The Music Maestros | Bollywood music

As the title suggests, this blog is about A.R.Rehman and R.D.Burman

No, i am not comparing them. How can I? Both are maestros of their times. One got an Oscar, the other deserved one. But, what's the difference? There has to be one. Panchamda never had the luxury of using so many instruments for composition and recording. It is also true that you need to be a Rehman to be able to use them effectively. Else, you get an Anu Malik or a Sajid-Wajid. So there has to be that something extra about Panchamda. What is it? Read ..

"Par mein jaagun. Ek khumari. Ek Nasha sa." These lines are from Dil Gira Dafartan (Dilli-6). Music composed by the legendary A.R.Rehman.
"Aanewala pal, janewala hai. Ho sake to isme, zindagi bita do." And this is the starting of a song from Golmaal. Music composed by the great great R.D.Burman.

I love both the songs. But observing them closely lead to a revelation, which is "sense of lyrics". Singing the first song would not make much meaning unless you sit down and connect it with the previous and following lines. The same is not true with the second song. Panchamda always kept the meaning at the center and used excellent melodies, limited instruments and charm in singing to make them unforgettable. To be honest, Rehman doesn't give too much priority to the sense making of the lyrics. I am not saying that the lyrics doesn't make sense. What i mean is that the lyrics are roped in the songs in such a way that while singing you don't feel attached to the meaningfulness of lyrics. So what do you get attached to?

Lets take an example: Masakkali from Dilli-6 again:

You get attached to the basic melody, the brilliant work of instruments to enhance the melody (the start of song with a matka and a mouth organ (correct me)), the flow of song, the changing scales, the words in lyrics (dikhlade thenga) and the throw of words (Matakkali). But the overall sense of lyrics is always not in the center.

One more important point to be noted here is that the basic melody is similar to "aye udi udi" from Saathiya. He does that time and again. But the treatment of the song is so different that you don't even think about it. I am a big fan of his quawwalis and sufi songs. Here's an eye opener; all the songs have one similarity:

"Khwaja mere Khwaja, Dil mein samaja", Noor un ala, Noor un ala", "Piya haji ali, Piya haji ali", "Maula - Maula, Maula mere Maula"

Need i say more?

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PS: Don't take this as a gentle criticism. Pun intended :)

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Filmy - Part 1

I came to know that Nauheed Cyrusi lives nearby ! - that's why they say it's a small world. Given the background, i am in a little filmy mood, so writing down things randomly:

Talking about Indian actresses, do u remember the days when Karishma Kapoor had a single eyebrow, Shilpa Shetty wore Cheetahs, Madhuri romanced the trees and Raveena smiled for no reasons ?

Well, over time they realized that this self-styled way of portrayal is not a long-term business. To make an impact, you've got to change. Karishma plucked her eyebrow and we got Fiza, Shakti et al. Shilpa wore sarees and bikinis and is doing TV, IPL, item songs and what not. Madhuri did some serious roles. She sizzled in Devdas and over-shadowed Aishwarya in every department. For some reasons, Raveena kept smiling. She never actually made an impact and therefore didn't stay for long

The rule seems to be: you don't stay longer if you don't change your image. Sounds like an alert for the over-rated Bipasha Basu. On the other hand, we have a pathetic example of change: Gracy Singh. For more info, watch Desh Drohi.

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On the other hand, something is terribly wrong with Bollywood. I liked Namrata Shirodkar, she got married. I loved Gayatri Joshi, she also tied the knot. Of the four names i mentioned earlier, three are married (read retired). Why in heavens name do 'good actresses/ good looking actresses' get married ?

In some cases it is to cash upon the hype. You get one hit movie and you get a rich businessman husband. Look at Gayatri Joshi and Tara Sharma. Both of them cashed in on the success of Swades and Khosla respectively. Now you can find them on Page3 doing a shopping spree at Hilton.

In other cases, it's just the age. Not that they don't get businessmen, but the happening lot of the latter prefer the younger ones :)

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To be continued ..