My thoughts on
Raavan
Ok, let me begin
with a warning…this is a long post, and those who know me (and know how I love
to drift out of the topic most of the time) here’s a consolation…there’s a
“delete” just around the corner for your convenience LOL, Just kidding, please
read
this mail, even if it’s only to bash me up later on
On the other
hand, though I’ve been listening to Raavan for the umpteenth time now, I kept
having second thoughts about stating my views on the album in this group.
“Why?” you may ask me…well, even if you’re not, I’m still indebted to provide
you with my reasoning
To begin with,
the chaotic surrounding here has kinda put me off. I mean, it’s a norm to see a
group of members praising an album while the other being critical on the same.
Isn’t
this what has been happening for every new releases of ARR’s? So why fret now,
you may ask. Well, for some reasons, Raavan’s release has witnessed even some
of the most “self-composed” members to throw caution to the wind and hurl abuses
to one another. (Hey, don’t start picking on me now, I promise that I won’t say
your names out loud!)
On the other
hand, if you guys are trying to spice things up here, you sure are doing a
great job at this. The fact that my mail-box is crammed with nothing less than
100 mails from ARR group per day itself is a clear evidence to this! LOL!
Secondly, I was
contemplating whether to put my thoughts down now or to come up with a
collective
review once the Tamil version is out. Then again, the release of the Tamil
version has been delayed for some time now, and between writing now (when I
still have the urge to do so) and waiting for the indefinite release of the
Tamil version, I chose the former. So here it is…
Let me be
honest…I mean really honest with you guys. I’ll begin by telling you what
happen on the day I bought this album…The moment I got out of the store after
purchasing the album, the sky opened up and start flooding the whole town. You
may say that it’s God’s way of showering blessing, but why does it have to
happen at a time when I didn’t have my umbrella around? I ran to my car as fast
as I can and guess what?…I couldn’t find my car keys! (it was stuck inside my
handbag with my hundred other things…well, whoever said that a lady’s handbag
contains almost everything under the sun wasn’t kidding themselves. My handbag
had almost all…except my dumb car keys )
As luck would have it, there wasn’t a shelter nearby, thus, I had to open my
handbag in the middle of the road, drenching myself and the hundred other stuff
I was talking about, in the process of finding the keys!
So, yeah, I
finally found the keys, got in to the car and just at that point, some
nutcracker had to double-park his car beside mine! Well, after a short dispute
and many honks later, I managed to get my car out. Now, here’s the moment I was
waiting for, the excitement of listening to ARR’s album for the first time
Beera Beera with
Vijay Prakash’s strong vocals set the ball rolling. Karthik came in next with
Behne De, followed by Thok de killi, Ranjha Ranjha, Killi re and Kata Kata
and…well, that’s it. Wait a minute…that’s it? I haven’t even begun to enjoy any
of them yet For the first
time, I found that I didn’t have any thoughts about ARR’s album…not even a
negative one…I was feeling almost indifferent and I didn’t like the feeling at
all. Hating an album is one thing, but indifferent? If only this day could get
worse.
So, I started
playing them again from the beginning. By then, I reached the Montessori where
my 3 years old nephew studies. I picked him up and was just about to replace
Raavan
with Thomas & Friends soundtracks (despite months of cajoling him to listen
to ARR, I must say that I’ve failed to break my nephew’s “relationship” with
Thomas & Friends soundtracks) when a “miracle” occurred. No, there was no
signs of snow falling (that would have been a disaster, not a miracle ;)…it
was my nephew swaying his body to the beats of Beera Beera. Hey, were the beats
there the first time around? I abandoned all thoughts of changing the cd.
Instead, I hiked up the volume and both of us started to sway together this
time around. Beera Beera has the grandeur presentation with Vijay Prakash’s
solid voice giving a wonderful rural touch to it. In fact, the name Beera is so
addictive that by the end of the song, both my nephew and me kept singing Beera
Beera from the top of our lungs! (well, it was really more like “screaming”
than “singing” actually but who cares?) And the beats, wow! I’ve always
maintained that ARR provides the best percussion sounds…and time and again, he
proves me right. Beera Beera is definitely a wonderful start to the album.
Behne De
followed thereafter. Undoubtedly, this has one of the best prelude ever…there
is something so mystifying in the prelude that you just can’t wait to hear what
ARR has to offer. And with Karthik giving his best (as always), you can never
be wrong in classifying this as the best number in the album. God knows why
National
Award has eluded Karthik for so long. This guy deserves it and more…
On the whole,
Behne De grants such a spellbinding experience! I’m left speechless…And my
nephew? Well he’s too busy staring at the cute chick in the car beside ours to
notice this number. Oh well, one day he’ll learn to appreciate ARR’s music.
Then comes Thok de killi…there’s something so modern
yet rustic in this number. Again the percussion takes full control of the song
that my nephew started jumping on his seat again…if only I was not driving, I
would have joined him too. The sudden increase in the tempo coupled with
Sukhwinder’s
amazing vocals just leaves you asking for more.
Rekha Bharadwaj and Javed Ali came next with the
seductive Ranjha Ranjha. I have to admit. I never liked Rekha’s voice. Yeah, I
know…I might be alone in this, but still, I never liked her voice…til Ranjha
Ranjha happened. In fact, her voice is so captivating that she completely
overshadowed Javed Ali’s performance here. Great going Rekha, you just got
yourself another fan on the list!
And there’s also Khilli re, a typical Shreya
Ghosal kinda number. But this time around, ARR ropes in the sweet Reena Bhardwaj
(is she related to Rekha by any chance?). And I must say, she did great justice
to this song. The song has a soothing effect, coupled with Reena’s melodious
voice. And I was mighty impressed with the first interlude…so much so that I
can almost imagine Aishwarya gracefully performing her Bharatanatyam to it.
And finally ARR brings in Kata kata. Like Beera
Beera, Kata Kata too were given a majestic look, all thanks to the grand
orchestration and vibrant voices in the form of Ila Arun, Sapna Awasthi and
Kunal Ganjawala. There is a festive and
celebratory feel to the number which makes you want to hear it over and over
again.
As an album, Raavan is a definite treat to the
ears. It’s so wonderfully woven that they all fit together while still managing
to be distinctive at the same time. And with wonderful picturisations (which we
can fearlessly expect from Maniratnam & team), this would definitely turn
out to be “picture-perfect”.
And yes, what was the biggest lesson I’ve learned
from this experience?...Never hear to ARR’s new album when you’re in a ghastly
mood!
Oh yeah, wanna know what happened to my nephew? He
didn’t want to leave the car when we reached home so we decided to go for
another round of drive while listening to Raavan…over and over again.
