Was planning to do something special for ARR's birthday this year. And this idea cropped up a few weeks back - an orchestral version of Vellai Pookkal.

So, here it is - My tribute to Rahman sir on his birthday:


If this doesn't work, here's the direct soundcloud link: http://snd.sc/yRwF3F
If that doesn't work either, mail me or post a comment.

3 Months back, Harish (http://magixncurses.blogspot.com) and I conducted A.R.Rahman quiz on Twitter, to celebrate Rockstar audio launch. Harish is the brain behind most of the questions.

(you can access the previous quiz here: Part1 and Part2.)

Here are the questions. Post your answer in comments. Will post the answers and results on 26th Dec (Monday).
You can find the answers below each question. Hover over smudged/blocked text to reveal the answers. If it doesn't work, just select the text, and you'll be able to see the answers.

Q1. What’s the significance of what you see here?
A1. Haji Ali Dargah (Mumbai), Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer), Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah (Delhi) - Each of them has inspired AR to compose an evergreen qawali- Piya Haji Ali, Khwaaja Mere and Kun Faya Kun (of course it'll be evergreen!)

Q2. We've known directors to pen lyrics (Shankar, Mani Ratnam, Tyrewala). Give us an instance of a lyricist lending his voice in a Rahman song.
A2. Mehboob in Dhakka Laga Bukka (Yuva), Raqeeb Alam in Jiya Se Jiya (Connections)

Q3. Identify the singer of this song


A3. Shreya Ghoshal! That’s the female version of Aaromale. Should’ve been Aarofemale. No? Ok.

Q4. Paarthale Paravasam, Ada, _________, Blue, Jhootha Hi Sahi. Fill in the blank.
A4. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Rashid Ali is the connect.

Q5. Identify the voice in this clip
 
A5. Sivamani. Palakkad sriram did the jathis (bols), while the Love Check, 1,2,3,4 were in Sivamani's voice.

Q6. Connect Naan Eppodhu (Sakkarakatti), Dekho Na and Kalvare.
A6. The original versions of all of them (Yeh Rishta, Baba Kichu Tha, Khili Re) were sung by Reena Bhardwaj

Q7. Grandchild of the 1st CM of what is now Kerala, she sang jingles for AR before her career was revived in a spectacular fashion. Who?
A7. Sujatha Mohan

Q8. Listen to the 2 clips from Jhootha Hi Sahi and put fundae!
 
A8. Before naming it JHS, Abbas called it “1800-Love” and later “Call me dil”. AR included them all. The beeps were 1800 punched on a phone! (beep-beep-beep-beep-Love = 1-8-0-0 Love)


Q9. Two people featured here share the same birthday. One is Kamal. Who's the other?

A9. Singer Srinivas

Q10. Two BGMs fused in to this Rock piece. Identify the songs :)

A10. Pachai Kiligal (Indian) and Vennilave (Minsara Kanavu). Fresh off AM (Aravind) Studios :D
Here are the original interludes, from the songs.
 

Q11. Give us Indai Haza's twitter handle.
A11. @Chinmayi - Rahman gave the name “Indai Haza” to her Arabic singing alter ego :) In “Miss You Da” she’s credited with both names!

Q12. Connect: Boom Boom Robot da, Pudhiya Manidha, Maja Maja, Chikku Bukku Rayile, Eechi Elumichi.
A12: Sung by people whose parents have sung for ARR too! (Swetha->Sujatha, Khatija->ARR, Charan->SPB, GVP->Raihana, Manoj->Bharathiraja)

Q13. Identify the voice
 
A13. Karthik

Q14. Name a Rahman song picturised on a couple of tamil comedy artists (No, Nee Marilyn Monroe will not be counted as a valid answer!)
A14. Coimbatore Maanukutti picturised on Vadivelu and Kovai Sarala

Q15. Ahora conmigo, tu baila para hoy.. Por nuestro dia olvidas, los problemas que sean.. Salud! Baila Baila! Identify the lyricist.
A15. Tanvi Shah

Q16. a) Name the 1st song that Rahman composed and sang in English. b) Name the 1st song that Rahman composed and sang completely in English.
A16. A) Musafir (Vande Mataram) B) Pray for me brother

Q17. Identify the lead male singer in this clip
 
A17. Benny Dayal. It's the Tamil version - There's a clear difference in the interludes in Tamil and Hindi.

