Between Reviews: A Ditty about Aditi
A DITTY ABOUT ADITI
JUNE 1, 2008 - AS IF TO PROVE HIS DETRACTORS WRONG, as if to silence those criticisms that his music cannot be got until you listen to it over and over – like imposition, filling that blackboard in your mind with grimly repeated resolves of “The next time around, I will like this song better” – AR Rahman has composed… Wait, that’s not the word, for “composed” gives the impression of a certain rigidity of structure, of a schema, of following a premeditated thought to its predetermined conclusion, whereas the instantly fall-in-lovable Kabhi kabhi Aditi (from the album, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na) sounds like Rahman did nothing more than cup his ear to the chest of a college-goer in love and translate those heartbeats into notes.
After a succession of stately, senior-citizen scores, how delightful it is to see Rahman strutting about in jeans again, an iPod stuffed in the back pocket. When I heard that this notoriously non-prolific composer had two soundtracks due to hit stores at the same time – and after a quick glance westwards to assure myself that the sun wasn’t about to rise there – I thought, this week, I’d record my thoughts about Ada and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in this column. But that’s not going to be possible – though I’ll admit that a one-time listen of Ada has resulted in no overbearing urge to return to it anytime soon – because the endless listens to Kabhi kabhi Aditi have left me with barely any time to get to the other tracks.
How do I love this song? Let me count the ways. I love the way the rhythm kicks in like an afterthought, well into the second line, changing – in an instant – the texture of the number that you thought was going to be coloured primarily by whiny pickings on an acoustic guitar. I love the gradual buildup and explosion in the stanzas, as the everything’s-gonna-be-okay shrug from earlier is fleshed out into doggerel universalities – that the bleakness of night will once again give way to the light of day, that the flowers will bloom once more. (The actor-playwright Noël Coward once expressed his astonishment at “how potent cheap music is.” When you’re a certain age, I guess the same could be said of dime-store philosophising.) And I love the repeated pleas to Aditi to please, please, please get out of her blue funk and crack a smile: Hey Aditi, has de, has de, has de, has de, has de, has de tu zara / Nahin to bas thoda, thoda, thoda, thoda, thoda, thoda muskura.
And yet, there was the nagging realisation as the song came to a close that had it been played for me in a guessing game and had I been asked to figure out the composer, I would have dithered between AR Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Vishal-Shekhar. Does it appear to anyone else that the lines between the troika at the top are increasingly beginning to blur? When the compositional style is “Indian,” I find I’m able to instantly pick out Khwaja mere Khwaja as a Rahman creation (no other composer whips up such a spiritual fervour), or Goonji si hai as a number by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (their melody lines have the smoothest edges in the business).
But it becomes murkier when we’re talking pop-style compositions – like Kabhi kabhi Aditi, or Kahin to hogi (from the same album, which sounds like a throwback to eighties’ acts like Paul Young and Peter Cetera). If the composer’s names were scratched out from the inlay cover of the Taare Zameen Par CD, would you settle on Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy as the brains behind Kholo kholo and Jame raho? Or, for that matter, even with Vishal-Shekhar’s very Indian-sounding Main agar kahoon and Jag soona soona laage from Om Shanti Om, don’t they make you think of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy? And couldn’t Rahman’s Mayya mayya from Guru be seen as a furtive escapee from the Vishal-Shekhar camp?
I wish I knew where I’m going with this – based on the above, there seems to be some overarching summation to be made about modern-day composers, doesn’t it? – but the only conclusion (if it can even be called that) is that compositional styles overlap a lot more than they used to. I was listening, recently, to Dil sajan jalta hai from Mukti, and if I hadn’t already known the name of the composer, the stanzas would have left me with little doubt. It’s all a smooth rise-and-fall of melody, till we get to the phrases shabnam ke, girne se – early in the second stanza – where the luscious curves flatten abruptly to straight lines, as if, for those few seconds, something had caused the scale to sputter and choke to near-death. That something is the unmistakable RD Burman signature. Now, why didn’t we find this in anyone else’s music of that time? I’ll leave you to chew over that while I head back to clear my head with that ditty about Aditi.
