A R Rahman - who keeps promises

Two years back when rickshawallon ka apna hero cum music director cum singer Himesh Reshmmiya expressed his wish to sing for A R Rahman, I could sniff that there was something more in between the lines. For me it was the beginning of a real life drama where the two protagonists come from two opposite stratum of culture.

There is no common platform where these two persons can be compared apart from the fact that both are Hindi film music directors.

Some images flashing in my mind:

Himesh Reshmmiya was the judge of a popular music talent hunt show. There was a boy whom Himesh was mentoring. Every time that boy was losing out on votes from his nearest competitor, Himesh used to scream at the top of his voice and would 'promise' him 'another' song in his forthcoming film. Now the scene was that, at that time Himesh was at the peak of his career as music director and was having numerous projects in hand; whereas, that other boy's mentor was Ismail Darbar who had nothing but to smile and digest the insult as he could not 'promise' any song to his disciple as he had no project in hand. This action of Himesh brought huge applause in the set and also 'good words' for him. Eventually when that movie released where that contestant of that talent hunt show was supposed to sing three MAIN songs had only one remix song sung by his loved disciple. I know NOBODY really bothers to know who sings which song NOWADAYS but what about the promise? And that promise which is made in front of so many viewers?

Another image:

When A R Rahman composed the song Tere Bina for Mani Rathnam's Guru, he asked Qadir to sing it and he actually recorded the song with him. But Mani Ratnam wanted Rahman to sing it and he was not ready to listen to any arguments. When Rahman saw that there was no way to convince Mani Ratnam, he sang it. But he was not in peace. He broke a promise that he had made to Qadir. After that on every possible occasion whenever Guru soundtrack was mentioned, A R Rahman made it a point to mention this incident to the media, which was more like asking for the forgiveness from Qadir. Someday later Sony Music brought out an MP3 with Rahman's songs, including Qadir's Tere Bina in the CD and thus Qadir's song reached to millions. No prize to guess who might have requested the company to put that song.

Now back to present day. Suddenly one day Himesh Resmmiya makes a sensational statement in the media that he being a huge fan of A R Rahman, he would like to sing for A R Rahman. The media gets excited. They ask A R Rahman on every subsequent interviews that when he was planning to give Himesh a song. Probably here comes the cultural difference between two people. While Himesh made this comment just for some extra publicity, Rahman really believed him. Though he never promised anything to Himesh (at least via media), two years later when A R Rahman finally composes a tune for Himesh, the latter turns it down for some stupid reason.

The media must be happy with such a live drama happening through them and there must be many articles on this incident explaining many things from many perspectives. But this incident once again proves that no matter how a person lives or tries to live, his real instincts finally comes out just like Himesh's dirty nature came out.

Yuvvraaj Music Limited

Yuvvraaj is different. It had to be different as it’s by Subhash Ghai. And this is exactly what I had expected it to be, though I had expected it to be some different at the same time.

Yuvvraaj seems to be a perfect platform where Subhash Ghai utilized his rare chance to chop off Gulzar’s free imaginative wings and A R Rahman’s melodic romanticism with his thousand-times-repeated and as-old-as-mountain thoughts to the fullest. This man seems cannot think something beyond than what he is doing for ages. The inlay card contains visuals of the songs that vouches it to be nothing different from Taal or Yaadein (Yuckkkk!!!!) or Pardes (Yuckkkk again!!!!). How long will we see the movies with the same old story with same old stupid treatment especially now, when we have so many new people with innovative thoughts coming to make cinema?

Taal music was an unusual escape from Subhash’s usual claws. May be this was the reason behind those rumors that said that A R Rahman and Subhash Ghai had serious creative differences in the brainstorming sessions and that Subhash Ghai interferes in the music development process more than he was required. My heart asked me to believe those rumors and I was very happy with the thought that AR would not work with Subhash Ghai again. But Yuvvraaj was waiting and I am just not liking it.

Yuvvraaj comes with the same old use of instrument, the same old use of percussion, the same old use of vocals and most importantly the same old shade of Western Classical music? Had Yuvvraaj were by Mani Ratnam and not by Subhash Ghai, I would have blamed A R Rahman for this clichéd sound of Yuvvraaj. But if you take this shy man’s words seriously then you would remember that while asked ‘How come you are always at your best when you work with Mani Rathnam’, he replied ‘With Mani, sky is the limit’. So how would a creative man deliver within defined limits? This is what Yuvvraaj music is. It’s limited. It’s limited to Subhash Ghai’s clichéd thought.

But still Yuvvraaj is NOT a trash. Yuvvraaj has its moments too. There are some magical but brief moments for AR fans when his soul flashes out suddenly from under the hammered loud presence of Mr. Ghai. There are some out of the world surreal preludes and interludes that come and go only to assure you of AR’s presence. But for sure, there’s nothing left for Gulzar fans. Yuvvraaj poetry is as flat as highway.

