Since January 2008, 2 years ago, when Jodha Akbar was released, I have been on an absolute Rahman high...enjoying the heavy Rahman showers that have me soaked from head to toe with his magical, sparkling, mindblowing music. Rahman achieving huge domestic and international success simultaneously in the past 2 years has created some of the most exhilarating feelings a musical fan could ever dream of, and that dream is continuing today.
(Note, I was quite happy with AR's music prior to 2008 too, but really, for me, the turning point happened with Jodha Akbar's music. Why? Between 2004-2008, I felt that AR's ouput was a bit more inconsistent in terms of sound and overall quality. Don't get me wrong...I still love many, many of his songs from that period.) Let's review shall we since Jan 2008? Jan 17 2008 - After much, much frustration and ire, Jodha Akbar's music FINALLY released and I was completely blown away by the majestic, haunting, classically melodic numbers like Khwaja Mere Khwaja, Man Mohanna, Jashne Bahar. This album still remains one of my favorite AR albums of all time, and the movie's success finally helped catapult this album into commercial success too. Late May 2008 - The almost simultaneous release of Janne Tu Ya Jaane Na and Ada gave us fans a second feast that year with peppy tunes, excellent sound, soul stirring numbers, and huge commercial success with JTYJN's music and movie. Songs like Kabhi Aditi, Kahin To, Tu Bole, Jaane Kyu, Meherbaan, Ishq Ada, Hawa Sun Hawa, Mile Waha Waha floored me again. July 2008 - Sakkrakati in Tamil released and boy what a treat we had with Taxi Taxi, Elay, and Marudhaani, my favorites of that album. Taxi Taxi created a storm unlike seen before on the airwaves and Marudhaani remains one of my all time favorite AR songs in Tamil. It kept raining Rahman when on October 15, 2008, the much awaited Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj's music released with much celebration. Beautiful orchestration, classy, melodic numbers, and rich, soothing sonic structures made their way into our lives once again with classics like Muskura, Dost, Dil Ka Rishta, Man Mohiney, Zindagi. Zindagi remains one of my all time favorite ARR songs in Hindi and this album is still one of my favorite ARR Albums ever...a true artistic, classy masterpiece, barring Shano. Almost exactly a month later, on Nov 15th, the also much awaited music of Ghajini released along with the music of Slumdog Millionaire just prior. Ghajini's music had mixed reviews, but was associated with a HUGE BO movie success and had some great tunes in Kaise Mujhe, Bekha, and Guzarish, my favs from that album. SDM's music rewrote history and bagged AR Oscar nominations, becoming a world wide massive hit. Those Rahman showers kept getting heavier and heavier. Amidst all of these releases was AR's first private album since Vande Mataram with the music for Connections, meant to be limited to Nokia phones, but alas, leaked onto the internet and vastly enjoyed by AR fans everywhere with masterpiece tracks like Man Chandre, Kural, Silent Invocations, Mylapore Blues, and Mosquito...and let's not forget the hug message song of Jiya Se Jiya. While this uniquely spiritual album never saw an official CD release, the tracks continue to be lavished and savored. My picks are Kural, Mosquito, Silent Invocations ABC, and Man Chandre. On January 15, 2009, just as AR was getting ready for the Oscar ceremony, the music of ROM's Delhi 6 released with extremely, overwhelmingly positive reviews, claiming to be one of AR's greatest works til date and earning HUGE applause from both masses and classes with mindblowing classics like Arziyan, Rehna Tu, Dil Gira Dafatan, Genda Phool, Masakali...an album showcasing a HUGE variety of styles and genres from folk/classical to Sufi to Latin to Soul to Hip Hop. And for the big cake icing, just a few days later, AR bagged multiple Oscar wins for the music of SDM, being showcased on American TV, delivering a speech with an unforgettable, positive message, and soaring him to heights never before seen by a popular Indian musician and composer. As AR fans, the success at home and internationally both made AR fans feel like they were in heaven. A milestone month never to be forgotten, and likely never to be topped in terms of the amount of massive success and applause both all over India and all over the world. After the party was over and AR went into hiding for a while, there was a break, quite a lengthy break of about 8 months before the music of Blue finally surfaced in September 2009, AR's first post Oscar album. Mixed reviews received this very energetic and mass oriented soundtrack for a huge action flick, that saw AR experimenting with different genres, while the song "Chiggy Wiggy" got some extreme reactions, but eventually a lot of commercial success. The songs of Rehnuma, Bhoola Tujhe, and Fiqrana continue to remain one of my favorites of AR, despite obvious sound issues. I guess when one reaches a point so high, there is no place to go but down, right? HOLD ON! A little down we did go from the dizzying heights of Jan 2009, but when the music of Vaughn's Couple's Retreat released just a couple of weeks after Blue, the bounce was loud and clear and we were treated to an aural, scintillating masterpiece with rich, world musical arrangements, Western oriented catchy tunes, and lots and lots of Indian soul. The range of world sounds and styles in this masterpiece is nothing short of awe inspiring from a genius who never ceases to amaze, no matter where in the world he composes. The music of CR was AR's first official American score and was received with much appreciation and delight by his fans and in general, music lovers around the world with some good BO success seen with the film itself, despite being a light RomCom. The Rahman showers continued strong...... And now, here we are with VTV....just 4 months after the music of CR, we are treated to a first time Gautham Menon/ARR collaboration with one of AR's finest musical creations ever. The album just oozes with soul, melody, sound and arrangement richness, and some nice out of the box unconventionality and stark originality. Songs like Omanna Penne, Hosanna, Mannipaya, and the jaw dropping Aaromale, possibly becoming one of AR's most loved songs ever, make this album his best Tamil creation in a long, long time in my opinion, matching along the lines of Delhi 6 a year earlier, which to me, is one of his best Hindi albums ever. And the Rahman showers continue heavy.....with perhaps a brief letup before more heavy showers arrive when Mani Ratnam's "Raavan" releases a few months from now in both Tamil and Hindi..... So, there you have it AR fans......enjoy this time.....relive the glory....bask in the musical richness.......for we are blessed, truly blessed to be fans of one of the greatest musicians/composers in world history......a true genius in all aspects who continues to amaze not only by his musical wizardry, but also by his strength of character, humility, and deep compassion, nicely exemplified by his most recent charitable concert in Australia to help promote peace and unity following racially motivated attacks on Indians there. We will never forget........never......and we will always be with you, AR, ALWAYS!!!!! AR's music is the gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving....