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BR: This post forced me to instantly pull up Dil Sajan Jalta Hai, which I hadn’t heard in ages. What a beautiful way to describe the melodic structure of the stanzas! While you’re right about the stanzas being a dead give away, I think one doesn’t need to wait for the stanzas…the la la la at the very start is unmistakeably RDB.
I think the overlapping of compositional styles was very evident in the 90s as well, when following the Nadeem Shravan wave (I never understood why they became so popular), every composer (Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, etc.) suddenly started sounding like them. That blurring of compositional styles, unlike the one you point out now, was probably intentional.
Baradwaj, you are right there. Lately, they do sound alike at times. By the way give the soundtrack of movie ‘Aamir’ a try. Its a good one.
http://madness-of-madras.blogspot.com/2008/05/kabhi-kabhi.html
.. couldn’t agree with you more!
I would chalk the overlapping musical styles to ARR being so influential on composers in the 2000s.
With JTYJN, ARR has created simpler melodies and hooks that are instantly catchy. Pappu Can’t Dance and Sukvinder’s version of Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai are my other favorites on the soundtrack. The Pappu Can’t Dance remix is actually pretty good too.
I bought JTYJN and Ada the same day but I too haven’t been inclined to listen to Ada more than a few times. It has a few good tracks, but overall it is nowhere near as strong as JTYJN.
by the way I too did feel the same about Ada, but realised you can have Meherbaan (”Khwaja mere khwaja meets Pray for me Brother”) on loop.
Aditya: Of course, the whole song — right from Asha’s la la-ha-la la la — is trademark RD, but I chose the stanza just to talk about that thing he does with the scale, which almost no one else did, and hence it was a ’signature” For that matter, I could have just as easily talked about the distinctive sound of the bass guitar or the rhythm patterns…
abhi: Yeah, have heard good things about Aamir. Whose is it, by the way?
Santosh Kumar T K: what can I say? great minds…
Ravi K: In a way, yes. But earlier, when composers spawned imitators — say Ilayaraja with Deva and so on — you could still say who was who. Elsewehere, there was a simplicity to SDB’s music and an orchestral sound to SJ’s — very broadly speaking, of course — that made you instantly recognise the composer. So what is different today? ARR, in his early days (Rangeela, Gentleman), had a very distinct sound. But now that his music is richer, more sophiticated, that “uniqueness/signature” isn’t there any more. Though I must say I’m grateful for this embarrassment of riches, with V-S and S-E-L and ARR.
@Ravi: I think that instead of ARR’s influence on other composers, it’s the other way round. The man himself, in a recent IBN interview, said that ‘Kabhi kabhi’ was something he had not done before. Anyway,whatever it is, it certainly is good for ears
@baradwaj: Its by Amit Trivedi. Hadn’t heard of him before.
BR,
as for signature styles I would say yes! It is evident in his Thiruda Thiruda more than anything else ( the 1993, 1994 and partly 1995 phase)where I think there was a deliberate attempt to be apart from the crowd much akin to Maniratnam’s work of the 80s and these necessarily meant pan-all-regions blockbusters. As for blurring at the top you could still say who could possibly do a Meenaxi, a TLOBS or a Kannathil Muthamittal the sophistication in all forms of the 2000s notwithstanding
;)
I think today the best composers are chameleon-like in their ability to compose songs in different styles. Which is not to say that earlier composers were not versatile or that today’s composers do not have trademarks, but I think Laaxmikant-Pyarelal’s trademark dholak beats, for example, would sound repetitive to today’s young ears.
I don’t know about music, but in ARR’s music there are certain techniques he uses regularly, like the broken-up effect at the end of the “thirakittathaana” vocal and the percussion trill at the end of the brief tabla part in Pappu Can’t Dance.
Maybe ARR sounded more distinctive back in the mid-90s because he was the only one trying music like that. I don’t think it was until Harris Jayaraj debuted with Minnale that ARR had a competitor with a similar sound.
BR,
This is the first time I am disappointed after reading something by you.
This write-up starts really well, and it is about a song which I am loving too. The part about the song is superbly delicious. I ended up reading that ‘Rahman did nothing more than cup his ear to the chest of a college-goer in love and translate those heartbeats into notes.’ line multiple times!
Next couple of paragraphs are about the song too, but then, jarringly, the write-up changes its tone, topic, everything.