When it is true that Subhash Ghai has nothing new to give as he can’t actually think new, it is also true that Yuvvraaj marks A R Rahman’s failure too. This time he couldn’t surpass Ghai’s yawning ideas like he did in Taal by inducing life to that lifeless movie.

Start with BANG BANG!!!!!!

My day today literally started with a BANG, or to be precise with a phone ring. I was deep in sleep the moment the phone rang and the next moment I was literally JUMPING with joy. It was Vidhi and she was calling from LEH!!!!!!

She mailed me somedays back that she was going for trekking to Leh and I have no idea how this grand news skipped my mind that is always contaminated with storyborad templates, graphic assets, writings standards, acronym folders, etc, etc......

So, when she called today morning and said that 'Hey, I am calling from Leh'...I started jumping :)

I remember how we used to write for travel portals and used to dream going places. Leh was always one of the five top destinations in our chart. I am so happy that she is now trekking there.

Well, as I am starting for home today (yes, after 1 long year)and as I had no time to spare as I was getting ready to come to office, I realized the next BANG only when it actually stopped me. It's squirming embarrasing situation when you see your sandal strap coming adamently out of the sandal and yes, this was the second BANG of my day. Thanks a million to God that Purba was there with me who promptly came out with a solution (read auto) and we made quite a smooth whizz considering Mumbai 9 am traffic to the cobbler.

After one super energetic and super negative BANG, now I am waiting for the time to come when we will be well settled inside the train and when I will be able to have a long nap.

So, I am off home for next 10 days and so no blogging, mailing, chatting or orkutting till I come back.

Wish all a very happy Durga Puja :)

Shooting Star

Who? Me!!! :D

Yesterday I was off to Juhu bwach with my sister. We were hanging around and suddenly saw balloon shoooting game some steps ahead. We immiditaley started walking towards it as it was our most favourite game when we used to visit the yearly mela (fair) in Silchar.

I took up the heavvyyy gun and asked for the charge. The guy put the bullet inside and I shot it, pointing at nowhere and obvioulsy I missed it. Then that guy gave some tips as how to aim and where to aim, etc. He wouldn't spare his valuable advice with me had he known that it was me who can never hit anything but elephant with her aim. Anyway, this time I decided to listen to him and thanks to the dense population of balloons that everytime I shot one, it hit one that was 2-3 ballons next to the one I pointed. It was fun and I managed to hit 9 out of 10 bullets. My all time best!!!! I was laughing, jumping and screaming.

Now it was my sister's turn. She happens to be the 'thinker' player of hour home. She defeats me in all games starting from chess, carom (she's great shooter in carom), ludo, memory game, etc. The only game that I manage to defeat her is scrabble :)

Anyway, as I was looking forward at her performance, she kept missing one after another and finally managed to hit only 7 out of 10! I was laughing, jumping and screaming again. It was my day :) She was also happy to see me win at some game at last. She confesses openly that she actually feels bad that she defeats me so easily.

Abhimaan Again

Somedays back while rushing for office, I saw the news of Abhimaan being made again with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the newspaper. As I was in a hurry, I couldn't go through the news to know who was directing it.

But not reading the article I not only missed the director's name, which I kept guessing but also missed out with the music director's name.

Somedays later while having a chat with a friend over phone, when he suddenly came up with the news that AR is composing for Rajeev Menon's Abhimaan with Abhi-Ash, I was awestruck with two thoughts: 1)Rajeev Menon would direct it? Isn't he the guy who made that disastrous Sapney? 2) AR? This is going to be acid test for him!

Then I took the pain to dig out that old news paper and read the entire story. What I could gather from there is that Rajeev Menon is again going for another gimmick cashing on the popularity of star couple Abhi-Ash and also banking on the emotional fact that they are actually the second generation couple to the original couple of original Abhimaan. What an idea!

But only one thought that pinching me is about the music. How will be the music? By doing this AR will be put to acid test against the legendary S.D.Burman. With all my honesty, I strongly feel that only person who can be compared to senior Burman in all manner is our AR.

But what will happen when Abhimaan will hit the market? The comparision is inevitable, but one's creation is stark contrast to another. These two music legends represent two different forms of music altogether. While one is more eloquent in subtle mir and emotional aspect, the other banks on fusion and mixing. But no wonder, both are miles ahead than their contemoraries. And having said that these two music directors represent two different genres, can their music be compared?

I think they cannot be compared as they say that an apple is an apple and an orange is an ornage.

