theme 2 - Kisna
You like Piano? You like Flute? Then this song is a must for you. Its the same tune as that of ‘Hum hain is pal yahan’. I like this more than the Udit Narayan version. Ideal song on a long ride. Wish Rahman conducts a concert in which there are just instrumentals, and no human voice ;)

5. Rasiya - Mangal Pandey
I am just copy pasting what Baradwaj Rangan wrote whilst reviewing ‘Mangal Pandey’
‘But the album’s standout is undoubtedly Rasiya (Richa Sharma, Bonnie Chakraborty). The opening lines suggest that the singer is writhing in love much like a fish writhing in a net, and there’s not a moment throughout the song that doesn’t suggest this pain-pleasure agony of infatuation. Richa Sharma has one of those Shamshad Begum-type, bass-rich voices that automatically adds a baser instinct to her words. Mora becomes a languorous mmorrrrraaaaa, kaske becomes a spicy kassske, the teasing in the way she enunciates chhaliya, the pleading in rasiya… This isn’t just singing; it’s a vocal performance. (The instrumental arrangements, though elegant, don’t dare cross her path.) In her hands, and in Rahman’s, love doesn’t become a merely generic emotion. It becomes an emotion that crosses the boundaries of genre.‘

6. Sonnalum kaetpadhillai - Kaadhal Virus
Harini Unni Krishnan is one my all time favorite duet combination. Sad that this movie was a disaster. I think the song ‘Hey hey enna aachu’ was one of the first tamil songs to be played on Channel V and MTV frequently. I like the way Harini stresses on the word ’sonnaaaalum’. Simple interludes and a lovely melody.

7. PorkaLam ange - Thenali
Pathos song. Srinivas comes in pretty late in the song. I love the way they(Gopika poornima and Srinivas) sing together ‘unnai ingu pirigiren unakkuL dhaane vaazhgiren anbil unnai aLakkiren anichai seyalaai aNaikkiren’ and later just Srinivas songs. Another thing to mention is the drum beats all through the song. Lyrics of piRaisoodan are pretty good. Best part of the song according to me is when Srinivas sings ‘PorkaLam illai’ and immediately switches to lower pitch :D

8. Aaha Thamizhamma - KangaLaal kaidhu sei
Next to ‘Chinamma Chilakamma’ from Meenaxi, this is the song I love mainly for the interludes and chorus. Booyaka Booyaka shah. Ha ha :) Another song for long ride. Superb beats. A racy number. Whats the instrument that plays between 0.23 and 0.34. Violin? Priya Mani debut song. Is this the first song that Shreya sung for ARR? Another sing where you can forget the lyrics and enjoy it just for the music arrangement.

9. Mehndi Hai Rachnewali - Zubeidaa
Foot tapping number from Zubeidaa. I somehow prefer this song over ‘Dheeme Dheeme’. Of course thats a good song, but I like the konjal in this song. I like the interludes in most of the songs, but this is one of the songs where I enjoy the starting music more than interludes. O hariyali banno!

10. Vennilavin Theril - Duet
I was suffering from Jaundice when this movie audio released. My brother liked Anjali Anjali and En Kaadhale, but this was my favorite. Once upon a time I learnt violin, before the violin master disappeared. Poor guy! I always enjoy songs which has Violin interludes. And luckily this song didn’t have any of the K Balachandar adhigaprasangithanam. The song ends with a lovely flourish of Violin.

11. Khamosh Raat - Thakshak
Roop kumar Rathod at his best. I think I have already mentioned this song in my blog. Its one of my all time favorites. I enjoy it even more now on Bangalore roads, thanks to my car stereo :P Chorus is wonderful in this song too. ’sa ri sa ri’ part in between 3.50 and 4.20 is enchanting

12. New - Kalaiyil dhinamum - Telugu version
Am sure all would have listened to the Tamil version. But somehow I like the Telugu version of this song. Somehow I get a feeling Telugu version was composed before the Tamil version. Not sure.

13. Sambo Sambo - Pudhiya Mugam
When it comes to Pudhiya Mugam everyone raves about kaNNukku mai azhagu and Netru Illadha maatram. But this song was what that caught my attention initially. There is a personal reason behind it. I was studying 12th that time, and this movie album was released during our vacation time. We went on a picnic, and I had taken this cassette along with me. One of my class mates danced for this song in the bus, and it was hilarious the way she used to mimic ‘Bhakti paadal paadatuma’. We all used to scream ‘Nooooooooooo’. Sigh! Those days! Apart from that reason, I love the song for the way Rahman has used the percussion instruments and the way Shuba drags the song deliberately. Everytime I listen to this song, I feel much better :)

14. Piya Haji Ali - Fiza
Those days it was very rare to find Rahman sing a full song. I was in Mumbai when this movie released, with my friends from Kashmir, Gujarat and Rajasthan. They were big fans of ARR, and I used to translate the tamil songs to them. For this song it was vice versa, as I didn’t know Hindi then. Pleasant memories, once again.

Any guesses on which Mani Ratnam movie song am talking about? Its not that popular ;)