Before everyone is quick to judge the music of JA, for better or for worse, I think we need to understand how difficult it must have been for Rahman to compose for such a movie.
This is a movie set in the 16th century. Now, Rahman could have easily turned this score into an Indian classical raaga fest using all kinds of taranas, sargams, gamaks, taans, alaaps with acrobatic instrumental playing by sitar, sarod, etc, most reminiscent of that time. It would have been mindblowing. Apart from the lovers of classical music, who would really be interested in listening? This is a commercial film with lots of money at stake, hence not a good commercial idea. This is such a big budget movie, I'm sure Ashutosh had a hand in influencing Rahman to infuse contemporary vibes in the music to help the film become more commercially viable. I think Rahman even said in an interview once that they tried many different approaches to composing the music before settling on what we're hearing today. If the movie was about classical music, like if he scored for "Baiju aur Taansen", then a heavy classical score would be in order to fit with the movie's theme. On the flip side, Rahman could have sold out and turned this soundtrack into something overly contemporary, using catchy song and dance sequences with flashy instruments. Sure it would have sold commercially, but what a misfit it would have created with the period in mind and he would have been panned left and right by critics. Quite a difficult challenge to straddle both sides.....create a soundtrack that's commercially and sonically appealing to today's musical tastes, yet retaining the form and spirit of the music of that period and together being authentic and genuine. Only a genius and legend like Rahman could have pulled this off with incredible balance, depth, authenticity, class, and appeal. Remember, we live in a world where hip hop, rap, and rhythm jhatkas rule the music airways. I honestly cannot name any other composer who can compose period films nearly half as good as Rahman. Nobody in today's times. And in fact, I argue that composing for commercial period films today is even more challenging that it would have been say 30-50 years ago, when creating a more heavy classical soundtrack would not have alienated the aam junta as it would today. Naushad's Mughal E Azaam, with due credit to his briliiance, don't think had to face as unique of the challenge as Rahman did with Jodha Akbar. Of course, I am sure he also had to consider the tastes of the masses at that time, but back then, composing a heavy classical score was more in line with mainstream music. Hats off to the genius once again. I wish more people could take this into consideration when judging the music. I don't think it's an excuse for any lack of mass appeal, but I think the challenge and effort to overcome that challenge should be recognized. Name one composer who can score a Man Mohanna, a Paathshaala, A Yeh Jo Desh Hai Tera, a Jaage Hain, and a jazzy Jillinu Oru Kaadhal all within a few years. Nobody except Rahman.