From a breezy, fresh take on an equally breezy song, it becomes your musings about ‘distinctions in styles.’
I suppose if you had written two articles, one about ‘Aditi’ and one about ‘the musings’, I would have loved both of them.
FYI, the Kabhi Kabhi tune seems to be “inspired” by a Telugu song from Bommarillu featuring, incidentally, Genelia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmqdYy1Nb3E
(nicely sung by Siddharth. This guy seems to be multi-multi-talented)
Vishal - those tunes do sound very similar, it was disturbing that Bommarillu was NOT a Rahman composition. Does anyone else feel that the lyrics of Jaane Tu songs are most mundane, verging on silly?
Hey guys, I agree JTYJN is a peppy and more instantly likable album, but don’t give up on ADA..man this album is one hell of melody written all over it, with awesome lyrics..Milo Wahan Wahan, Hai Dard, Meharbaan, Hawa Sun Hawa…all treat to melody lovers, just melts ur heart, the lyrics are top class…Enjoy guys!!
@vishal and neela : Before drawing a conclusion on Kabhi Kabhi and Bommarillu, the line “Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi” sounds very similar to the interlude before the second stanza of Mustapha Mustapha(Kadhal Desam) song. So Rahman basically reused his interludes here. So now,you know who got inspired from where !!
@ Friedwater : So true. Infact, the songs of Ada makes me more addicted than JTYJN. Milo Wahan, Hai Dard, Meherbaan, Hawa Sun Hawa…what variations. Awesome album.
BR, I did notice the pun; I’m sure others did too, but just thought will mention just in case you were disappointed at lack of notice
Chaitanya: Ouch! I thought it came out like a portmanteau piece — one part about the song, which leads to part two about the composer. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you
Vishal/Neela: I heard this accusation elsewhere too, but other than the start, I don’t see much that’s common. What am I missing?
FriedWater/Vimal: Ada, somewhow, sounds like the Rahman I’ve heard so many times before. There’s no ‘freshness’ in the album.
raj: Er, I intended it more as a rhyme, rather than a pun. Or are you talking about something else? But thank you, thank you, thank you for noticing
@Abhi: actually Amit Trivedi is part of Om the Fusion Band. I thought their self titled album was exceptional as well.
Haranguin Brangan (yea I noticed the pun/rhyme
): You’ve offically convinced me to leave Raaja’s counterpoint constructed heaven and vacation in Rahman’s resort for sometime. I will be checking out JTYJN.
brangan: Thanks to Guru, whenever I come across a new ARR album review by you, it sets off an angel vs devil conversation inside my head. I can’t help it. So now I read this and the angel says, from the sound of this write-up, it feels as though AR Rahman did nothing more than cup his ear to brangan’s chest, as he was listening to Kabhi Kabhi Aditi, and “translated those heartbeats into notes.” Now how the heck does that become possible?, quips the devil. “Since when has fidelity to real life been important to art? You’re going into the realm of logic. Why don’t you just listen to the music and see, for instance, how marvellously the flute keeps flirting with the voice!?” retorts the angel. So I do…(the devil, duly shushed). And it’s true…the flute does flirt with the voice oh-so-beautifully…(now that I just got done listening to it).
p.s: About Dil sajan jalta hai by RDB, I also just heard it/saw it (for the first time) on youtube and boy, that scene with Bindiya Goswami (and I remember seeing a prettier version of her paired up with Vinod Mehra in a bunch of movies) in a lemon-yellow sari and Vikram in an orange ensemble against a backdrop of pink and white flowers…what an only-in-that-era-movies cornucopia of colors! The song itself reminded me of this other (similarly titled) song that I’d listened to for the first time after reading your SDB tribute piece a while back. “Hearing Jalte hain for the first time? I’m quite jealous…” is probably how you’d respond to me on Dil sajan jalta hai as well. Seems to me that what was once — especially during the Burmans’ era — characterized by intense “burning” of some sort has, over time, given way to being depicted by “drenching” and “drowning” (think IR’s Andhi Mazhai Pozhigiradhu and ARR’s Pudhu Vellai Mazhai, Telephone Mani Pol…). We certainly live in “cooler” times now, global warming notwithstanding!