Q18. Connect Roobaroo, Rozaana, Saiyyan (Nayak), Munbe Va, Omana Penne
A18. Sung by singers who were popular music reality show contestant! (Naresh Iyer, Viva, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Benny Dayal)

Q19. Find the odd one out in this clip.


A19. Irumbile. Everything else was sung by Suzanne. She sang the hindi version of Irumbile.

Q20. Identify the voice in this clip.

A20. Conductor Srinivasa Murthy

Q21. Connect!

Hint:  Focus on the names.
A21. Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopal Sheshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman - aka Blaaze!

Q22. Connect Aalalakanda, Semmozhi anthem, Ballelakka, Oh Maria
A22. Music composers have lent their voice in these songs.

Q23. Something strange happened in 2004 and 2006. It had never happened since 1993 and has not happened since. What?
A23. The only years since his debut when ARR did not get any Filmfare awards.
(Another interesting answer came from Bharat KV - Those are the only two years in which ARR performed Haj)

Q24. Okay, this question is a little tricky. Go through all the odd numbered questions and the answers till now, and make a note of people related to each question. Find a connection (please note: order is important)
A24. A.R.Rahman, Shreya Ghosal, Sivamani, Sujatha Mohan, Srinivas, Chinmayi, Karthik, Tanvi Shah, Benny Dayal, Suzanne D'Mello, Blaaze, A.R.Rahman. The 12 of them feature in AR Rahman Foundation Official Calendar 2011, in that same order :)

Q25. Rockstar achieved a feat that was missed by Duet, Lagaan and Swades thanks to Yesudas, ARR and Vijay Prakash respectively. What?
A25. Given the number of voices Rahman experiments with, it's very rare that the lead actor lip-syncs to the same singer. Duet missed out with Yesudas singing one, Lagaan with Rahman/Srinivas and Swades with Vijay Prakash. Rockstar has Mohit all the way!


Here are the scores:

• Bharat KV - 15.5^*
• Maanasaa & Envyram - 14 ^{† ‡}
• Kanchna Subramaniam - 12.5 ^‡
• Kranthi Chand - 10
• Sandeep - 9 
  
• the hyper enthusiast  - 5

Clearly, Bharat tops the quiz, followed by Maanasaa & Envyram and Kanchna.


Congrats guys!!

---

*Q23 - We'd asked for a "strange" occurrence. Haj can't be labelled as strange. Hence, partial points.
^†Q22. The parents of the singers are not just film personalities, but they themselves have sung for ARR. That was the connect we were looking for. Hence, partial points.
^‡ Q17 - The clip is from the tamil version and not the Hindi version and hence, Benny is the correct answer. If both Benny and Sukhwinder are mentioned in the answer, I've given just partial points.
 

This is part two of the ARR Quiz. You can find part 1 here.

Pls post your answers in the comments section. I'll post the answers and the points scored, on 16th Oct 2011 (Sunday).
You can find the answers below each question. Hover over smudged/blocked text to reveal the answers.

Here we go:

Q 11: Which performance was this? Name of the place will do.

A11: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 
 
Q 12: Clip 3 - Identify the song from this manipulated clip.

A12: That was "Satrangi Re" (Dil Se) played in reverse 

Q 13: Dream, Desire, Buddy, Sizzle, Little One - What are these?
A13: Names of the Ringtones created by Rahman for Airtel

Q 14: Who's this "Black Sheep"?

A14: Vanessa Mae. The track is Raga's Dance from her album Choreography.

