Kadal Falls short to be called AR Rahman`s best

Kadal Falls short to be called AR Rahman`s best  

Film: ‘Kadal’; Music Director: AR Rahman; Singers: AR Rahman, Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Chinmayi, Haricharan Seshadri, Harini, Shakthisree Gopalan, Sid Sriram, Tanvi Shah and Vijay Yesudas; Lyricists: Vairamuthu, Madhan Karky and Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam; Rating: ***1/2

The ‘Kadal’ album has seven tracks, featuring the voices of AR Rahman, Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Chinmayi, Haricharan Seshadri, Harini, Shakthisree Gopalan, Sid Sriram, Tanvi Shah and Vijay Yesudas. While Rahman himself has crooned two songs, the rest of the singers have one song each to their credit.

‘Chithirai Nela’ by Vijay Yesudas is a comforting number to open the album with. Vairamuthu`s emotional lyrics set the mood of the song for a pleasant and elevating listening from the very first minute, while Vijay`s vocal is highly stimulating. The soft baseline of the song leads into heavy thumping percussion beats.

Sid Sriram breathes life into ‘Adiye’, a soulful number heavily influenced by gospel style singing. Sid`s powerful vocal is backed by energetic choir and Rahman`s pick of Indian instruments. Though the song sounds very blue overall, but due to the use of light instruments, the overall mood of the song is very real.

‘Elay keechan’, crooned by AR Rahman, has traces of the original soundtrack from Hollywood movie ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou’. Acoustic guitar drives through the beginning, making the song a dedication to seamen and their lives. One can also feel the effervescent mood of the song throughout, formed by the wonderful collaboration of lyricist Karky, composer and singer Rahman. Rahman`s matchless voice adds a special ring to the song, while the tune is catchy enough to draw some attention.

‘Nenjukkule’ is undoubtedly the best song of the soundtrack. Having been released much before the official audio launch of the film, this song has already caught the attention of one all, including several non-Tamilians. Shakthisree Gopalan`s stunning voice not only makes this song melodious but highly emotional as well. For those who`ve heard the live version of this song on MTV`s ‘Unplugged’, the studio version may or may not impress as one might feel it misses the charm one would`ve found while hearing the live version. The guitar preface perfectly syncs with the backing of heavy percussions.

‘Anbin vaasale’ crooned by Haricharan Seshadri is yet another track in the album with a gospel feel to the overall output. The church choir is perfectly supported by Haricharan`s lead voice that reminds one of the strong lines penned by Madhan Karky.

‘Magudi magudi’, a digitally mastered track is highly energetic and racy, but at the same time, broody. What`s different in this number is, it mixes few dialogues with the song to make it part serious and part catchy. Since most of the song is digitally composed, there isn`t any scope for musical composition.

‘Kadal’ is enjoyable, but isn`t Rahman`s best.

IANS 

AR Rahman supports spiritual music album

AR Rahman supports spiritual music album

Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman has lent support to a new spiritual album Ik Onkar, launched under new music label Asli Music.

The album features the complete Japji Sahib, the first sacred composition found in the main Sikh holy scripture.

It has been sung by upcoming singer Harshdeep Kaur, who recently topped the charts with her song 'Katiya Karun' for the movie Rockstar.

Kanwarjit Singh Sawhney, chief of Asli Music, says the album will prove to be mood-lifting for listeners.

"The complete Japji Sahib, Ik Onkar, promises to balance various aspects of yourself, and stir your soul. It is said that reciting the complete Japji Sahib, including the mool mantra, brings prosperity and success, uplifts the soul and helps overcome obstacles," said Sawhney in a statement.

Sawhney hopes that through his new label, he can promote musical talent in the country.

"We aspire to be a full 360-degree music label soon, which will offer holistic solutions to artists, from training them to supporting them through their launch as professional artists by developing, publishing and distribution," he added.

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AR Rahman team react to 'c****ya' remark for Bowl show

AR Rahman team react to 'c****ya' remark for Bowl show


Music composer AR Rahman's recent show at the Hollywood Bowl has received expletive criticism by Shonali Bose, the director of Konkona Sen Sharma's Amu. A member from Rahman's team has officially reacted to the director's comment on the social network. 

The director who was at the Rahman concert recently at the Hollywood Bowl commented on her social networking profile, "Just returned from a most c*****ya concert at the Hollywood bowl wrongly advertised as an AR Rahman concert. Me and a zillion other desis who were there felt totally cheated and want our time and money back! they made AR an announcer! He came on stage and read out the synopses of his (worst) films — such disasters as raavan, mangal pandey and robot! and then we had to hear the boring score played by the la philharmonic! the highlight of the event was walking around in the beginning before the show started and finding so many good friends there. if you were there and are not bubbling with gaalis please enlighten me!" 

Meanwhile, Rahman's office has reacted to this comment. Says Vijay Iyer, a member of Rahman's team, (TOI) "It was always publicized as an orchestral show and that the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra would perform his works. Last year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed a similar concert in London which was well-received. He just concluded his multi-city Jai Ho tour a few months aho and also performed at Nagpur and Bangalore a few weeks back, which was a different format complete with singers, dancers and lots of fireworks. This was a different format. 

An orchestra is always led by a conductor, who in this, happened to be Matt Dunkley. Were they expecting Rahman to stand with the orchestra for the full duration? The show has been very well-received and we have been flooded with compliments and requests for more such shows."

A.R.Rahman Live 2010 Khawaja Mere Khawaja