Guru’s Endearing Spirit
A poignant piece from Guru, played during the protagonist’s most trying times.
The Call of Yuva
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Six years on, I still get goosebumps hearing this little anthem of Yuva. It inspires me each time with the ideals of the film’s protagonist, Michael Mukherjee.
You may recognise this as an instrumental variant of Dhakka Laga Bukka, which opens with Rahman singing his heart out:
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Zubeidaa’s Instrumentals
You may have heard of Shyam Benegal’s acclaimed period film, Zubeidaa: a true story of a muslim woman who became a Rajput Princess. This was Rahman’s first period score in Hindi and it was praised at the time for its careful blend of Rajasthani folk, Hindustani classical and contemporary sounds.
Zubeidaa’s music is among Rahman’s most popular works — the soundtrack has been globally available on iTunes and Amazon for a long time. Unfortunately, it does not include the beautiful instrumentals from the film, so I’ve highlighted a couple of them here.
Zubeidaa’s Theme
The music for this scene — in which the female protagonist, Zubeidaa, meets the Rajput Prince for the first time — starts as a gentle prelude of harp and piano and gradually mingles with violins. Unfortunately, I couldn’t filter-out the voices because the film’s DVD was not released with 5.1 audio.
Maharani’s Theme
In this scene, Zubeidaa meets the Maharani and the music heightens the tension between the two.
These are but two instrumentals from the score. Zubeidaa, being a woman’s narrative, has a certain gentleness to its music that I’ve rarely found in contemporary Indian films. It’s as if Rahman composed a feature-length lullaby, and it’s because of this that I warm up to Zubediaa’s music.
The Score of Swades
I’ve often struggled to name my favourite song by Rahman — there are simply too many to choose from. But when it comes to naming my favourite score, I’ve never hesitated — I’ve always chosen Swades. This choice isn’t without considering other great scoring moments in Bombay, Dil Se, Rhythm, or Rang De Basanti, for example. What sets Swades apart is its consistently good music throughout the score.
I feel Rahman strongly connected with the story of Swades — he could not have composed such a stirring score any other way. I recall him being frequently overseas during the production of this film, and this no doubt affected his compositions. It is also the reason why I love this film’s score more than anything else — the story struck a chord deep within, and the music only strengthened the bond.
My words here will convey little unless I show you a few scenes from the film. The film’s distributer, UTV Motion Pictures, kindly made available a few HD scenes on YouTube, and I’ve picked two of them here for its music.
The Dhoti Scene
Easily my favourite theme from the score (played from 0:49 to 1:54 — the rest you may watch at your discretion). Not so easy is deciding why I like this piece so much: is it the Taal (rhythm) or the Raag (melody)? I feel it suits the scene’s subtle exchange of feelings.
Hydro Electricity Theme
A defining moment in the film with pulsating music of tension, hope, triumph and celebration.
I could go on, but I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t watched the film. Just download the entire background score (password: “arr”, courtesy of rahmanism.com). These tracks were painstakingly extracted without the voices by Kaissiom.
Meenaxi’s Music of Three Cities
Rahman’s most vibrant score has to be Meenaxi. It’s a tale of three cities (Jaisalmer, Hyderabad, and Prague), and its music is tuned to the three distinctive cultures.
Suresh Kumar of backgroundscore.com panned the film’s weak narrative, and I agree with him. But I must elaborate on the film’s visuals and the coming-together of three celebrated artists.
The film’s director, M. F. Husain, is a renowned Indian painter; the cinematographer is arguably India’s best: Santosh Sivan; and the composer is A.R. Rahman, who you know all too well. These three talents came together to capture the charm of three beautiful cities: Jaisalmer, Hyderabad, and Prague. The end result is visually and musically rich, worth experiencing for this sake alone, regardless of the weak screenplay.
Jaisalmer Theme
Hyderabad Theme
Prague Theme
Aaromale — The Female Version
I love how Shreya Ghoshal can go all carnatic on a single word: Aaromale. A woman’s touch, you might say, compared to the blues-rock version by Alphonse Joseph that’s been all the rage this year.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
You can download this preview or treat yourself to four minutes of ambience along with it (featuring an extended prelude and a new orchestral climax with violins and the Erhu.) If this still isn’t enough, you should listen to the entire background score from the film, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya.
Bittu’s Theme
News of Mehra’s next film reminded me to revisit his earlier work, Delhi 6. The film’s highlight is undoubtedly its score, and I’ve been hooked to one particular track, Bittu’s Theme #2.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
‘Bittu’s Theme 2’ is an instrumental variant of Masakali. I love how it effortlessly flows from an accordion solo, to a guitar duet, and then a crescendo with the keyboard.
If you like Bittu’s Theme, you have to listen to the entire background score. Originally ripped by Serjas of rahmanism.com, I’ve cleaned-up the track information for direct import into your music library.
My other favourites from the background score are Welcome Home (a Sarod-Guitar duet), Rohan’s Theme 1 (rock version), Shopping (a Sarod piece), Ramlila (sung by Kailash Kher), Jalebi (a Sarangi-Guitar fusion), and Back to Life (a euphoric Sarod version of Welcome Home.)