Q15: Something interesting happened after Sabaq Aisa (Tehzeeb) and before Sandai Kozhi/Kabhi Neem(Aayitha Ezhuthu/Yuva). What?
A15: Sujata Bhattacharya's name changed to Madhushree. Rumour is that it was Rahman who selected the name!

Q16: What AR Rahman connect makes these two movies special: Kandukondain Kandukondain & Kadhal Virus.
A16: AR Rahman appeared on screen in both these movies.

Q17: Connect:

A17: Songs from these 3 movies made it to the Oscar longlist, but didnt get nominated. 

Q18: What's common between these two songs:

A18: Star and Alli Arjuna had songs dubbed from other languages. These were only original compositions in the albums.

Q19: Which movie connects Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and Jodi.
A19: Doli saja ke rakhna. Kadhalukku Mariyadhai was remade as DSKR. All of DSKR songs were reused in Jodi.

Q20: Connect: Rehna tu (Delhi 6), Acid Darbari (127 Hours) and Phir Mile Sur.
A20: Rahman played Continuum Fingerboard in all of these.



Results

Radhakrishnan Subramanian and Aditya Nataraja top the quiz with 9 points each!




Followed by:
sandeep18march  - 5
Rahmanic (Prasannavenkatesh) - 4
Abhinav - 2

Congrats!

Will post the next quiz shortly!

On 5th Jan, Harish (http://magixncurses.blogspot.com) and I conducted A.R.Rahman quiz on Twitter, to celebrate AR Rahman's birthday (Jan 6).

Posting first 10 questions here for everyone to attempt. The next 10 will follow.

We conducted a tougher quiz recently to celebrate Rockstar audio launch (but we're still awaiting the CDs as I write this, thanks to T-Series and their unprofessional ways of running the business). Will post that quiz too, later.

Now, post your answer in comments. Will post the answers and results on 10th Oct (Monday).
Answers posted below each question. Hover over smudged/blocked text to reveal the answers.


Pls post ur bouquets and brickbats too in the comments. Harish and I will pick them up :)



Q 1: Clip 1: Whats special about this interlude?
A 1: It's not a flute. It was actually whistled by ARR.

Q 2: Name the first ARR song to be sung by someone from the Raja family.
A 2: Semmozhi - Yuvan

Q 3: Connect Pudhiya Manidha (Endhiran) and Na Na (Couples Retreat)
A3: ARR's kids sang in these songs. Kathija in Pudhiya Manidha and Ameen in Na Na.

Q 4: Clip 2: Name the two instrumentalists.
A 4: Raju and Kadri Gopalnath

Q 5: This was for a UN campaign. What campaign?

A 5: Stop TB campaign

Q 6: SPB : Kumar Sanu :: Chitra:    ?   
A 6: Alka Yagnik. Kumar Sanu has sung only one song for ARR - Mil Gayi (Kabhi Na Kabhi) which is a hindi version of Anjali Anjali (Duet)

Q 7: Connect: Bombay, Fire and Lord of War
A 7: All 3 movies featured the soulful "Bombay Theme" music.

Q 8: Apart from Sreenivas and Nithyashree, who are the other singers who have sung in Minsara Poove (Padayappa)?
A 8: Hariharan and Palghat Sriram. Apparently, 8-10 mins of Harijis aalaps was recorded for this song!

Q 9: Connect: Pettai Rap (Kadhalan), Veera (Raavanan), Noor-un-Ala (Meenaxi)
A 9: Lyrics for these songs were penned by the directors of the respective movies.

(Hint: We wanted to include songs from JTYJN and Jhootha Hi Sahi, but then we'd have had to include all songs from these albums)

Q10:

PS: Shankar mahadevan is a singer by profession is a trivial fact. We're looking for much a much more interesting answer :D
A 10: All of them have sung for ARR, but only Simbhu did not appear in the video of the song which he sang (Baila More-Kadhal Virus)


Here are the scores:

Arvind - 8
Arun KB - 7
Bhargavi Sekhar - 7
Vijayan - 6

 Congrats guys! Hop on to part 2 :)

After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the media called composer Ismail Darbar the next big thing in Hindi film music. And, I should say that was well deserved. The music was indeed very good. After a couple of not-so-good albums, he again came back with another good album - Devdas. After that, no-one hears of him except when he judges reality shows or when he makes ridiculous statements.

