Underrated Gems of AR Rahman

[littlemaster1982]

Underrated Gems of AR Rahman

Being a hardcore Rahmaniac, it hurts when there are existent gems in his work that are underrated and don't get as much play as his big hits. So I'm going to focus on a list of underrated compositions by Rahman. Hopefully you'll either discover these for the first time or remember them enough to revisit them.

I've dug deep so if you know most of these songs you should pat yourself on the back.


Ishq Ada Hai (Ada… A Way of Life)



This CD was released among several other soundtracks in a banner year for Rahmaniacs. It was mostly overshadowed because Rahman delivered blockbuster scores on the other parallel releases. However one song on Ada (not that the others are not awesome!) that was hardly ever noticed was Ishq Ada Hai by Parul Mishra. This is the female version of the song which was on heavy rotation on B4U. Her beautiful alaaps and clear pure voice gave me the shivers, yet she sounds a lot like Shreya Ghoshal. I hope to hear more from this singer.

In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein (Jodha Akbar)



Everytime people say Jashn-e-Bahaara is their favorite song of this album, I find myself vehemently disagreeing. Javed Ali has granted his mellifluous voice to that song and these silky vocals top it among the romance tracks.

Yet I like the tadaap, beauty and pain in In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein. Rahman - the genius that he is - creates furor and intensity with percussion and vocal chants that nicely contrast with Sonu Nigaam’s melting voice and Madhushree just blows me away as well despite a small vocal part. I fall in love with this song every time I hear it.

Especially when Sonu slows down and starts singing these favorite lines of mine:

“Mere khaabon ke is gulistan mein,
Tumse he tho bahaar hi chahiye
Phoolon mein rang the lekin,
In mein khushboo tumhi se aayi hain”
All I can say is wah wah!

Ae Hairathe (Guru)



Another song that never got much attention was Ae Hairathe. I was quite surprised to see Tere Bina make it really big but then it was sung by Rahman himself and was picturized prominently on Abhiwarya. But Ae Hairathe carries on from where Tere Bina is off as it has the same basic tune but is more folksy. Sung by Hariharan and Alka Yagnik, it is star in its own right on this album. I love the accordion interludes and the tabla, another wah wah!

Shauq Hai (Guru)



Shauq Hai is an unreleased single from Guru picturized on Vidya Balan and Madhavan, and it spouted tears in my eyes after seeing the particular scene where they kiss and Madhavan proposes (extremely romantic). Anyways Sowmya Rao sings this song beautifully. Rahman cleverly keeps the piano as the other prominent instrument with some vocal humming, keeping the focus on the melody.

Dhuan Duan and Do Kadam (Meenaxi)

Do Kadam :

Yeh Rishta and Chillamma Chilakamma hit the big time on this soundtrack. But two songs that were beautiful compositions that never caught the imagination of the audience in the same way were Dhuan Dhuan and Do Kadam. Dhuan Dhuan is a peppy number song by Asha Bhonsle in her typical smoldering style with some casual yodeling thrown in. The percussion is excellent on this song.

Do Kadam sung by Sonu Nigaam remains one of his best songs in my opinion. The lyrics, the music, the aura created by this music are sooo beautiful. He gives it his all in this track. Don't miss this great review of this particular song.

Meherbaan Meherbaan (Tehzeeb)



Sadly this movie didn’t get really noticed. I actually kind of liked it. A track on this CD that I really liked - Meherbaan Meherbaan sung by Asha Bhonsle - got lost with the movie. Asha's usual pep and gusto are on play here on this song which has nice electronic beats and accompanying vocals by Sukhwinder Singh.

Warriors of Peace (Warriors of Heaven on Earth)



This was a Chinese movie for which Rahman was invited to compose. The song Warriors in Peace was done in Hindi by Sadhna Sargam, Jolin Tsai in Mandarain and in English by Sunitha Sarathy (another of my favorite singers). With beautiful lyrics, a full blown orchestra and even an Indian veena-like instrument. Its like a battle song with the basic melody lilting like lullaby (bad description but give it a listen and tell me what you think). Hope you like these songs!

[littlemaster1982]

I had been thinking about opening a thread about underrated songs of ARR and this blog post triggered me to do it at last.

Expecting others to chip in

I'd give my list later.

[MADDY]

entire KKS album - blood will leak from heart everytime i listen to this album
Bose - entire album
manmohini from yuvvraaj - indha madhiri endha kombanaalayum paattu kudukka mudiyaadhu

[ajaybaskar]

Ennuyir Thozhi, Anarkali, Theekkuruvi- KKS,
Endhan Vaanin, Vaan Nila- Kadhal Virus,
Neethan En Desiya Geetham- Paathaalae Paravasam,
Nenjae Nenjae- Ratchakan,
En Swaasakaatrae- En Swaasakaatrae,
Dheemi Dheemi- 1947 Earth.

[vibinrajmani]

"Thirupachi Aruvala" from Taj Mahal
"Kalaiyil Dhinamum" from New
"Jana Gana Mana" from Ayutha Ezhuthu

[littlemaster1982]

Vibin The songs you have mentioned are big hits.

[vibinrajmani]

Vibin The songs you have mentioned are big hits.

So, how do you classify a particular song to be a big hit, besides the TV/Radio exposure?? The above mentioned songs are hardly talked about these days

[littlemaster1982]

Vibin,

Besides the exposure, these songs are liked by many (even by non-ARR fans). But if you consider songs like "Ishq Ada" or even "Ennuyir Thozhiye", they didn't get proper due that they deserve.

Hope I'm clear.

[Appu s]

Ada.. hope it will be huge hit once the movie gets release ..

[vijayr]

Mujhpe Toofan from Tehzeeb.I wish Rahman had saved this song for a better movie. It was set to some 18th century ghazal I think. The best compliment I can give this song is to call it a new age Madan Mohan-esque composition with some soulful singing.

Meherbaan from Ada sung by Rahman was also good.