But what about the Indian media? Indian news channels and news paper now a days cannot seem to think about anything beyond Bollywood. It's quite obvisous that there'll be rims written and kilometers filmed comparing every atom of the new Abhimaan with the old one. And the Indian media has always shown its fetish for rejecting the remakes turning a deaf to the innovative ideas. I just hope that in the process the great movie knowers of our country don't write off the music of the new one completely ignoring that fact that 1) A R Rahman's music style is different from S D Burman 2) Earlier Abhiman's music was classical music based while the new one will be rock based 3) The first one came 35 years ago and the world music has changed a million times than that and most importantly 4) Rajeev Menon's way of making film is far more complex than that of Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Cancer that is Incurable

While attending a gathering at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce on 22.08.08, the West Bengal industries minister Nirupam Sen was stumped by a simple question from S B Ganguly, the Exide chief : “You are running the government. How can a handful of farmers come in the way of the project? Why don’t you speak to them and settle their grievance?” Yes, the meeting was held to address the Singur issue after Ratan Tata declared that he would rather shift his Nano plant somewhere else than putting his employees in danger in Singur.

Apparently, the Singur issue, that is worsening every moment, looks that simple from a distance. But if you pay some heed to the matter, you will get a Pandora’s box opening in front of you. There are more questions than answers that diagnose a cancer to this state’s development wing.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wants to do something that his ancestor Mr. Jyoti Basu carefully escaped to deal in his tenure in the fear of losing support and vote bank. So Mr. Bhattacharjee now faces countless obstacles in his path to make West Bengal his dream West Bengal.

The first obstacle is the disgraceful lady Mamata Banerjee (I cannot forget her image of dancing in the bonnet of Jyoti Basu’s ambassador drenched in rain). Clearly she has made this her personal issue as this is her ticket to front page. A ticket that can bring some light in her darker than dark political career.

Another obstacle is the inside party politics that Mr. Bhattacharjee has to deal with every time. I couldn’t be sure of this unless the Nandigarm incident had not happened. This is the major problem that binds Mr. Bhattacharjee’s hands stronger than anything else.

In my brief stay in Kolkata, I’ve actually seen people yearning for a strike that would give them an unexpected off from work. This mentality of people can be seen in the vacant buses during strikes in spite of Government promising for safe travel. This approach is not hidden from the companies and investors. They know it very well and this is the reason that the companies are not ready to extend their branch in Kolkata; and even if they do, the clients make it a point that no big or important project goes to Kolkata branch.

I really don’t know what will happen to the Tata plant; if they will really pull out their project from the state. But one thing is for sure that more the world will develop, more the people will earn, West Bengal will slip to even more darkness of underdevelopment, poverty if the current situation doesn’t change. If you take 15 minute ride from Surat, you will see one industry after another in both sides of the road. Thankfully the land where the factories have emerged never gave birth to potatoes and tomatoes like the Singur soil, which the opposition party is trying to save. Hasn’t the land produced enough potatoes in last 61 years; has anything changed in its surrounding? And look at Surat; it is the RICHEST city of the country. But where is Kolkata? Forget about competing with other metros, Kolkata cannot even compete with other state capitals and sate-second cities for jobs options or overall lifestyle. But whom to blame? The government? The opposition? The investors? The farmers? The people? There are more questions than answers that diagnose a cancer to this state’s development wing.

Some Distant Memories

Quite unexpectedly and accidentally I got hold of Sanchayita today. It was something I never expected when I went to talk to a fellow friend and found it on his desk wrapped in glittery paper. 'How come it's here, with you?'....was my first question to him...while I was flipping the pages to read the first poem, my all time favourite poem - Maranare Tuhu Momo Shyam Saman... 'One friend had been to Kolkata and I asked him to get it for me'....was my friend's answer. 'I'm taking it with me, I'm a bit free for some time now'...was my quick answer as I was already walking towards my bay; he didn't object though as he knows I'm not a book-snatcher.

It's such a wonderful experience to have this book on hand. While flipping the pages the old memories were gushing out from some hidden chamber of the brain, unvisited for a long time. It kind of gives me a guilt feeling that have I also abandoned it like all 'new generation' people are doing now a days. Reading a poem that also in Bengali, after all, is not an 'in' thing. Right? Or, may be I'm soundig like a nerd!

It used to be the long afternoons of summer vacations and brief evenings of winter vacations when my mother used to sit with Sanchayita in her lap, glass in her eyes and recite poems on public demand. Then those moments were very normal in our life, just like having lunch with tyangra maach or fighting with my twin sister. But now I realize how much precious moments they used to be. My mother's intense love for poetry and literature was something that always made us stay in touch with the works of Rabindranath Tagore. From the very childhood seeing the image of this snow-white-long-bearded gentleman made him a part of our family. He was ubiquitous; in the book covers, in the magazines, in the text books and more in my mother's presence. She always sings some bits or pieces while cooking or doing other works. My mother has this nightingale like voice. If sometime she was not humming anything, we used to be sure that something was wrong and she muct be upset.

Now whenever I go home I make it a point to have such a session at least once during my stay at home.