A few years back, he mentioned that he considers AR Rahman, his Guru.

"I call him (A.R.Rahman) Guru. He also respects me..." "I remember he won at two different award functions; he went on to win for Taal and Saathiya. See the humility in him... he called me through lyricist Mehboob and said that I deserved both the awards (for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas). That's why I respect him"

(from http://www.flickr.com/photos/arrahmanfans/377089831/)

But, before this interview, came this interview:
"My work has always been better than his. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was better than Taal. Even Devdas was better than Saathiya.
But it is destiny that he got international fame. Angrezo ne uska haath pakad liya hai toh logo ko lagta hai ke yeh kuch zyada hi hai (Foreigners encouraged him so people think he is very good).
I am not saying this because of jealousy. This is the bitter truth. Whenever my work is good and he takes the awards, I feel bad.
I wonder why people run after name and fame, and not good work. Kyunki hamare yahan bahut kum akal ke log hai (we have very few intelligent people here). We see some foreigners holding someone's hand, and he becomes a big man."

(from http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/mar/08minter1.htm)

Now, that we have seen what a two faced person Mr Ismail Darbar is, let's come to the latest controversy!

His recent allegations are the most ridiculous yet from him, the allegations being AR Rahman buying the Oscars, AR Rahman "stealing" credits, the entire industry being behind Rahman though they are "aware" of all this, the national awards committee flouting rules just so that they can give an award to Rahman.

If you think these are too ridiculous to be true, here's the interview published in Mid-Day.Lets look at these one by one and we'll see how non-sensical Mr Darbar's claims are!

So, he talks about Oscars being bought. What about the two Grammys? What about BAFTA and Golden Globe? And, BFCA Critic's choice and all the numerous other awards that AR got for Slumdog Millionaire? Paid money to the jury of every single of these academies? Laughable isn't it? Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

And, Rahman stealing credits? This must be the biggest joke. Everyone in the music industry knows it was Rahman who introduced the system of crediting all musicians and harmony singers. He gives credits where due. So very often, we see harmony singers and musicians thanking Rahman for crediting them and making them known to the world! Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

He says Saathiya pipped Devdas at the National Awards, and Saathiya was chosen despite it being a dubbed film. First of all, Saathiya was NOT a dubbed film. Second, AR never won a national award for Saathiya. Mr Darbar, what do you have to say?

What could be the reason for this sudden? There's news that he's joining politics. May be he's trying to garner some attention before his plunge into politics! Only Mr Darbar can answer!

Ah! It's been really long since I blogged! But, I knew I wanted to come back! It was as though I was saying to myself "Naan varuven, Meendum Varuven" ("I'll be back") :D

So, before I start writing about the song which I've been listening to a LOT in the past few days, here's wishing everyone a very happy new year!

Ok, now... the song is "Naan Varuven" from Raavanan. This song wasn't there in the audio CDs that were released initially, but was included in the Raavanan collectors edition pack (which has a DVD with making of the music + a CD with 5 additional tracks, including Naan Varuven).

To me, Naan Varuven is the best song of the album. After having listened to the song a couple of times at the cinema (if you are not aware, it's the end credits song) and the unofficial rips several times, I was waiting for the official release! And, so overjoyed was I when I got the collector's edition disk, for just this one song.

What's so special about the song, you ask? The music, the lyrics and the expressive singing - all just so perfect for the situation.

Let's look at it from Veera's point of view, shall we? This song plays in the movie, just as Veera (Vikram's character) is shot, and is dying. He just got to know that Ragini (Aishwarya Rai's character) likes him. As he is dying, his life, his desires, his dilemmas, his love - everything probably flashes before his eyes.