Chaitanya: I know what you mean. But let’s cut brangan some slack this once. Even I expected him to go the Guru route with this after reading the first para. But I quickly realized what had happened. He started out, in all earnestness, listening to Pappu Can’t Dance, and by the time he got to the last track, the vessel carrying his collective emotions about the entire album simply capsized, caught in the gale force that’s indeed Kabhi Kabhi Aditi. It’s so not his fault. See, he admits to being helpless: “I wish I knew where I’m going with this…” Whether Kabhi Kabhi got Aditi out of her blue funk or not, we now know it got brangan well into the deep blue! (But small mercies no?, that the “drowning” happened only at the end of para three? Wouldn’t want to lose a word of the (portmanteau) piece prior).
Sagarika: I agree wholeheartedly, wouldn’t want to lose a single word of the piece prior.
BR’s writing is sometimes as beautiful as the stuff he writes about, and most of the times, it betters the stuff he writes about.
I LOVED what he wrote about the song.
Deepauk M: “Haranguin”? Hmmm…
Sagarika/Chaitanya: I’m so glad you’re letting me off the hook this time. Phew!
Rangan Bhai,
Sorry for the ‘man who disappeared’ act one more time :-). I’m sure you will be glad to know that I have taken up writing full time. I have become a content writer for a website http://www.123telugu.com. I’m mostly writing political editorials as of now, but will get into writing about movies soon. Inspiration is from you…my jealousy that you can write for a living spurred me on. So wish me good luck!
That apart, I just heard this song today morning and its been on loop ever since. And then I come tour blog and lo and behold…u have it here too….I agree with Chaitanya though…was expecting just a bit more about the song tooo…..
Ravi: Awesome man. Good luck with that. Is this a full-time thing? And are you the one whose byline is “RP”?
Sketchy rhyme usage I know but, consider harangue used in terms of an an impassioned speech. I was looking for a rhyme and your Ironman review was still stuck in my head.
brangan: “I’m so glad you’re letting me off the hook this time.” For purely selfish reasons though.
I don’t mean to speak for the Oracle of Delphi but your Guru music review is sure to go down the annals of movie music as the best “new AR Rahman album review” EVER — and I’ll be the happiest person on earth when that happens, given that I’ve cut my (refined reading) teeth on that colossus of a classic. Let’s see if you get to prove me wrong, throw a wrench in my happiness, over the next year or so (given ARR’s tendency to be notoriously non-prolific and all). I hope not…
BR, You made my day by writing so beautifully about “Dil Sajan Jalta hai”, Pancham at his subliming best!
Nope, I’m the other guy, Virinchi…
And yes this is a full time job…I head the content department in this organization
I agree with every word and I wish I had something more insightful to say - but it was a music post on a song i love - how could i just walk away?!
There are sounds that belong to each era, right.
For that matter, most of the sound from every one else during the 80s and 90s sound like illayaraja(one can always idenotify when it is minus the genius).
Illayaraja set the sound with his Annakilli rest followed.
Each of these music directors have such distinct marks.
The thirikatathana in “Pappu can’t dance” will tell you it is Rahman.(the kind of experimentations Rahman started with Kanglal Kaidhu sei).
“Baat meri Suniye tho” - Even though it is SEL, I feel the trademark is actually from Shankar in this case.
And even a whiff from Vishal-Shekar music will remind me that they are from north of Thirupathi.
I can’t describe it in words but I feel the marks are written all over the songs.
Or is it me, the Rahman-maniac, hallucinating?
Man, you write really well. Loved the way described the song there. It’s a beautiful song for sure and yeah, very very addictive!
Kabhi Aditi.. sounds a bit like songs of Earth, Wind and Fire
hii, guyz i jst need tht flute which starts in backgrnd whn jai c meghna 1st time in pub, if u ppl hav it plzz mail me
I would like to say something about the accusation made by vishal about the resemblance of aditi song to the one in bommarillu. but clearly, anyone who has followed Rahman’s music would know that rahman has simply reused his tune (2nd interlude) from ‘mustafa mustafa’. its high time we all music lovers realize the teh gr8 contribution made by ar rahman to indian film music and think twice b4 calling him a copycay.