Now, lets look at the lyrics. The song starts of with

He's just realised that his sweetheart likes him, but he doesn't want to go away, he only wishes to come back and live with her - at least in spirit (probably, as a spirit, even... who knows? :P)

Then, spring the dilemmas in his mind. He is clueless as to how everything changed so suddenly. Ragini, who didn't heed to his love all these days, has suddenly turned around. He has so many questions about his life, but doesn't have answers. Just as he begins to get some clarity, the entire game changes. He's won her heart, but he's going away from this world! He feels all his dreams are making a mockery of him and are jeering at him! Look at how elegantly, Vairamuthu has brought this out in his lyrics:

Sheer brilliance, no?

Now, lets come to the musical brilliance. This song's mood is in contrast to the film's entire score, which has a tribal flavour with heavy rhythms, to show the crudeness/roughness of the character. But, this song is so soft? Why would that be? I think, it is to show the peace and calm that engulf him, as he embraces death. He is happy knowing Ragini's feelings, but he also knows he is dying. He is not angry, but he is disappointed and confused!

And then, we have the African vocals. The African sounds were used throughout the movie to bring out the tribal feel. And, it flows into this song too, albeit in a softer form. To signify that his rough animal qualities have toned down, and love has made him softer? That's my guess!

Notice the mystic ambience that Rahman has created with his music. Right from the mellow opening piece and the unique ARR voice which bundles in so much of emotions, to the twisting flute pieces interspersed through out the song, Rahman knew what he was doing, and did it perfectly.

It was said that this song was not planned initially, and was composed and added as an afterthought. I think, nothing else could have been better to end the movie. The song adds so much emotion to the climax. When three wizards like Mani, ARR and Vairamuthu join hands, you expect extra-ordinary magic! This song is one such - a true masterpiece.

Song: Naan Varuven
Album: Raavanan (Collector's edition)

Singers: A.R.Rahman, Jali Fily Cissoko
Lyrics: Vairamuthu.

At the time when the world is acknowledging Rahman's work, and when he's going places, it is expected that there will be criticisms, baseless arguments thrown against him.

But, what's surprising is to see such stuff coming from a veteran singer like Jagjit Singh. He openly targeted ARR in the media, saying that AR knows nothing about Ghazals, and that he picks up tunes from the west!! In fact, he's challenged AR to compose a Ghazal!

How baseless, how stupid these comments are? I'm sure Jagjit hasn't heard 3 of Rahman's most beautiful compositions - the three Ghazals in Tehzeeb. Hey Airat-e-Aashiqui from Guru is a much more popular Ghazal from Rahman!! Why talk abt something, when you dont even know about it? Isn't it obvious that he is criticising just for the sake of pulling down Rahman, because, the question was not about Rahman - he suddenly talks about ARR out of the blue, and lashes out at him!

I don't even want to talk about that idotic argument about picking up tunes from the west - Undoubtedly ARR is the most original composer in India!

Really sad that, even veterans, are resorting to such acts!

(For those who havent heard of the Ghazals from Tehzeeb, catch them here: Sabaq Aisa, Na Shiqwa Hota. I couldnt get a link for the third Ghazal, Mujh pe toofan. Will update if I come across it.)

ARR wins a Golden Globe! And, I definitely know it is only a beginning! This is just a sign of things to come!! :D

As I sit back and think about the year 2008, reliving the events of the year one word comes to my mind - eventful!!

The year has been pretty eventful, mostly very good! :D
The year started off on an interesting note, with me shifting location for work, and then coming back... moving from one line of business to another - all within the first month of the year!!

As a Rahmaniac, this year was a blast! 2008 will be a memorable one for Rahman-fans, what with ARR delighting us with 7 amazing albums (Jodhaa Akbar, Jaane Tu, Sakkarakatti, Ada, Yuvvraaj, Ghajini and Slumdog Millionaire). And, we got to enjoy two wonderful live conerts in Chennai! :) However, it was even more special for me, cos i got to meet ARR a few times this year!!! :D

And, the year ended with a pleasant surprise - Thanks to Dreamy Dryad, I got to see my name scroll up in the credits for music, in a short film! Yes! I composed for the short film, Maami's Memories directed by Sandhya!

What I loved in 2008?
Movies: WALL·E, Jaane tu ya jaane naa
Songs: Difficult to pick one... but Kahin toh and Khwaja have a slight edge! :D
TV show: Airtel Super Singer
Singer: Benny Dayal (Kaise Mujhe, Tu hi mera dost and Taxi Taxi)


What I hated in 2008?
Most IRRITATING songs: Naaku mukka, and that utterly annoying "Mozha mozha nu" song from the dumb Kuruvi...
Movie: Sakkarakatti - there can be no competition for this one!!
TV Shows: all the copied programs in Sun TV (ozhungaa copy adikka kooda mudiyaadhaa?! :P) and the commercialisation of Mumbai attacks on all news channels


As 2008 draws to a close and 2009 dawns, here's wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!!!

I had earlier written about how the Indian media are giving false news with respect to the Slumdog Millionaire track Ringa Ringa being similar to Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai. Now, it is the turn of THE HINDU, which has publushed a totally biased article which is in such a bad taste!!

The article in question is "Who gets the credit?" in The Hindu - Cinema Plus (dt: 19-Dec-2008) (Link to the article: http://www.hindu.com/cp/2008/12/19/stories/2008121950240800.htm)

The writer seems to be totally biased against A.R.Rahman, for he uses strong words like "rip-off" unnecessarily, though there's hardly any similarity between Rahman's Ringa Ringa and Choli Ke Peeche!

Also, the article mentions about a "song by MIA featuring blaaze which sounds like an MIA composition". There is no MIA song in the album which features Blaaze!!! Which song is the writer talking about?

I doubt whether the writer had listened to the tracks even once before writing this article.
It looks like the writer's sole aim was to demean ARR, without even caring to verify the facts! At a time when ARR is getting laurels from all over the globe, the writer just wants to pull him down - there seems to be no other reason for an article written in such a bad taste!

Hope Hindu avoids such inane and biased articles henceforth!

... both for ARR and us Rahmaniacs!

With ARR already bagging 5 awards (LA Critics, NY Critics, San Diego Critics, Black Reel and International Press Academy Satellite Awards) and many more nominations including a Golden Globe Nom, chances are high for an Oscar Nom too! :)
Fingers crossed :)

If this wasn't enough, ARR gives us all more reasons to celebrate, with the Jiya se Jiya music video, from his latest album Connections!
What a way to end to 2008 :)

All the media have taken this news that "Choli Ke Peeche" has been used in Slumdog Millionaire, and blown it totally out of proportion. Some have even criticised AR for tampering with a classic which should be left as it is! But, the sad part is that the news is not even totally true!!!

The song in question is "Ringa Ringa". I listened to it. Except for the mood of the song and probably the rhythm, there is absolutely nothing similar to Choli Ke.

In his interview, Rahman just said this about Choli Ke song: "It represents that period in the early 1990s. The colour, the swirl and the frenetic pace - so I've re-recorded it in the same two voices, Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun, though in a totally re-worked form".

The keywords there are "totally reworked" and "same voices". Without even listening to the song, all the media jumped up and started promoting that Choli Ke Peeche is in SDM, conveniently forgetting these facts mentioned by AR! Musicindiaonline has just ignored that statement about "totally re-worked form", in its article.

Sensationalising at its worst!! Pah!

If you are expecting a review of this masterpiece, then you will feel disappointed. I'm not reviewing Yuvvraaj - at least not as yet! I dont think I can do justice to the album with the limited number of times I've listened to it in my limited time!

But, one thing that strikes me every time I listen to it - the sound track of Yuvvraaj is class apart. I dont think western classical has been blended seamlessly with hindustani in a mainstream bollywood soundtrack! And, I dont think anyone other than ARR could have pulled this off with such success!

Kudos boss!!


Update:
an ad, summarising the reviews of Yuvvraaj and congratulating the team.